This post was written by one of our inspiring #RadLivin speakers, Connie Chapman, and was originally featured over on her lovely site conniechapman.com. Hear her speak + meet her in person on 20 Feb 2016 at #RadLivin.
Recently, while cleaning out an old hard drive full of files, documents and folders, I discovered that on it lay the beginnings of dozens of beautiful, creative, heart-driven projects and ideas.
There were 2 ebooks, several ecourses, workshop outlines and many other ideas of projects I wanted to create.
All of them were just sitting there in the beginning brainstorm stages.
All of them in draft mode.
All of them born under a rush of passion, inspiration and love, but then abandoned and never given a chance to be seen by the world.
I felt my heart become heavy with sadness as I realised the extent to which I had been sabotaging my own creativity.
The Flow Of Creative Energy
Creativity is a process of bringing what you feel within, out.
You give it life.
You honour it enough to give your energy to it and use that energy to give it shape.
When something is conceived within you it begins as merely a concept in your mind, an image or an impression. And then through focus, will and conscious action you lovingly turn that inner impulse into form.
Giving birth to a creative idea is a practise of self-love.
A practise of showing deep respect for what is arising within.
A conscious honouring of what you feel.
A willingness to stop whatever you are doing so you can pay full attention to the inner sensation stirring within you.
How Are You Getting In The Way?
As I reviewed the projects on my hard drive, I could feel the passion, excitement and deep love that sat behind each of them. Each was born out of a divine moment of inspiration.
But to bring them to life, these ideas needed more from me than that.
They needed my love, my attention and care.
They need me to tend to them.
To make time for them.
To act on them.
Giving birth to your creative ideas requires patience, commitment and courage. You must move through your self-doubt and the fear of failure, your perfectionist nature and critical mind. You must support yourself rather than tear yourself down.
But what do I typically do instead?
I close the computer and go about my day, busying myself with things that my mind has decided are way more important than the birth of this precious creative idea.
I listen to that sneaky sabotaging voice in my head. It tempts me with easier tasks, busies me with my to do list, and pulls me further and further away from my true soul purpose.
So, despite the creative impulse that burns within me, I turn my back. I walk away, and I somehow justify to myself; “I am too busy for this right now, maybe another time.”
And so this has got me thinking about what it takes to bring a creative idea to life – the process of conception to completion.
How To Bring Your Creative Dreams To Life
If fear is sabotaging your creativity, begin by acknowledging it. Are you all about the ideas and inspiration but you’re lacking the action and follow through?
If so, here are some questions for you to explore.
1. What are the ideas you desire to bring to life, and how do they feel?
Choose the ones that excite you the most. The ones that stir up energy within you. Those ideas pull you towards them with a magnetic force that you cannot say no. The creations that make you come alive.
2. Which ones feel ripe and ready to pick?
Choose the ones that feel the most right and ready. Where is there the most clarity and alignment? Which ones will take you closer to where you really want to go? Tune into all of the ideas and see which seem to have the most potential, possibility and momentum behind them in this moment.
3. What is it going to require of you to bring this to life?
You may very well need to change your priorities, allocate time, create a space, or make some sacrifices. You may have to wake up earlier. You may have to quit your current job and find one that allows more time and space for your creative expression. You may have to begin making your creativity more important than your to do list.
4. How can you support yourself to give birth to this dream?
Will you need more sleep, better food or exercise? Will you need to learn to speak to yourself in kind ways? Will you need to ask people in your life to hold you accountable and cheer you on? If it works for you, create a plan for how much time each day or week you want to allocate. You may want to give it a timeframe and break the project into chunks. Whatever makes it manageable.
5. What are your fears, doubts, and concerns?
Let’s face this head on now, to avoid them popping up in the future to sabotage you. Allow your mind to move forward and imagine this dream coming to life. Does it bring a fear of failure or fear around others judgment? Does it bring up self-doubt and your inability to actually do this? Do you fear the success or recognition that may come once it is completed?
6. What is your commitment, and are you ready to make it?
Commitment begins with an inner decision. Check in with yourself – Have you actually decided that you are ready to do whatever it takes to bring this vision to life? If so, declare this to yourself by writing it out. Look at it daily, see it in your mind’s eye and hold it in your heart.
For me, this is something I will be working on over the coming months. For too long my divine creativity has been set aside, waiting for me to decide it is the right time to make it a priority.
And so all this takes is a decision, and in inner commitment.
Followed by carving out time for heart-driven action.
And what better time to begin, than now.
Can you relate to my experiences of sabotaging your creativity? What is one creative project or idea you are now ready to commit to and bring to life? Declare it and share it in the comments.
With love,
Connie x
