The preceding post of this series focused on organization and routine, but I wrapped it up by advising to break from structure and run with the creative spirit when it strikes for the sake of capturing an authentic feeling while in the flow.
However, when feeling uninspired, don’t postpone getting down to business because if you do, a.) you may never get started, and b.) chances are, eventually the creative spirit will come to visit. And the more you show up and begin to view the world through a creative lens, the more often it will drop in.
Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightening to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.
Photographer Chuck Close
You can always find an excuse for not doing the work. No matter how much resistance there is, I’d been down long and far enough to learn the only way to feel OK inside is through effort—for me, and I suspect for you as well, all material solace is fleeting.
When I finally hit actual rock bottom, all I wanted to do was avoid my go-to crutches and put in work towards manifesting my ideal self, because I just didn’t wanna feel and look that way anymore. In fact, doing the work and not indulging my urges were the only things that allowed me to sleep well, “on a bed of merit.”
And when I did, I was flooded with inner-joy again because I felt I was using my God-given gifts.
I used to be interested in the world and inspired, but as my thoughts snowballed towards consuming and away from creating, I increasingly failed to run with that inspiration. A big part of the reason I never came back to see my creative musings through to completion was laziness—I tended to wait too long, losing the initial feeling of ingenuity along the way.
But even when I sat down with the intention to work, I was met with intrusive thoughts from my attachments and my lack of initiative towards anything “difficult.”
Leaving Nothing Unfinished
Beyond building your self-worth, taking action is another exercise in simplicity and mental clarity. I’m talking primarily about in professional life, but also in terms of the responsibilities – both foreseen and unforeseen – that life throws your way. Even actions as simple as texting people back or adding the item that just popped into your head to your shopping list, for that matter.
Not allowing things to fester frees up your mind for more substantial pursuits because you’re no longer required to consider what else you still need to do. Making the most of every opportunity and leaving nothing on the table allows you to let go, preventing you from ruminating on what could have been.
I don’t even want to know the total hours (which at least add up to days) spent regretting actions I could have taken months earlier, conversations I should’ve had, or other unseized opportunities.
Grabbing the bull by the horns created a sense of control of my life, a feeling I needed tremendously when I felt everything was spiraling out of control.
The “productivity mindset” is very en vogue these days. But I would rather be mindful of the task at hand and get less done than run around half-assing everything. Don’t be reluctant to go slowly. Improvement happens quickest when you stay mindful and become a finisher—and then do it again and again.
However, in professional life, you don’t want to overdo it to the point where you burn yourself out (lose the spark) or become counterproductive, losing the forest for the trees and diluting the quality of the work.
When writing, I like to (temporarily) call it quits once I’ve had the thesis, “light bulb over the head” idea, and then let the subconscious marinate on it until it draws more inferences—at which time, I promptly get back to work… And so goes the cycle of creativity.
Life is a fine dance between doing and non-doing, knowing when to act and when not to.
Up next – Part VI: Stillness
Conscious Consumption 