A good
friend always giggles when I tell her I'm feeling "fertile".
I use the word (I can't find a better one!) to describe a time
of extraordinary creative flow, when the channeling just won't
quit.
And while I relish in those times, I sometimes have to pay a
price for them.
I've noticed that an intense period of creative flow can lead
me into a dark place.
In the "Connect with Your Fears" chapter of my book,
Ten Ways to Thrive as a Creative Artist, I discuss the
connections between fear and creativity, and how freely expressing
ourselves can leave us feeling vulnerable that our basic needs
won't be met.
Maybe it's because that's so different from how we normally
travel through life (scared and inhibited). Or maybe it calls
up a fear of success, the one that Marianne Williamson speaks
so eloquently about in her famous passage which includes, "It
is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us."
I came up with a map of my journey—from creative flow,
through to misery, and back to creative flow again, with many
stops in-between.
You can see this map
on my Web site.
There are two very distinct itineraries we can follow when we're
in "misery land". When we drop anchor there on a stopover,
knowing our time there will be brief, it can be a predecessor
to a period of great personal and artistic growth and development.
Our creative fire lights up and, all of a sudden, we arrive
at solutions previously unimagined.
And, because of that, I'm extremely grateful for my short trips
to "misery land". Misery has truly been the only route
to change for me. I know that it's not until I've felt enough
pain (or fear of pain) where I am, that I become willing to
make a change and go somewhere new.
On the other hand, when we get to "misery land" and
start making ourselves really comfortable—fluffing the
pillows and checking out the menus at the local restaurants—that's
when we're in trouble.
That's when we're wallowing, focusing on the negative, or using
self-pitying messages as an excuse to stay stuck. We may still
eventually move on to "creative problem solving" town;
but, by then, we might be feeling too defeated and deflated
to do our best thinking.
So, is it possible to avoid "misery land" altogether?
I'm afraid the answer is 'No, not 100% of the time.' But what
I came up with, as I sat and reflected, was a list of "travel
essentials"—qualities that are strongly represented
in my life when my creative process is free flowing and joyful.
These qualities are:
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Strength
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Gratitude
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Focus
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God
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Belief
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Truth
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Fun
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Faith
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Self-love
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In the diagram I drew myself, there was a heart surrounding
them. Feel free to print out your flowchart and make that change.
"Now, wait a minute, Linda," you might be asking,
"I thought I was supposed to be working on the Ten Ways
to Thrive as a Creative Artist?" Yes, absolutely! Those
are actions, and performing those actions, as outlined in the
book, will help you to develop the "travel essentials"
I've listed here.
So, how about it? Have you and your creativity had enough of
"misery land"? Are you ready to pack up these "travel
essentials" and hit this new road with me?
