Waiting on your creative process is like waiting for a two year old to clean their room. There can be progress and fun but fruition is elusive. Owning your personal process requires pro-active attention, identification, scheduling and sacrifice… the good kind of sacrifice. The first step in the Creative Process is Preparation. Preparation is about the pouring in to your creative pitcher with ideas and things that inspire you.
Yesterday, I worked 9 hours straight doing admin tasks, teaching a composition workshop, checking in event artwork and ending with a fun student mentor session. Although I really am blessed to do what I love, this part of my life is full day of pouring OUT of my creative pitcher. I was blue-printed to teach and inspire and in order to do this WELL, I have to pour IN to my creative pitcher so that I can pour out for not only creating my own artwork but also helping others do the same. So, at the end of this day of pouring out… I filled my creative pitcher by pouring in. Instead of putting on comfies and hanging low, last night, I replenished the creative juices in an abandoned adventure with fellow photogs seeking beautiful light in super cool old places. This act is a perfect combination of simply taking care of myself [knowing HOW I recharge and doing it] and honoring the first step in the creative process – Preparation.
Learning about ourselves is key to our process. Are you a morning or evening person? When is your brain best for critical thinking? When in your physical energy at its highest? How often do you need breaks/changes of scenery? Do you recharge alone or with people? What refuels you? What drains you? Do you know how much sleep you need? What makes you bail out of a moving car if the driver doesn’t stop quickly enough because you have to “see it”? Do you bail?
Preparation, the first step is about collecting ideas and inspiration. You are absorbing art in your domain that inspires you, spending time with people who encourage you, spending time with people you encourage, You are collecting ideas like seashells. You can sort them later. Just connect with an idea… and collect.
This is a simple + mandatory step that must be tended to every day. Every. Day.
This is a fun + fulfilling step once you learn to collect ideas with reckless abandon.
This is fueling that gives you the gas to drive and staying full gives better mileage.
The remaining steps of the creative process will be addressed in the next blog but I separated Preparation out with specific intention. Learning how to collect ideas and honor oneself are tied together. How we think about ourselves, how we take care of ourselves, learning why we do what we do, seeking our blueprint, connecting with our purpose, learning there’s more to our lives than what we “do”, identifying our gifts, asking questions that take us beyond our fence… these need to be addressed before we just “do”.
Our creative process is tied in to our human process… just being us. If we only pay attention to the creative part and allow the rest of us to run amuck, there will be trouble. Being a “creator” is not an excuse for self-induced poor health [Fritos instead of fresh fruit], poor manners [she’s temperamental because she’s an artist], lack of training in technology [I’m an artist, I don’t understand computers], self-induced sleep issues [I work best in the middle of the night] or a plethora of other habit + excuse combinations we creatives seem to take a masked pride in toting. Inspiration that comes from demise certainly has a place in the darker places of the art world. Many artists who have suffered trauma process their suffering through their work brilliantly. But should the plan be to live in a state of trauma from which to create work? Or is it ok, also, to emerge and create from a healthier place?
Balancing life, processing life, being an advocate of being the best YOU that you can be all takes a pro-active effort that lasts long enough to create healthy patterns. This takes learning, attention, discipline, adjustment, more discipline, carrying healthy snacks, more attention, more learning… you get it… work. Taking care of you allows you a better platform from which you create. Taking care of you will also bring you to a place where you can see over your fence.
Together… choosing to be the best + healthiest YOU that you can be along with giving yourself full conscious + consistent permission to gather ideas + inspiration around you pretty much all the time… is the first step in the creative process. Take the time and work necessary to make this step happen. It will miraculously feed and fuel the full process in a way that could bring on cartwheels.
