Creativity

My friend and colleague Alyson Stanfield of Art Biz Success is offering a wonderful planning workshop for artists. If you are overwhelmed by possibilities and don’t know what to do next to ensure your art business success, this is a great, affordable class.

And Alyson makes it fun, too!

Click the image below for all the details.

Affiliate links are included in this post.

Recently, I was in the final lap of writing the curriculum for Write Your Travel Stories. I just needed to pull together the final lessons. Then one final polish to make sure it was all in place.

I had been making great weekly progress, with accountability from my Atelier members. But suddenly, with the end in sight, sitting down to do the work became difficult.

While spring’s glorious distractions didn’t help, I knew it was more than that. I was experiencing what awaits many of us in the final phase of a project.

I know very well how difficult the last bits are. For all the books, programs, and projects I have made and launched into the world, I have waded through the brambles in the final, painful phase. There’s something about the last 15% of a project that just feels so difficult.

Are you one of those people who can’t seem to finish your creative projects? Books, blog posts, art pieces…no matter what you try, the finish line remains an elusive land you can’t seem to access.

Why, why? Are you simply lazy, inept and perhaps stupid? I doubt it. Here are the main things I see that prevent us from completing our projects.

• We face the reality about the quality of the work. Is it good enough?
• We struggle with detail management – not my strongest suit and maybe not yours either.
• We get closer to hearing the opinions of others. How will our work be received?
• We’re forced to make final decisions. Making decisions can be a challenge for us; we have to commit for one last time. Doubts can peck at us when making these last choices.
• We don’t know how to let go of our identity as someone who doesn’t finish things.

Recognize yourself in any of this? I have heard countless people claim that they are not finishers. It becomes a sort of identity, and believing that we cannot finish things becomes another way to beat ourselves up.

What’s happening? The further into the creative process you go, the more restrictive the space feels, and the more you are required to deal with the emotional eddies that swirl under the surface of your creative life. Everything that quietly prevented us from creating now shouts loud and clear. It gets more and more painful to even think about your once-beloved project. Check out the video I made about this.

If only it were as simple as telling yourself to JUST DO IT! And wouldn’t it be great if our apps and hacks could get us across the finish line?! Yet there is no app yet that addresses what’s really going on under the surface that keeps us from completing.

You’re not a fool for feeling these things, and you’re certainly not alone. The work of creating calls us forth in deeply powerful and challenging ways. We often need to address our doubts and fears in order to get things done.

I hope this has helped to normalize the challenges you face at the end of a project.

What resonates with you? Do you struggle with finishing things?

When someone comes to me to get ‘unstuck’, I invite them to identify their Creative Edge. This gives us a way to consciously develop our craft and advance our work, on our terms.

If you’re like me, you tend to be ‘all over the place’ with your ideas and possibilities. The Creative Edge gives us a broad yet specific focus. It makes it easy to choose projects that give us a sense of momentum and progress.

A creative edge is specific and actionable. It’s that place in your writing, art or professional work where you:

• need to improve skills
• feel uncomfortable and out of your depth
• are hyper-engaged
• learn the most
• grow rapidly.

Benefits of a Creative Edge

Your Creative Edge allows you to make progress in art and life. If you delved into this one area, you would advance overall. 

The Creative Edge is both structured and liberating. It’s just focused enough so that you can be responsive to unexpected things that show up and still be on track. 

It’s often the place we avoid. The Creative Edge is a threshold that demands we shed our excuses and step forward. We are required to move from indecision and insecurity to action.

In the end, your Creative Edge should excite you. I personally like a challenge, so my Creative Edge is often equally exciting and scary. I am careful to balance it so it’s not something I dread and thus avoid.

Choose your Creative Edge

Brainstorm possibilities. Jot down ideas that came up as you read this. Don’t overthink or make this difficult. Look for aliveness and excitement.

What do you want to learn? What skill could you take on as your Creative Edge?

Some of your creative blocks might point you toward your Creative Edge. Tick off any of these that apply. You:

• Get bored with your projects and don’t finish them.
• Don’t know how to improve the quality of your work.
• Are afraid to seek constructive feedback.
• Get stuck in confusion and indecision.

Your Creative Edge could be:

• Learning how to edit and revise your own work so you can…
• finish things.
• Find reliable, helpful feedback from people you trust.
• Focusing, following through and finishing projects you care deeply about.

I like to have a Creative Edge for the year. Perhaps you prefer a shorter window of focus. What is your Creative Edge for the first quarter of the year?

It takes courage and commitment to be at the creative edge. But it’s where we find our originality and where we grow as artists and people.

What’s your Creative Edge for this year? Share it below. 

Join us for Best Creative Year, a live, online workshop on Thursday, January 14th, 2021. We’ll set the stage for a fabulous year with our creativity in clear focus.

All the details are here.

I received a notice recently from my web host. In the email, I saw that I had registered the domain on September 3rd, 2000. A twenty-year-old web site, imagine that!

With the help of the Way Back Machine, I was able to go back in time and gather images of my website through the years.

What’s cool is that while the look of the site has changed, the message of my work has stayed consistent. For over twenty years, I have been an advocate for our creativity as a necessity for our well-being. I’ve used my coaching skills and experience as a writer and artist to walk alongside thousands of creative people who have been ready, willing, and able to say YES to their creative dreams.

My website and newsletter have evolved over the years, and so have I. I’m happy to say that while the style of the sites may be outdated, I’m still proud of the design of each of these iterations. While design trends have come and gone, my commitment to writing and creativity as sources of personal growth and empowerment has always stayed steady.

Here are six versions of OriginalImpulse.com. Of course, the seventh version is the one you see now.

 

 

 

You may know that I am a notebook geek. I use notebooks* to gather ideas, process feelings, make plans, and stay on track with my projects. I’ve tried digital systems for these things. But I already spend plenty of time looking at a screen, and I prefer to dream and plan offscreen.

Right now, I have six notebooks going:

• Sketchbook
• Garden sketchbook
• Garden progress log
• Business notebook
• Personal journal
• Art project notebook

This last one is important. You know how you only notice the value of something when it’s gone? I usually have a notebook for my art projects. Inside are ideas, plans, notes from meetings, to-do lists, and other jottings related to the process of making things.

But this summer, I wasn’t using a notebook for that. For some reason, I thought I could just roll my art planning into my personal journal. And guess what happened? Not much in my art projects. Once I finished the 100 Day Project, my focus on my art waned. It wasn’t until I got a notebook off my shelf, made a pretty cover with decorative paper, that my zest for art projects came back. This reminded me that what we focus on thrives.

Recently, I dove into the art journal for a brainstorming session. What had begun to feel like a dry field – no ideas, no enthusiasm – became fertile ground, rich with possibilities and plans. I returned a direction for my art that has been in my mind and notes for over three years. My artist, and what she wants for the world, is back.

All this joy came because I dedicated a specific space for her and her ideas. A simple notebook provides the container for my artist.

While this part of me is vital, my art can still get pushed aside. It’s easier to focus on work, where I am rewarded more quickly and visibly. I see the impact my coaching has on my clients. My bank account gets the reward of being paid for my work. I feel a kinship with my colleagues, who are also working hard. We get a lot of external validation from being a hard worker and getting things done. 

My artist might not make me money now or ever. But making art feels good to me. It fills in the picture of me, giving me a sense of integrity and wholeness that we all seek. And yet, to the outer world, it might look like I am sitting in the garden painting pretty flowers. Frivolous. Not contributing. Not making a difference.

I believe that when we feel whole, when we feel our full vitality, we do contribute. We don’t waste time feeling envious because we are aligned. There is no part of us that’s banished or ignored. When we give attention to the things we love, we signal to ourselves and those around us that we matter.

Make space for yourself and what matters

Space isn’t just a physical spot like a studio or corner of the desk. Space for yourself and your dreams can look like:

• A dedicated notebook for your ideas and dreams.
• Time marked off – and kept – on your calendar.
• Regular meetings with an accountability partner – a peer, a coach, a group.
• A program or class that allows you to focus, learn, and grow.

This last one – signing up for something to force our focus on our passion projects – is pretty common. It’s not always the wrong way to make sure you get the space you need. Signing up for a class or program is a bad idea when you think that signing up means you’ve done the work. Sometimes we sign up and then go AWOL. We don’t show up. We don’t realize that there’s more to creating space than just getting the notebook, or the supplies, or registering for the class.

When we commit to space for our projects, we commit to ourselves. To facing the fears and insecurities that are our actual reasons for not showing up. To confronting the skills gap that has kept us on the sidelines. To reckoning with where we are and what we genuinely need to do our creative work.

It’s not the gear or the class. It’s self-respect that’s required to take a stand for ourselves and our ideas. To say, you know what, I don’t have any idea where this book or body of work or business idea is going, but my ideas and creativity are worth exploring.

What are you doing to make space for your passion project? 

We have a few spots left in the Original Impulse Atelier. This is a creative haven designed to give you the space and focus you crave for that project that must be made. Find out more here.

*I am considering doing a series to share in-depth how I use various notebooks to keep me on track personally, professionally, and creatively. If this is of interest to you, please let me know in a comment below.

Notebooks shown in this article include**:

Hahnemühle watercolor sketchbook

Go To Notebook by Chronicle with Mohawk dotted paper, Sage Blue

Moleskine Classic Dotted notebook, XL, reef blue

Moleskine Cahier, soft cover

**Affiliate links are used in this article. I only recommend products I use and believe in. I may receive a percentage of the sale price if you buy from one of these links.

It’s always fun to talk with Mark McGuinness, a creativity and productivity coach in the UK. And it was a true honor to be a guest on his podcast, The 21st Century Creative.

Check out our conversation on writing and book writing. 

 

Making decisions is often like a sweaty wrestling match with no clear winner. We grapple with what we want alongside our insecurities. We question our capacity and our abilities. We poll everyone we know to get a quick answer.

I’m in this position as I look forward to my art-making. I feel ready to go to the next level, even if I don’t know what it looks like. A colleague of mine has a group that seems to be a good fit to further me and my art. But I wonder…is this right for me now?

I know I need structure, insight from others, and support to move forward with my art. But am I ready? Do I have enough to go on? And am I willing to plunk down hard-earned cash for a passion project? I have no idea what results I could expect from my art, and I hesitate to commit to something that may go nowhere.

And if I am honest, underneath these practical considerations lurk my insecurities. Is my art any good anyway? What’s the point of it?

With these questions swirling in my head, I knew what was needed—a session with my trusty notebook and my decision-making process. While camping last weekend, I settled under the shade with my pens, notebooks, and a cold iced tea.

I use a series of questions, or inquiries, and free-write my answers. Seeing it all in ink on the page helps me to sort through the confusion. It’s easier to see clearly and access my intuition when I get it out of my mind.

First, I establish the issue at hand: Should I sign up for this program this year? 

Seductive as it is to get absorbed in the details of the possible program, I start with my current commitment. Getting rooted in what I am hoping to achieve helps me start from inside first. I ask:

What do I want for my art this year? What is my focus? 

The next step is one that many people struggle with. Somehow, it’s hard to know what we need. But this step alone can make all the difference in making a good choice for support. Knowing what I want for my art, now it’s time to assess what I need. I ask:

What do I need to achieve my goal? What skills do I need to learn? 

Then, I look to see if the program’s offer meets my needs. I ask:

How, specifically, will this program help me meet those needs? 

Then, it’s time to assess my current obligations and my real ability to have space for this. Taking on too much is a common tendency. It’s partly because we are typically not great at estimating how long things take. I also believe that piling a lot on our plate gives us an easy out for actually doing the work. I want to be sure that I can give this my attention. I ask:

What will need to shift to make room for this program? 

I looked at my upcoming obligations. I identified when and how I would make space not just for the coaching program but for the art-making itself. I feel confident I can commit the energy to make this a worthwhile pursuit.

Lastly, because this is a significant investment, I ask the all-important:

How will I pay for this?

I am currently focused on savings and on building my retirement funds. I assess every expense and refuse to sacrifice my savings goals for new things. Often, when I take the leap and commit to something, the money appears in the exact amount, which is both eerie and wonderful.

I’m not afraid to invest a significant sum in my development. A quick tally of the major programs I’ve invested in over 20 years shows I’ve spent upwards of $50,000. My personal, professional and creative development has absolutely benefited from these investments. And my clients also benefit from what I learn.

Once I worked through this process, a wave of insight and ideas flowed through. I filled pages and pages of notes about what I want to make, what values I honor when I make art, and how I will make space for my art. I have a sense about what to do going forward. I feel both clarity and a renewed enthusiasm for my art.

Ultimately, our choices have to feel right. If we go through a process like this and it still feels ‘off’, trust that. I hope sharing my process helps you make decisions that honor you and what you want for yourself. .

I believe that the answers to our questions are not out there. The answers are inside, and a short session with our wisdom and our ink can help us write our way forward.

What process do you use to make decisions? Share in a comment below.

Robin Salcido has a great podcast for women over the age of 50. She’s on a mission to rewrite the story that women’s lives aren’t interesting or valuable after a certain age.

I was honored to be a guest on her podcast. Check out the episode here and find out how I met and eventually married my husband at age 50.

You’ve heard the expression, “How you do one thing is how you do everything.” I think that it could also be true that how you avoid one thing is how you avoid everything.

The American Way of systemic racism and economic injustice have been exposed in ways I can no longer turn away from. I’ve committed to educating myself and taking action. Discomfort, excuses, and obstacles have popped up alongside my commitment. Are you feeling that too?

I’ve been coaching writers, artists, and entrepreneurs for two decades. I’ve heard all our excuses for not doing our creative work. Recently, I noticed that what we experience when we embark on our creative pursuits is the same as what happens when we step up to dismantle racial injustice. 

I have observed parallels in creative work and racial justice work in myself and others. Here are a few things I am finding.

Helplessness and overwhelm

With our creative projects, it’s common that we don’t know where to start. We had so many exciting ideas, but when we commit to our creativity, a fog descends. Too many options paralyze us, and we go limp with indecision. Our abundant ideas turn against us. We decide it’s easier to keep the status quo than to take action.

I’ve heard the same thing when we’re confronted with antiracism work. We know something needs to be done. We exclaim, “But what can I do?”

Not knowing what to do is no longer a valid excuse. Aunty Google always has answers for us. There are countless lists of resources we can access. In case you are at a loss for what to do about racial injustice, here’s an extensive list of antiracism resources. Download and save a copy for easy access.

I know the list of resources is long and may send you into overwhelm. Take an intuitive approach and make a mark next to the things that resonate with you. Make a shortlist of actions you can take now that feel aligned with what you care about.

Blaming and othering

When things get uncomfortable, we often get defensive. We then deflect responsibility. This approach externalizes the problem and lets us off the hook for taking ownership. It can look like this:

With our creativity, it’s easy to blame our circumstances or the people around us for our inability to make space for creative work. My kids, my spouse, and my job take up too much of my bandwidth to make room for writing. Or, I had an insensitive teacher who made an unkind comment about my writing decades ago that has frozen my creative dreams in a time warp. It’s their fault I can’t do my writing. Yes, these things happen. What we do about it is our responsibility.

For the antiracism work, we struggle to accept our part in it. We might say: It’s not my fault I was raised in a racist country. I can’t help that I grew up in a community with little diversity. No one taught me how to think or do differently. I blame my past circumstances for my current inaction.

Blaming and avoiding responsibility is not benign. Making someone else responsible for our circumstances is disempowering to everyone. Positioning people as ‘other’ and asserting that it’s their fault we don’t have the life we want is a fascist tactic that has caused incalculable harm.

Let’s ask ourselves: what is the cost of deflecting our creative or racial justice work? What’s the cost of pretending that it’s someone else’s fault or problem and not our own?

Emotions

Emotions are important. We need them to signal what is right and not right in our world. Yet we often let feelings stop us from taking action. I know I have. Here’s an example.

For the first 35 years of my life, I was financially illiterate. I had no idea how to be financially healthy. I was stuck in the notion that no one had taught me how to manage money. Other than the ‘save more than you spend’ advice from my parents, I didn’t have a clue how to thrive financially.

The systemic lack of basic financial education seemed designed to keep people impoverished and overworked so we don’t have the bandwidth to thrive and help others succeed. This pissed me off big time. I spent my young adult years infused with righteous anger about it. I was financially out of control, spending more than I made and racking up thousands of dollars in debt. I didn’t do anything until I sat myself down and said, so what you are mad. That’s not helping. Just get started.

I read books. I rallied a group of friends to gather monthly to discuss money. Over time, I made enormous changes. The emotions were still there, all along the way. But I learned how not to let them stop me. Educating myself and having regular conversations about finances allowed me to overcome my ignorance and my helplessness. Once I made these changes, I realized I could claim power in other areas of my life. I didn’t have to let emotions stop me.

We rarely avoid our creative work because of external obstacles. What’s under the surface in our emotional life is usually running the show. The conversations I have with my clients are 60% emotional labor, 40% practical.

If we don’t address the stuff churning under the surface, changes don’t stick. This looks like someone saying they want to write, committing to writing, giving it a few weeks, and then bailing out, usually with some of the excuses mentioned above.

Same for the racial justice work. I can sign endless petitions, donate money, and make posts on social media. But until I look at my privilege and how I have benefited from others’ disempowerment, real change isn’t going to happen.

Looking good and seeking approval

The primary fear I help people overcome with their writing is that they are not good enough. We fear that people will read our writing and will see not our greatness but our flaws. It’s easier to hold a writing dream aloft in a future, faraway state than to risk the messiness of our inadequacies.

For racial justice work, we desperately don’t want to get it wrong. We are afraid of saying the wrong thing and being shamed and shunned. That’s a real risk. But for those of us who have been privileged enough to opt out of this work, I invite an empathetic approach. Imagine you haven’t had the option. Imagine the risks a person of color or LGBTQI person is forced to take every single day.

The need for others’ approval is partly a primal safety measure. I get it. But it kiboshes creativity and leadership. Our desire for others to see us in a certain way wastes our energy and time. We can’t control how others see us; we control our actions.

But it’s so hard!

A lot of people want to be writers. Many of us want to be better people. The truth is, what’s required to write and be a contributing member of a better world often pushes us out of our ‘comfort zone’. We’re appalled at how much effort and time goes into writing something. (Six hours to write, revise, and publish this piece.) Or how many layers of crap we have to shovel through to play a role in making room for everyone at the table.

What’s helped me is to not focus on how hard it is. Instead, I focus on the sense of integrity and fulfillment that I experience when I do what I know is right for me and the world. When I show up to be responsible for honoring the gifts I’ve been given and the privilege that I was born into. As I mentioned in my financial empowerment story, when I stopped letting the emotions stop me from taking action, I claimed my power.

I am in the business of personal transformation. Yes, Original Impulse exists to help people write, make art, and grow businesses. For me, those activities serve as vehicles for transformation. The effort required to do all of those things is the work of changing ourselves and the world.

Both our creative work and the work of dismantling our inherent racism may have seemed optional until now. For my part, I am learning and unlearning. I am making space for racial justice work the way I’ve made space for my creative work.

What’s helped me again and again to transform is

1) reading to learn

2) listening to podcasts to get new perspectives

3) writing it out to understand what’s under the surface and

4) consistently having conversations.

What about you?

Get clear on why you must do your creative work now. Understand why you must do racial justice work now. Use these prompts:

I must write because…

I must play a part in racial justice because…

Ask yourself what values you are honoring when you meet the challenges of creative and racial justice work.

I have always been about empowering women and helping people express themselves, so that’s the first place I look. What can I do to contribute to women of color? What are the resources that teach me more about their experiences so I can offer something that’s genuine service and not my idea of what’s needed?

As a coach, I don’t tell people what to do. Instead, I help people find what’s right for them. Sometimes people ask me if they are copping out of doing their creative work. I can’t answer that. Only we know if we are shirking responsibility or copping out.

We have to show up in ways that allow us to live with ourselves every day. That’s why I’ve been able to do the creative work I’ve done – so I can live in integrity. And that’s why I am finally stepping up to take consistent action on my belief that we all deserve a world of equality and opportunity. I’m doing my part to live that value and not just hope others are doing the work.

What resonates with you? Is it true for you that how you avoid one thing is how you avoid everything?