Read freely · 14 virtues
Creative Life Virtues
Give worthwhile ideas form, develop them with care, and share in the life of other makers.
A blue paper river winds between the houses of your miniature town. Your folded bridge is too grand for the little town, and the yellow sun could illuminate several neighboring projects. You move a house, cut another curve and begin to see the place you were imagining. Something that existed only as a possibility now has a shape you can work with.
Creative life includes the pleasure and responsibility of making: observing closely, developing an intention, trying a form, revising it and offering it to others. These virtues accompany a song, story, performance, picture, meal or handmade thing. An awkward beginning, a stalled project or a refusal can become part of that work. You do not need a profession or an audience to begin.
14 virtues · 14 weeks per program cycle
14 virtues to practice
- 01
Courage
Share sincere work before admiration is assured.
- 02
Sincerity
Give form to something you actually mean.
- 03
Humility
Use criticism that helps the work become clearer.
- 04
Patience
Give an unfinished idea time to develop.
- 05
Diligence
Carry the work through its necessary revisions.
- 06
Integrance (faithfulness of the whole)
Make the whole faithful to what its parts reveal.
- 07
Generosity
Share useful knowledge and tools with other makers.
- 08
Discernment
Judge feedback by what the work is trying to do.
- 09
Nonpossessiveness
Let the work meet responses you do not direct.
- 10
Curiosity
Explore an unfamiliar influence closely enough to learn.
- 11
Open-Mindedness
Try a promising direction you did not anticipate.
- 12
Attentiveness
Attend to the detail that changes the whole impression.
- 13
Integrity
Keep a considered artistic commitment when reward tempts you away.
- 14
Benevolence
Enjoy another maker’s achievement as something good in itself.
Give an idea form, develop it, and share it
Sincerity gives the work an intention honestly meant. Curiosity seeks understanding and fresh possibilities; Open-Mindedness gives an unexpected direction a fair trial. Attentiveness notices the detail through which the intention becomes visible or audible.
Patience gives a song or idea time to develop through attentive returns. Diligence carries a worthwhile project through revision and completion. Integrance asks that the whole remain faithful to the relevant parts, including tensions that resist a neat finish. Discernment tests responses against the work’s purpose, while Humility makes useful observations easier to receive.
Courage lets a considered piece meet an audience before admiration is assured. Sincerity helps it say something actually meant, even when a fashionable imitation would be easier. Integrity keeps an artistic commitment when praise or payment presses against it. These virtues give making a direction through its ordinary difficulties.
Generosity contributes knowledge, tools or attention to other makers. Benevolence welcomes their good work. Nonpossessiveness lets a finished work meet responses you do not direct. Creative company can enlarge what everyone is able to notice and make.
What these virtues make possible
These virtues can help an idea become a work you can use, share or learn from. They give revision a purpose, feedback a fair hearing and creative company a life beyond comparison. A small finished piece can be a substantial achievement. The point is care in making and relating, rather than proof of exceptional talent.
Creative Life Virtues in ordinary life
A story taking shape
Give a scene a particular voice, try a different ending and revise the transition that a willing reader found confusing.
A familiar dish with a new possibility
Try a small variation before deciding whether it belongs in the meal. A family recipe can be a source of affection and a starting point for invention.
A song taking its time
Return to a phrase over several sessions. Listen to what changes, try a different ending and record a version when it is ready to be heard.
An unfinished useful thing
Return to a box, textile or design you still want to complete. Revise the part that keeps it from working and enjoy putting the finished piece to use.
Related collections
Friend Virtues explores mutual companionship, while Slow Life Virtues considers a fitting pace. Creative Life Virtues follows the making and sharing of meaningful work, from an initial interest to a considered form.
Explore Friend Virtues · Explore Slow Life VirtuesChoose something to make
Choose a project or study that interests you. Give it a concrete form, attend to what happens and develop the next useful stage. The fourteen-virtue program offers one virtue each week, repeating across four cycles for fifty-six weeks. You can read freely or make an eligible selection in My Virtues.
One cycle takes 14 weeks; four cycles take 56 weeks. My Virtues may contain any nonempty eligible selection.
Try it today
Make a small but complete study of something you actually want to express or understand. Choose the scale so you can take a real step today. Look at what the attempt reveals and decide what is worth developing next.
Questions worth returning to
What is this work trying to make available?
Which revision would help it become more itself?
What can I contribute to a world with other makers in it?
Keep the practice proportionate
Creative practice can be adapted to your circumstances, abilities and resources. Keep consent, privacy and credit in view when working with other people or their material. These exercises offer no hazardous techniques and do not require public exposure, exhausting schedules or giving away essential resources.
About these practices — DisclaimerTake one useful question with you
Read at your own pace, follow the fourteen-week cycle, or make a selection in My Virtues. You can begin with one small piece.