Slow Down To Nurture Your Creativity
For all my peeps creating their own life, for all my creatives seeking success, for all my fellow entrepreneurs carving out their path…
It’s tricky, is all. When there is no straight line from here to there. When we are trying to listen to our own guidance system amongst the near-deafening shouted opinions of the world around us. When we are inundated with images of seemingly overnight success, riches, projects, perfection. It’s tricky to hold on to the hope, the vision, the commitment. It’s hard not to feel confused. We lose sight, or perhaps the sound of our inner voice. We start to feel desperate, like we should try this or that thing that everybody is telling us we must do to become a success. We lurch from this to that in an effort to get ahead, to find success, to get noticed.
But in the lurching, in that desperation, things start to feel strained, we lose the sense of joy that drew us to our creative vision in the first place. Our work stops being fun. It feels like a struggle, both to us and our audience. Things stall, the panic rises, the work suffers.
Photo by Anthony Young
In this world where we can google anything and get advice, where there are a million and one articles/courses/posts about what we need to be doing to get ahead, where hustling is the norm, even if people are claiming to look for alignment rather than hustle, all the while hustling their buns off, it can feel impossible to slow down, take time to connect to our own inner guidance system, and give ourselves the space to create.
Funnily enough, when I feel this pressure, this sense that I should be doing this, that, or the other thing, the only person who is really applying it, is me. I am making the choice to listen to all those voices, to give them greater authority over my own actions, than I am giving my own voice. I am disempowering myself and giving others the power to tell me what to do. Perhaps you do this, as well.
It’s understandable. When we are wandering through a forest, as beautiful as it may be, we would still like a path to follow, some direction so that we don’t get lost, don’t feel alone, don’t stumble across any danger. Most of us don’t trust our instincts to lead us safely. We fear we don’t know what we’re doing, look for guidance and, at times, long for someone to give us a formula, tell us exactly what to do (despite the fact that the very thing that drew us to this creative life in the first place is a resistance to being told what to do and when to do it).
Guidance, of course, is wonderful. Receiving wisdom from those who have gone before is so helpful. Offering wisdom to those who are on a similar journey, is a beautiful thing. I see it almost as lanterns in the forest up ahead, allowing us to see the landscape more clearly. With those lights shining, we can relax a little, know we are not alone, and then take the time to carve out our own path.
But lanterns dotting the forest ahead are very different than loudmouths with bullhorns yelling at us about what we MUST be doing to find success.
Creativity requires an open-mind, a certain amount of relaxation, a blocking out of the ‘shoulds’, of expectation. This life you are creating, it takes time to grow, just as a tree takes time. A sapling is as beautiful as an ancient redwood, it’s just different. A tree with a wonky branch, a twisted trunk is a breath-taking thing. As we grow and try things and succeed and fail and get inspired and shift direction and experience loss and grief and joy and growth, we are creating the body of art that is our life. It’s not a sprint. It’s a slow and gentle unfolding.
Can you take the pressure off? Instead of focusing so hard on some goal ahead that this present moment can not help but feel lacking in comparison, can you fall in love with what is? Experience it, enjoy it, listen to it? Your life is right now. Wishing it were different is a waste. Slow down. Every step you take towards your dream is making a difference, is moving you forward, even if it is a so-called misstep. Can you enjoy this journey instead of wishing it away? When we get so focused on an out-come that we stop enjoying this present moment, we have shot ourselves in the foot. This moment is all that we have, this journey is the gold we are seeking. When we slow down enough to enjoy it, to hear our own guidance system, inspiration will strike. We will find the success we so seek. The world needs your voice. Can you slow down enough to hear it?
Try this: if there is something you want to achieve, some milestone you are desperate to make by such and such a date, can you add one, two or (gasp) even three years to that date? I’m not saying it will take 3 years, I’m just suggesting you give yourself that time. With some space and time, you will grow and develop and may possibly even enjoy the journey rather than running in a panic. Just as you would give a tree some time to grow, give yourself some to grow. You are not a machine, you do not need to be anywhere you are not. If there are external factors (I know money is always a big one), can you find some way to alleviate that pressure such that you are not relying on your creative endeavour to solve all your financial woes? I’m not saying that it won’t solve them eventually, but maybe for now you can relieve it of that responsibility.
Think of your new business, your artistic career, as a baby. Take the pressure off that baby to be a fully functioning adult, give it a chance to find its legs, delight in each new milestone it achieves, take care of it, keep it safe, don’t yell at it to be somewhere it is not. Nurture it. Fall in absolute love with it. Be patient when it has a full-on tantrum and refuses to do what you want it to do. Your job, as the grown up, is to create a safe and supportive environment for it to come out and play, for it to learn how to speak to you, for it to flourish.
I’m mixing my forest metaphor with a baby metaphor, but you get the idea. We offer time and space for these precious things to grow, and we appreciate what they are along the way. Let’s try and afford ourselves, and our creative ventures, the same patience and nurturing.
If you’re interested in coaching with me on your creative journey, read more about it here, or contact me for a free consultation.
