I don’t like making mistakes. I know this is true for most people but I reeeeeaallly don’t like it. When I do make a mistake there is a lot of judgment and I don’t want to try again.
This is why when I go to restaurants, I go to the places I know I like and I order the things I know I like. When I cook (which is rarely😉) I cook what I know and don’t stray far from the tried and true.
You could say that I am a creature of habit and I like to feel safe and comfortable. But there is another side of me.
The creative side.
The side that gets bored with the same routine and wants to put things together in different, new ways. I like things that arise spontaneously and from an inspired place. I love creating pieces of art, playlists, yoga flows, dances and experiences like the Chakra Journey. Those things are what light me up from within.
I often wonder what would happen if I was able to bring that creativity into more aspects of my life. Where am I just going through the motions and where can I create new pathways?
As I have explored this, I realize that one thing that keeps me in the habitual mindset is fear and judgment. Fear that I will do something wrong and look silly or judgment from others or even worse...myself. This is what blocks creativity. When we let our internal or external judgments guide our path rather than the creative force within us.
Creativity lives within us because it wants to manifest THROUGH us. It is our duty as channels of divine energy to allow this flow to come through. There are many creations waiting to manifest within us, we just have to step out of the way.
To live in a creative way we must give ourselves time and space to let it come through. AND…we must give ourselves permission to MAKE MISTAKES!! While this sounds frightening, it actually takes the pressure off when we let ourselves know that we can make mistakes and not have to do it perfectly the first time, second time…or ever.
We can allow ourselves to just let words flow out onto the blank page or let paint flow from our brush to the canvas. Everything we do does not have to be a masterpiece.
Sometimes creating is easy and sometimes it is literally like giving birth-pain, doubt, fear and all. Creativity is to keep showing up. It is to sit down and face the blank page and make a mark on it. It is to do the work for the sake of creating and not for the praise we will get or money we will earn. We create because we are creative beings. That is it.
When we stifle creativity, it brings us down. We feel a heaviness as we have allowed our inner critic to win.
The critic’s job is to talk us out of risky things so we will be “safe.” When it senses creativity, it brings itself to the forefront of our minds. Since, by nature, creativity is about uncovering things that have not been seen before this is threatening for the critic, who likes to live a habitual life.
When we start along a creative path, we may experience a lot of resistance and judgment from within. Here are a few possible excerpts from an inner critic: Who am I to take the time to sit down and write when there are so many chores to be done? What could I possibly offer the world that hasn’t been done already…I might as well not try. So and so could do this much better, so I might as well let them do it. Nobody will like this anyway.
Once we see this ugly dialogue for what it is we can move through it. Take a moment and jot down some things your inner critic tells you. Decide if you want that part of you behind the wheel. If not, be willing to move through the resistance and step outside of your comfort zone. That’s where creativity lives!
Starting now, let’s remember why we create and allow ourselves the opportunities to let the creative energy inside of us to emerge into the world. Let us allow ourselves to make mistakes and ugly paintings. That is part of the creative process. Create for the sake of creating🌀
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