feeling STUCK creatively?
How’s your creative mojo flowing these days?
Depending on how busy you’ve been, I’m guessing you might not even know.
For my part, I hit the wall last week. I was prepping a presentation I’m giving next week here in Nashville, and with each revision I couldn’t seem to feel any connection to what I was planning to say. Which felt scary. Because if I can’t connect to my own message, it’s unlikely anyone else will either.
Last Monday it got so hard I actually cried. I cussed a little. I seriously considered bowing out…
The last time I felt so stuck prepping a talk was back in 2005, when George Barna invited me to join him on a program and I went through twelve iterations before landing on what God was asking me to say.
Back then, the hitch was A) I felt intimidated by the opportunity, B) I wanted to prove myself, and C) God wanted me to share something that required a level of vulnerability I had yet to grow into.
This time these factors didn’t apply. Well, except for B, if I’m being honest. Which was some, but not ALL, of the problem…
The bigger culprit was how busy I’ve been these past few months “producing” things - client websites, a new business venture, Wednesday night bible study sessions at my church. Each of these have creative aspects and are things I enjoy doing, but the parts of my voice that are made for music, speaking, and writing require regular rhythms and open spaces to stay warmed up, too. Spaces that get choked out when things get busy.
So last Tuesday morning I got up and decided NOT to work on my talk.
Instead, I cleaned the kitchen. I did a load of laundry. I did a few check-in’s with friends I was behind on connecting with. I even sat at the piano for the first time in a while. It was like my brain knew I needed a reset; a shift from producing to just being. So I gave myself permission to breathe a little. And it worked!
A few hours later, I felt creatively and relationally grounded, and by the end of Tuesday I had landed in a sweet spot on my talk. I felt so relieved I wanted to throw a party. I settled for sitting on the swing with our porch cat, Stitch.
If you want to operate in FLOW, you’ve got to keep the flow going ALL the time. At least a little bit.
For me, this has meant a return to guarding the first 1-2 hours of my day from emails and tasks, and doing relational and/or creative things first (like this blog post). I realize you may not be able to dedicate that much time on a regular basis, but what COULD you invest?
The answer—and your commitment to honoring it—can be the difference between LONGING for more creative flow, and actually LIVING in it.
Lemme know how it goes…
For TRUTH,
- cr
