Instructions for Creative Unblocking
Instructions for Creative Unblocking and Learning from the Creative Process.
As I embark into some new writing projects this summer, the following list contains my learnings about the creative process I want to my future self to remember. Like the application of the earning, this list is a work in progress. So, for the times I am feeling stuck, blocked, fearful or small, dear Clare, please remember…
Creativity is like lifeblood, always flowing with its own pulse and rhythm. Even when you can’t see or recognise it, trust that below the surface it is forever in motion. And just like with a heartbeat or pulse, you can tune into that rhythm with consciousness, attention and pause. Creating is an act of surrender to a deeper beat.
Remember: You create because it is something which brings you most alive to the hidden undercurrents of connection, ideas and relationship. It brings meaning to the ordinary in ways which render everything extraordinary. Life is better in creativity mode.
The beginning of each writing/ creativity session is the hardest part. Make the beginning easy. Lower your expectations and allow yourself to enter slowly. Let kindness be your guide.
Keep booking creative meetings in your calendar, blocks of unmovable time. Even if you don’t write/ paint/ make immediately, keep showing up. Something always gets impatient and shows up eventually too!
If one tool feels blocked, use another. If you can’t write, then paint. If you can’t do that, then dance. If not that, then move. Move in whatever way feels nourishing. The movement begets movement, so everything else can flow.
Remember: your job is not to make ‘good’ work. Your job is to make the best work that only you can make. Whether others think it is good, or not, has nothing to do with your creativity. What matters is that you keep seeking to make your best work yet. Then repeat again and again and again.
Trust the strange imaginings. Trust the voices in your head. Trust how characters show up in the middle of the night to whisper details and twists. No matter how mad it all seems, these are the gems which makes the work all the more distinctive, and mysterious too.
You don’t write poems, you walk into them. Your task is to be ready to catch them at any moment. Then the craft of shaping them can begin.
Remember: creativity is a co-creative process. It’s between you and the source of life itself. When you commit, life shows up too. May the dance always be about to begin.
You are never going to get ‘there’. That’s the point. ‘There’ is an aspiration, designed to keep you learning, growing, changing, exploring, evolving. ‘There’ will always move depending on your capacity. Remaining proximate to ‘there’ is a better destination.
Poetry is the place to figure out the silences. Listen. Then, listen to the silence below the silence, and write from that place.
If you haven’t reached the chaos, you haven’t gone deep or far enough. Chaos is an indicator of the wild life within a project. There are tools to help carry your through. Use them.
Every book, every poem, every photo has an original essence. The craft is to reveal that essence in as light and beautiful way as possible. There will be many attempts to reach it, and each draft can bring your closer. But mostly the essence keeps some of itself hidden- that’s the mystery, which is also the beauty. Keep working your way through the layers.
Time is not linear. What happens in flow can defy natural order. Sometimes you only need five minutes for your best work to happen. And you always have five minutes.
Leave room for the blanks.
Photography is ‘drawing with light’. What gets exposed is a matter of choice, and craft. Light is both an instrument of revelation and restraint. Less is often more. As with images, so too with words.
When in doubt, swim. When still in doubt, walk. If all else fails, just keep showing up to the blank page. It is an ocean and a mountain too. Keep moving.
Nothing will ever be fully finished. At some point you need to decide to stop so new work can arrive in too. Be willing to gift your creativity to the world, knowing there is more to come.
Making your creative work is a love letter to your deepest, most tender self. Keep making. The love letter isn’t finished yet.
To be continued….
Hello. I'm Clare
I'm a writer, educator and facilitator, living in beautiful West Cork, Ireland. I love to share resources and learning to help harness the regenerative power of words, place and story. I hope my work offers nourishment for mind and soul. Thank you for being here. Clare x
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The Danger of Until...
So often we put our plans on hold. Our dreams on hold. Our creative impulses on hold. Our lives on hold. 'Until I practice more', 'Until I loose a few more pounds', 'Until it is perfect', 'Until I am ready', 'Until they say I am ready'.
Until is a dangerous word.
Most of the time I don't feel ready. I usually wish I had more time to practice. Most of the time it doesn't feel quite good enough. I always want to loose those few pounds. I don't actually know who 'they' are. But I am tired of waiting until.
I have found that 'until' actually stifles creative energy and clogs us up until something in us needs to burst, and sometimes it bursts in destructive ways. To even hold the energy of 'until' takes energy. It takes energy not to create and dream. It takes energy wishing those pounds away. And it takes so much time waiting for the right time.
I learned a very big lesson about 'until' last week. For several years I have been thinking of teaching online. I looked a LOTS of different courses. I did some. I thought about structure and format. I over thought about structure and format. I looked at more courses. I got overwhelmed with it all. 'Until I have more subscribers, until my new site is ready, until I feel I am ready' Until, until, until. A few years passed (yes, years).
This year however I knew it was time to take a leap. When designing my new website, a space was incorporated for online learning. I had courses in mind and a rough sense of how to get them out into the world. But I did not feel quite ready. Additionally, with all the comings and goings this year, by the end of July I had a deep sense of needing to step away from a screen in order to recalibrate. A holiday was being called out. The break was needed and wonderful but when I got back home it left me with little time to launch and promote the course. It was just a week to go before the date I had originally announced. Was I mad? All the advice had said I needed six weeks...
'Ah maybe I will wait until December'
'Maybe I will wait until more people have signed up to my newsletter'
'Perhaps I will just hold off until I feel there is more time to prepare'
Until was back, dangling what could be easily seen as procrastination or laziness right in front of my face. I was so close to not continuing. The night before I was launching it, I was so so so nearly pulling it. Until was teasing me with ugly excuses.
Luckily something within begged me to knock on the door of until, asking was it was trying to tell me. I knew I had been thinking about this for a long time, and I knew that teaching is a big part of my business plan moving forwards. When I questioned 'until' two things popped. Firstly, I realised I was afraid that the technology for the online teaching wouldn't work for me, but mostly I was afraid that nobody would sign up. Fear. That was it. Big, juicy, daunting fear. 'Until' had simply masked itself.
When I saw 'until' for what it was, I knew I had to leap and pull off its mask. It was indeed time to put the course out there and show up to the work. If no one signed up to the course, at least I had tried.
The leap is leverage.
And guess what, people did sign up. Not in droves but enough that it felt like a healthy contingent and a brilliant start. There were people living in Ireland, USA, The Netherlands, UK, and even as far away as Tazmania. How amazing is that! Plus I loved the experience. I loved creating the videos and audio recordings. I loved reading responses and connecting with participants and seeing them connect with each other. Here was a space, carved on the internet, for people to connect to themselves, their visions, build new skills and engage with others. What a privilege for me to get to do this work.
'Until' would have extinguished all of that.
The leap has fueled me with added determination and a relief that I knocked on that door. Now I just need to keep knocking, keep listening and keep showing up to the work. For the work wants life, and life needs life to live through.
So what are you waiting for? Where is until in your life? And what is it really saying?
Knock on its door... I suspect you will get an interesting, leveraging, response.
Letters from Clare
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