Inspiration Fridays! Why do we get stuck?
Why do we get stuck?
When I was a kid I never asked myself if it was OK to play… I just did it.
“The key to growth is acknowledging your fear of the unknown and jumping in anyway.” – Jen Sincero
Some days my shoes are nailed to the floor. When I get stuck like this, my internal dialogue immediately goes into overdrive.
“I’m wasting my time.”
“There are things I should be doing, real things.”
“Everyone else is working hard, why do I feel like I’m so special?”
“Who do I think I am spending my days mixing colors like a five-year-old?”
We all have to-do lists. Not everyone writes them down, but we certainly all have them. I can spend my whole day busily attending to the details of these infinite lists and by the time dinner rolls around, I will probably have checked off quite a few. There is an immediate sense of accomplishment that accompanies all of those checked boxes, especially because it’s easy to point out all of the “things” I’ve done. I can point to my huge list of accomplishments, and therefore… justify my existence.
The problem is that this nonstop frenetic pace isn’t really conducive to creating something beautiful, something that’s uniquely my own. At the end of the day I can feel good about my list, but my creative mind often just feels tired and overwhelmed. I’m out of energy and I’ve given my creative self the back seat again.
A clown painting a clown at the Enclave open-studios after party. It felt so good to be surrounded by creatives and just cut loose!
No one likes to feel stuck, but sometimes allowing ourselves the time to be still, and face down that big blank canvas in our studio is just what’s needed. Creativity feels risky. There is no box to check off until we begin to make something. Until we make that first mark, there is nothing there at all. For a lot of us, this is where that feeling of stuckness comes from. There is a part of each one of us that is afraid of the unknown. The irony of all of this is that the unknown is where creativity lives.
If you are feeling called toward your creative self, it’s important to listen to the call. There is no hierarchy when it comes to creativity. Each of us was born with something equally amazing to offer the world. If we don’t allow ourselves to show up for it, we are playing small. So, go stare down that canvas. Begin by making a mark, and see where it leads. Sometimes it’s as simple as showing up for ourselves and leaving the to-do list in the car.