After the Flow, The Creative Ebb

work in progress - untitled

After the creative high comes the inevitable crash.

June was all about doing: setting up a new Web site, taking flying lessons in creative entrepreneurship, expanding connections with like-minded people, busting through artistic comfort zones and producing new paintings, conjuring up, planning and scheduling new projects for the fall. It was a full-on trip of creative momentum and energy.

Enter July.

July surprised me with a considerable shift in energy and is whispering to me about being: sitting, writing, observing, experiencing the present and letting go of to-do lists and expectations. It's also shifting my thoughts from the outward matters of business, networking and creativity to more inward matters like the home, roots, family and nature. It's a slowing down, a return to the core after a flurry of external activity.

I won't lie, there's a part of me (most likely an irrational one) that's afraid I've lost June's creative flow forever; luckily another part of me is practicing trust that this creative ebb is all part of the process and necessary to replenish the well.

Maybe it's simply time to embrace flow of a different kind for a while. I'm choosing to run sit with it and see where it takes me.

PS - I'll be away from this space for a week or so as I take a break to soak in some salty sea air, but I'll be back the week of the 19th - maybe even with that new Web site I've been promising! See you on the flip side. xo

A Sudden Influx of Creative Possibility

It seems that flying lessons has spurred me into an expanded creative orbit of possibility with so many ideas and actions I want to take that it's exhilarating and overwhelming all at the same time.

a braindump of creative goals

The past few weeks have been a flurry of creative ideas, opportunities, to-dos and micro-actions, followed by a few micro-crashes. I'm not sure how to deal with it all, but until I figure out a system (or accept that I won't) I've been working through it as follows:

• I write everything down: ideas, to-dos, what-ifs, questions, references, blog addresses, book titles, etc. Better have it clutter my desk than having it clutter my mind.
• I write micro-actions on my whiteboard and erase them when they're done. Satisfaction ensues. (I seem to enjoy the soothing white space left on the board when I erase them vs. the increased clutter of lines when I cross them off.)
  
• I set loose weekly and monthly goals. They may not always be realistic, in fact, they may be overly optimistic, but they give me a sense of focus and help me practice discernment and patience. Not all things need to be done immediately, some things can indeed wait.
• I run with momentum when it's there. If I'm on a roll and the energy's high I go with it knowing that it most likely won't last. I accept the flow.
• But I try to get to bed at a decent hour and allow myself time to unwind with a novel or some deep breathing to stop the creative monkey mind from taking over. I get excited about my creative projects and when the adrenalin's pumping could easily work on them late into the night - and sometimes I do - but it will catch up with me. I need to be aware of that.
• I listen to my body and mind. If I'm feeling tired or struggling to focus or concentrate I stop and rest, knowing that the energy will come back. I remember my Basics and recharge. I accept the ebb.

This has been working for me for the past few weeks, but I'm not sure how effective it will be without injecting a bit of structure, whatever form that may take. Being a self-confessed productivity geek, I'm thoroughly enjoying the prospect of experimenting and figuring out what works to get things done.

How do you deal with an influx of creative ideas, possibility and to-dos?