Turning Reflection into Action

“You're not required to save the world with your creativity. Your art not only doesn't have to be original, in other words, it also doesn't have to be important. For example, whenever anyone tells me that they want to write a book in order to help other people I always think 'Oh, please don't. Please don't try to help me.' I mean it's very kind of you to help people, but please don't make it your sole creative motive because we will feel the weight of your heavy intention, and it will put a strain upon our souls.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Times have been pretty heavy lately. For me, time slowed down and sped up, all at the same time. I constantly felt like I had to do, yet I didn’t really know what to do.

So, I tried to do everything all at once, which led to me getting a whole bunch of nothing actually done.

I felt extremely reflective, yet at the same time, I was trying to take action and help out in any way that I could. I started new research projects, took on an abundance of mentees and teaching. I tried to write a book for the first time, which also means that I have a new wasteland of abandoned texts and snippets of intros.

Side note: For other creators: don’t actually throw those away. If they have served their time, let them go. Otherwise, you’ll usually end up coming back to them in a new, fresh way that serves the new vision. All of those drafts actually serve as our experiments and seem to be dead-ends, yet suddenly, something happens and we’ve got it! A slight twist and combination of everything that we put out there. You didn’t waste your time – you just hadn’t figured out the perfect combination yet. Those scraps are a reminder of your creative process in action and may serve you again later.

I thought I wanted to study creativity, then I got really into storytelling. I Yet, I was still trying to do.

My friend said it best: we can’t enjoy our creativity (and our calling, if you want to think about it like that) if we have a sense of desperation. That desperation pull us in too many different directions.

We fight against the clock because we have to keep up our productivity.

We dismiss ideas because they aren’t good enough/big enough/catchy enough/whatever enough.

We need the money NOW.

We have too many other things on our plate, so we try to put out all of those fires instead of doing what is really calling us at the time. However, that just bogs us down because we are forcing ourselves to do things we don’t want to do.

We don’t feel like we are deserving, so we both hold ourselves back, while at the same time we are striving to do enough feel good enough. We create our own push/pull creative block.

Coming back to ourselves – creating the spaces we need to sort through all the things we “have” to do, having a space where our minds can slow down, having people around you that support whatever “crazy” ideas that we are sorting through – that is the beginning of a renaissance of authenticity.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Ghandi

This quote can seem too big sometimes, right?

That is because we complicate it with expectations and comparisons.

Coming back to the first quote by Gilbert, we oftentimes feel so compelled to serve, yet again, that gets us stuck in the “do” mode. We feel so much pressure because we act as though we can actually control things.

We can’t. Stop trying and realize that is freedom. That is your blessing.

Create. Be. Express yourself with love. Ask yourself questions again. Play. Explore. Express your truth.

As a social scientist, I know that sounds pretty hippy-dippy (or insert your choice of terms).

Yet, when we let go of that wild pressure to fulfill, do, meet expectations, we also can get out of the comparison spin-cycle that makes us doubt what we are doing, how well we are doing it, or if we are doing it in the right amount of time.

Trust me, I know that there is a reality – don’t get me wrong. You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes to keep the job, pay the bills, and all of that super important stuff.

Yet, the main take-away from this is to help foster a new relationship with your creative process. Let all the extra go and re-connect with what messages/creations are really speaking to and through you.

Telling our stories – in whatever medium is appropriate for you – is the way that we move energy around. All the stuff stuck inside of us, the barriers we put up, can get knocked back down by telling your story. That story could be a huge innovation to transportation or working through some issues of feeling like you didn’t fit in growing up.

Humans and society are complex – we need all of those sides.

That is the meaning of the Gandhi quote – heal and express yourself, create that change, and the world will change.

Express your truth. Turn the forced reflection from these social times into action through creating and we will have a renaissance of authenticity.

Oh – and work through the messy s*** so that you can actually have fun doing it. Play, connection, and caring will transform the world. As some say – do the d*** thing. You got this.