How creatives avoid making impact, don’t listen to their Soul, and how to change it.
(This is for the procrastinating creatives: when you feel the desire to create but you don’t when you have a pile of drafts and resist finishing. Your thoughts stop you but your new thoughts can also make you start) Several years ago I visited a friend in his office and he showed me binders and binders with his poetry. Ton of it. It struck me, why wasn’t it published, either on a website, or self published on amazon? In any form.
I thought – “of course he needs to share it with others! The world needs more art and more poetry.”
But then – was I sharing enough of my art? My paintings? My writing? My spiritual and personal development blogs? Was I sharing my thoughts enough?
No. I wasn’t. In fact, I was hiding if not hoarding, some of my – what I think was – most impactful content. How selfish! But before I blame myself (never useful) I want to explore why. Why do we do this?
If you are a creative person, maybe you have a desire to make something, maybe you already have a drawer (oops, I mean, google drive) full of drafts.Â
If you have piles of notes and draft, sketchbooks filled with ideas and no actual art to display, no book written, not poetry published (even if self published) … If you are daydreaming about creating more, even though you have a full time job, simply for personal fulfillment and you are not doing it …
Why are you not creating?
What is keeping you from finishing and publishing?
Who will want it?
Who am I to… ?
It is still not good enough.
You need to perfect it more.
You need to do more research.
Or probably, you are so busy, you don’t have the time.
Some of the thoughts may represent the reality, but what if… what if these are just THOUGHTS?
Thoughts that pretend to be true – like all limitings beliefsÂ
Having great experience (from coaching)Â in managing my mind and changing the thoughts – I KNOWÂ changing the mind means changing my reality. (when I do the work)
And what do you think would happen if you finished the draft?
What would happen if you published, finished, displayed your art, NOW?
Are you afraid it would be judged, criticized, laughed at?
Are you scared of what will people think? Is it simply too vulnerable to publish?
Do you think “other people do it better? Who am I kidding?
There are probably just few artists (especially part time artists ) that don’t have those thoughts. And believe me – all that – is it worth it not going after your OWN fulfillment? Who is so important to you, that couple of their words would make you betray YOU?
Or is your creative work so sacred to you, you want to keep it to yourself? It might be…
Whatever is the reason you are not finishing, and publishing – you need to check if you like the reason.
You need to like the reason to hide, otherwise…
Otherwise you will feel resentful, disappointed with your self and unfulfilled. Your creative self esteem will suffer. I know this firsthand. And I also know that just a little can fix it. For someone who doesn’t want to have a full blow artistic carrier – only personal fulfillment – creating still matters. On a personal level.
I want to invite you to just do it.
My drawers are filled with colored pencils. Paint, some of it dry. Sometimes I take it all out and do something. Now, it is not my focus to sell it. I do it for my soul only. It is a part of me.
My drafts wait to be finished. Now, I can guarantee they will be. Because now I trust myself. I know how working on my mind – guarantees my results.Â
I hope I encouraged you.
I am coaching someone who is writing her first book. When I asked he why she wants it, she answered:Â it is for my Soul… my Soul will evolve through the work .. to the next thing. Next level.
Sometimes we dream of making something big. and we don’t know what it is. What if the “big thing” is waiting to see if you can finish the “small thing”?
Writing is hard. Who are we kidding. But you and I – we can do hard things!