Hello beautiful earthlings! We have emerged into a new calendar year. ☼
Have you set your big creative intentions for the new year? I haven’t. I’m going to quietly ease myself into each day and see what happens. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Today I feel like there is something uniquely and radically mystical about surrendering, softening the goal-setting mindset and just trusting.
When you approach making something or starting a creative project, do you ever feel a little anxious about if the idea makes sense, or wonder if your art is important or meaningful? Do you ever feel like you want to have a resolved, explainable concept before you decide it’s worth it to begin? As ridiculous as that may sound, I think it’s normal. It’s all too easy to fall deep into thoughts and analyzation about how our creations fit into our perceived identities, where they fit into the context of the world, and if our ideas are important. (spoiler alert: they are.) (Also, “Important” is a construct).
When I get tossed up in these kinds of rational thoughts around my practice, I feel blocked. I feel the weight of what I sacrifice when I accidentally employ the logical, rational, thinking mind as the creative director. Why must I occasionally forget that the direction of creativity doesn’t always need careful orchestration or a pre-written narrative?
Creativity mostly needs our minds to be open, and our authorized consent for it to live its life through us. And I have been finding, over and over again, that analyzing too soon limits my openness to the unforeseen possibilities waiting to be mined out of each moment.
I’m not saying we should never have ideas and that ideas are bad. Ideas are good, in moderation. What I want to point out is that there may be a loss of potential if the whole creative process is hijacked by the analytical mind. I mean, what even is it at that point? Is it still creativity?
Witness the creative process instead of trying to control it.
Creating first and analyzing later is like listening first before speaking. It is putting witnessing at the forefront. It is like meditating. It is deep trust. After letting creative instinct forge the way, we may be pleasantly surprised when we step back and have a conversation with what has been created. When I am aware enough to practice this, I am always in awe at how quickly I can start to make connections and realize ideas that I wouldn’t have even been able to ‘think up’ or even understand at the beginning of the process.
Sometimes if we want to learn more about the language our art is speaking, we just have to let it speak.
Sometimes we have to move forward with a decision that ~feels right~ even if it doesn’t make sense. Trust it will make sense later. OR trust that making sense is maybe not the goal? Maybe no “sense” needs to be “made” ever. Or maybe everything makes sense and it’s a slow burn and just takes time to be realized. Maybe everything makes sense and the sense can be felt rather than explained.
Phenomenal synchronicities can happen when we soften the pattern of wanting things to always make sense. I want us all to get to know the hidden significance of creative decisions that happen outside of immediate explainability.
Give your instinct a try and see what happens. What’s the risk? Sometimes when I feel hesitant about “just feeling it out and going for it”, I remember.. the risk is low, and I’m not going to die! And then I remember I AM going to die! Some day. And I have a short window of time here in this body on this planet, and I can try to play and learn and do my best to be a good person. So, what’s the worst that could happen while I’m here? Is it that I will make something random and meaningless? Nothing is truly random. I dare you to try to make something random and meaningless and then not see something amazingly meaningful in it once you make it.
In order to align with creative instinct, we need surrender, an attitude of non-attachment to outcomes, and a bit of trust. Creative instinct is a supernatural force.
TL;DR:
Do what you want.
Your ideas are meaningful even if you can’t describe every move as it happens.
Don’t overthink it.
♡ Keep practicing ♡
-Kristen
⟡ Practice first, analyze later ⟡
I loved this from beginning to end, Kristen, especially: "Creativity mostly needs our minds to be open, and our authorized consent for it to live its life through us." That's just the reminder I needed today.