WCT2012 #1 - Getting Out Of The Way Of Yourself

[Dan Goodwin]

Welcome to the first Weekly Creativity Thread (WCT) of 2012. 

This week we're talking about getting out of the way of ourselves. To elaborate a little more, what I mean by this is removing the blocks and obstacles we tend to throw in our own paths that stop us creating as freely as we could do.

Another way to describe this might be the ways you sabotage your creativity.

As before, here are three questions to ponder to start the conversation. Have a read and a think, then share your thoughts and comments with us as a reply below. 

1. What are some of the ways you get in the way of yourself creating? What do you find yourself doing that stops you getting to the page/canvas/lens at all? What are some of the ways you trip yourself up and get in the way whilst you're actually trying to create? 

2. What can you do, and what have you done in the past, to help you realise when you're getting in the way of yourself, or self-sabotaging? How can you be more vigilant and increase your awareness?

3. What are you afraid will happen if you did you get out of the way of yourself long enough to create your most amazing work? 

Looking forward to hearing everyone's input.

Dan

[Dan Goodwin]

1. Something I noticed today about getting in the way of myself, when I was out taking photos. 

Sometimes I walk along a path, and notice something that would potentially make a good photo, and would benefit a closer look. But I walk past. It's a way of not giving myself the opportunity in that moment to find and capture a great shot. 

I usually go back and explore, but in that initial moment walking past I notice that little internal conflict going on, between the artist and the saboteur, and the saboteur briefly winning. 

2. Usually I'm doing something I know is just procrastinating, rather than creating. So being aware of that. Seth Godin wrote a very good post the other day about the first thing we do when we switch the computer on in the morning. As I interpreted it, he suggested if we always spend those first minutes/hours of the day reading and reacting to others (responding to emails, commenting on blogs, social media etc), instead of creating our own new work, we're not making the best use of that precious early morning time.

Most days I incorporate this into my morning stack - yoga, gratitudes, meditation then writing something new. But sometimes instead of writing I head to my emails or CCS or Google+. Then don't make the opportunity to write later in the day, when there are far more external distractions. So this is one way of noticing when I'm avoiding doing new work.

3. Probably something that I've always feared - things just running away and getting out of control and feeling completely overwhelmed in trying to keep up with them. Which is why I've miminised a lot of things in my life anyway over the last couple of years, online and off. This is a work in progress!

[shawnacy]

also, something struck me in reading your #1. i think we all do this. i know i do. something hits me and i reach that moment of undoing. of inspiration. and i have the same reaction. walk past, keep doing what i'm doing, don't be interrupted. and while  i think we should always go back when we can, to stop and appreciate and take in the thing that's amazed us, there is a next question of how to respond to that moment. 

is it always necessary to grasp at each moment of inspiration as a platform for creation? there is value, too, sometimes, in simply sitting with the moment. slowing to stillness and letting the full impact of the wave of unexpected wonder fill us completely, tendriling out into each nerve and cell and breath. 

i know for myself, there are times i miss the personal message because i'm so intent on capturing the experience in words. my mind is on 'create' rather than 'appreciate,simmer, and grow.' 

we can't always let things go, this way, or we'd never produce anything, but ... once in a while... maybe. for the sake of our own inner cisterns that can often run dry. maybe we ought to keep one or two things just for ourselves. 

or at least, we can maybe do some of this first. and then move on to the creation and the sharing of whatever remarkable experience we've just had with the rest of the world. 

[Dan Goodwin]

No I don't think we can grab every moment of inspiration. There are far too many! And yes definitely we need to sit and hold one idea and actually protect it from being distracted or blown off course by new ideas flying in. (I'm actually composing a new article on this kind of thing at the moment).

Do you think that if we let ourselves live in that moment of inspiration, and then creation, fully enough, thinking about any kind of potential audience almost then becomes redundant? Our job is to give our all to the moment(s) of creating and express it as best we can, I think. Then we can think about letting others take a peek. : )

[shawnacy]

completely agree. 

i don't/can't ever work with an audience in mind. i get lost in the creation (sometimes really deeply), and it's only when it comes time to put things 'out there' in front of other eyes, that i get gun-shy, and start having all sorts of doubts and presupposing ambivalence and so on. 

... i don't even know that i have any kind of audience in mind at all in terms of readership, etc... which may be counterproductive, if one pays any heed to the whole idea of niches and such. but i can't make myself create a demographic. and though i'd love to make an actual living doing what i love, i can't/ won't create on-demand, or cater to any kind of specific set of formulae. i'd rather work a day job forever, and write the real stuff in the off-hours, if i had to choose. ... which sounds very grandiose and self-important, i realize, but there it is. 

[Dan Goodwin]

I think it sounds very focused and the words of a writer, indeed an artist, who believes in their work and the importance of creating with integirty under their own terms. I both like it, and very much relate to it.

My CoachCreative writing, especially my blog, has more "me" in it than every before, whereas I used to write more generically to try to encompass a wider audience.

My creative writing had always been written with little compromise.  

 

[Sam Brightwell]

is it always necessary to grasp at each moment of inspiration as a platform for creation? there is value, too, sometimes, in simply sitting with the moment. slowing to stillness and letting the full impact of the wave of unexpected wonder fill us completely, tendriling out into each nerve and cell and breath.

... great words from Shawnacy!

How I get most in my own way is by trying to turn every moment of inspiration or 'doing' into something productive and creative.

As creatives, we tend to forget that we need to let the wheels turn sometimes, and sometimes we need to let things idle. Otherwise we mine our lives too deeply and burn out. JC talks about this in The Artist's Way. Sometimes filling the well is about letting the inspiration fill us up without trying to turn it into Art.

[Dan Goodwin]

It's like gathering materials, without consciously gathering materials.

The equivalent of walking through wild meadows in the height of summer and picking up tiny grains of fragranced pollen on your clothing and skin as you wander through, as opposed to going out into the meadow with a scythe and chopping down arms full of flowers...

I think this idea of letting things gather and percolate might be a good one for a future WCT.

[Sam Brightwell]

yes.

It will probably sound counter to most of what you read on the web about productivity/creativity, but I have actually found that my creativity has increased since I push myself to do less (and I don't see this as connected to my ME/CFS and limited energy issues). Consequently, I no longer accept the "turn up at the page" mantra.

Perhaps when you do push yourself less, what you do create is richer / has more value?

[Dan Goodwin]

Interesting how you've phrased this as pushing yourself to do less. I would equate "pushing" with more, so it flips it around.

I do show up every day, and I do believe for me, and many others, it's the basis of a highly creative life. But we come to the difference between quality and quantity. Saying "highly creative" to one person might mean someone with a fantastic imagination that creates one piece of work a year, and to another person it might mean someone is highly productive and produces something every day, even though what they're creating is far more mundane and formulaic. Who's most creative?

I might create every day, but I don't share/publish what I create every day. I'm not sure of the benefit (to the audience) of writers for example who do that, because inevitably some average to weak work comes out some days, that might've been better kept private.

I think I would encourage people to try to show up every day, then from that select their best work to share and build on.

Another clarification - by showing up to create, I don't necessarily mean write 1000 words. One day, showing up might mean sitting on your sofa for ten minutes daydreaming with pen close by, just letting thoughts meander and take shape. You might only write a couple of words or phrases at the end, but they could be more meaningful than a 1000 words of writing just for the sake of writing.

The intention is the most important thing - honouring and respecting our creativity enough to give it the space and opportunity to take shape in the form of ideas, then creative projects.

Interesting thoughts Sam!

[Caroline Alexander]

i don't think creativity is limited by physical disabilities like ME/CFS ; I think we tend to pace ourselves better and not force the issue, and its this that allows us to be more creative. We listen more to what is within, we stop to smell the flowers, and we also daydream and think because sometimes we physically need to. These are things that enrich our imagination and they influence what we create, whether its by words, music or visual means.

How relevent this is I don't know, but many of the creative people  I have come across online have Fibromyalgia or ME/CFS or similar  disabilities that you would ordinarily think would limit a person's capabilities. It seems to open up another dimension to those who take up the creative challenge, and none of those people would see themselves as being disabled; I certainly don't. And none would see their disability as interfering with their creative abilitieseither; it may alter how we go about things,  but thats more likely to be an advantage, not a disadvantage

[Dan Goodwin]

Yes, put like this, it's almost like the people who would not consider themselves disabled and who are able bodied actually ARE disabling their ability to create by taking on too many things, trying to do too much, at too high a speed.

You hear many stories about how a condition or illness of some kind forces people to stop and take stock, reassess what's really important and shift their priorities.

Courtney Carver is an example online who comes to mind, she was diagnosed with MS five or six years ago and it became the catalyst for many positive changes in her life, and like her blog's title - Be More With Less - by reducing and reprioritising in her life she now feels she has so much more.

[Susan Hosken]

Caroline,

My mental illness definitely affects my creativity and renders me unable to do things a lot of the time.  i try to work around it but I still see my illness as disabling. I guess i still haven't accepted the restrictions

lots of love from susan in australia