Musings on the creative process: How to get out of your own way

“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

Well, there is no lack of internal chaos here.  Reassuring words, as I’ve been grappling with the creative process these days.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far about the process of creating – in this case a public TED style talk, but it could be anything - an article, a blog post, a lecture, a poem, even a painting I imagine, although I am not an artist.

You have an idea. Or rather, an idea comes to you. Inspiration is a fascinating phenomenon. It can come from anywhere. A dream, a conversation, a street sign, a line in a book, the shape of a cloud, a picture.

Something that wasn’t present before suddenly is. Sometimes its’ a trickle, a whisper, a faint notion. Other times, it’s a veritable high speed download of ideas stacked one on top of each other, neatly arranged like a deck of cards. Other times, it’s a chaotic influx of impressions, thoughts, and half formed notions.

So then, the question becomes… what to do with all that. How and where to start?

This first step can be rather daunting. You are not quite sure where to put your foot down, what is solid ground. Or where you might sink into quicksand. You never know.

The best way to find out?

Simply start. Anywhere. It’s not until I actually put words to paper that any sense starts to emerge. So I just go with it and see what comes.

What was a jumble in my head, start to makes sense on paper. Or maybe not. Then I delete and start all over again.

It’s about being willing to just go with it and trust that the creative flow itself will lead me to that dancing star.  The temptation is to control the flow, to dictate its meanderings and course, to take the straight and narrow path to some perceived destination. But the truth is, the creative process seems to have a life of its own, and my job seems to be as much to get out of its way, or rather to let it flow though me, than to try and control its nuances.

So dear reader, don’t be afraid of your internal chaos, it might just led you to that dancing star if you allow it to lead you!

Momentum – full speed ahead

Have you noticed that when you make one significant change in your life, it creates a momentum all of its own? 

You get fed up with the way things are. You’re tired of doing the same thing, and getting the same results.  You’re fed up with your own excuses.

That’s what happened to me when I got to that point where I decided to do something different.  In case you missed my two previous posts, you can read all about how I kicked procrastination in the butt here

You see, I’ve been a closet writer and didn’t even know it!  The more I blog, the more I want to write. The more I write, the more I think about things to write about. The more I think about things, the more deeply I experience and process my own life.

The more deeply I process my own experiences, the more insights I get into my life. The more insights I get into my life, the more I want to share them.  The more I share them, the more I engage with you, my dear readers.

The more I engage with you, the more I realize we are all connected. Despite our unique variations, our individual stories, our different journeys, we share this one human experience, embedded in a living universe in which we are all related in this great web of life.

The more I feel this deep connection and sense of global community, the more I can’t wait to jump out of bed in the morning.

And so it goes….. I wonder what will happen next?

Making the Unknown Known – Day 1 of my new blogging journey

        

 

The desire you have to be something, to do something, is a mental echo in your mind of the Spirit which already exists within you. It is an impact of your divine and spiritual self upon your mental or psychological self. It is the Spirit in you seeking an avenue of expression through you.

-                           ~ This Thing Called You, Ernest Holmes

           

I’ve been feeling that restless yearning for some time now… that still quite voice seeking expression, whispering in the early dawn hours, calling to me of some unknown mystery that wants to reveal itself. Inspiration, ideas, half formed thoughts whirl around my mind, yet without the discipline of actually sitting down to give them expression with pen and paper, I have come to realize that they are just that….. glimpses, whispers, mere hints of what is seeking to come forth.

Hence my new discipline of committing to an hourly early morning start –my customary thirty minutes to one hour of spiritual practice of meditation and inspirational reading, followed by an hour of writing. And then of course, actually posting what I write – that is the accountability piece.  Actually, it is so much more than that.  My new commitment to a daily blog post 5 days a week is really my contract with Spirit so to speak, my commitment to that divine partnership of co-creation.

 And so it begins….. I have no idea really where we are going, Spirit and I, on this blogging journey. But I’ve packed my backpack, donned my hiking shoes and I’m setting off – my compass, that inner voice which speaks to me when I am quiet enough to listen; my travel companions, the inspiration which surrounds me in nature and in my fellow explorers on this planet earth journey.  Destination: the Unknown.

It is my dearest hope that this blog journey brings you, beloved reader, inspiration, encouragement, a marker on the way perhaps, to your own journey to make the unknown known as only you, marvelous, unique, irreplaceable you, can do.