Creative energy is abundant all around us.
Yet by taking our craft too seriously, we remove the ability to tap into this vibrant source.
Let me give you a little backstory:
Growing up, I had a habit of dabbling in the many of the arts:
From writing short stories to bossing around my younger brother in a self directed annual family Christmas show, I was bold and fearless with creative expression.
The outcome never occurred to me, I just simply enjoyed making stuff.
Yet as I grew older, I lost this childhood practice of simple unbothered self-expression and replaced it with the label of “perfect artist“, as many of us do.
These next insights are gathered from Elizabeth Gilbert’s amazing book on creativity, ” Big Magic” have allowed me to foster a different kind of relationship with the creative process.
Redefining Creative Ideas
In her book, Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert defines inspiration as:
We can trace this back in history when the Greek & Romans considered ideas as our external “genius.” ( Or as Gilbert likes to call it, our house elf!)
Because these ideas are floating around in the universe, waiting for someone to take it on, multiple discoveries and similar projects occur.
For example:
- blast furnace (invented independently in China, Europe and Africa),
- the crossbow (invented independently in China, Greece, Africa, northern Canada, and the Baltic countries)
- magnetism (discovered independently in Greece, China, and India).
AKA:
Our ideas aren’t original, they don’t us and we don’t own them.
FORGO LABELS
When asked if she would ever write another book, Harper Lee, of the legendary “To Kill a Mockingbird” said:
I’m scared. When you’re at the top there’s only one way to go.
Perhaps you felt a similar feeling before:
- project you’ve been working on unexpectedly blows up
- sell out of your art / publication
- booked up with clients
- teachers / friends / family label with things like talented, smart, unbeatable, advanced
And while these things are amazing on the outside, it can produce an overwhelming amount of pressure to continue to achieve a similar level of success.
Putting creatives in boxes as “genius” makes us lose the ability to take our craft lightly, to simple enjoy the process of creating as we’re so obsessed with the outcome.
Viewing our creative energy as our external genius liberates us from the chains of perfectionism.
Suddenly, you aren’t tied down to continue being a “artistic genius” because you view ideas as an entity separate from you.
Knowing this simple truth can you give permission to forgo the labels and create freely..
AFFIRMATIONS
- I let go of the need to perform, please, or be successful
- My creative energy is bright and alive
- I allow myself to play and not take my craft too seriously
- Every idea doesn’t have to work out, and that’s okay with me
- I tap into my creative energy by doing things that make me happy