“I don’t have the discipline for something like that,” my artistic friend responded after my invitation. I had just asked her to consider joining me in participating in The 100 Day Project, a global art initiative in which thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 consecutive days of creating. I was excited to be part of the project for my 4th time, but her quick response left me with much to ponder. Was it about discipline?  

For me, it was an opportunity to prioritize something I loved doing – painting. It was a chance to give my art more shape and purpose for a set period of time. Sure, a 100-day commitment to anything is substantial and requires sacrifice. But it was about more than will power.  

As I reflected upon past years of the project, I became curious about the differences between discipline, dedication and devotion. Showing up to watercolor paper for 100 days in a row was a daily decision. A cerebral one. I thought about and planned for it; I talked myself through resistance. Still, if that was all I did each day, there would be no project. 

Was it dedication that made it into more than a robotic routine? According to the Oxford Dictionary, dedicate means to “devote time, effort or oneself to a particular task or purpose.” This resonated with me. Each year, I chose a theme for my project – 100 days of exploring hope, for example – that came from my heart and gave me purpose. The commitment to that purpose – or dedication – is what made the brushstrokes happen. 

However, my heady discipline and dedicated purpose did not feel like quite enough to encapsulate what it took to make art every day. It was a soul-filling, expansive time of communion with God, one that was hard to put into words. I kept coming back, day after day, because I was devoted. 

For me, The 100 Day Project is a holistic act of self-care that brings my heart, soul and mind together. It requires all 3 “Ds”: discipline, dedication and devotion. And, it feels like embodied practice of what it feels like to live out the Great Commandment.