“But finding you were able to make something up, to create truly enough so that it made you happy to read it; and to do this every day you worked was something that gave you a greater pleasure than any I had known. Beside it, nothing else mattered” // Ernest Hemingway
I’ve never really considered myself a creative person. Sometimes I attempt to create things, sometimes I don’t try because of self-doubt. But something that I’ve realised over the past couple of weeks, is that those who are seen as creative, those inspired to write, paint, record and produce, they are no different to us mere mortals who say silly things like ‘i’m not a creative person’
The only real difference, between us and them, is that they bypass the doubt, the resistance, the gnawing voice in their head that is telling them that whatever you create will be no good. Whether it is a conscious decision or not, the creative types simply start. We succumb to the negativity. They put pen to paper, paintbrush to canvas and they get to work. They do this because it brings them joy. The art, their creation, is not a means to an end. it’s an end within itself.
Over the last week, the reality of this isolation has hit me pretty hard, I miss my work, my colleagues, my friends and the life I once lived. I’d allowed myself space to deal with what has happened intellectually, but I hadn’t really given any thought or time to how I was coping emotionally.
When this happens, I need time and space to ruminate on how I’m feeling, and usually, I write or read to help me work through these feelings.
The other night I picked up a book that was gifted to me a few years ago by a dear friend. Unknown to me a short passage was highlighted a couple of pages in. A passage which was exactly what I needed to read at the time. A passage that reminded me of the importance of journey before destination, one that re-instilled in me the importance of trusting the process, of showing up, of doing things that are hard, because once you get started, the whole world changes.
My focus for the last few days has been to create. To ignore the nagging voices in my head which are telling me it’ll be rubbish. To put pen to paper because I know it will help me feel better and produce more. And that’s just what I’m doing.
Whatever it is that you’re mulling over, stop the mulling, and just start.
It has certainly helped me feel better about what is happening.
And that passage, well it’s at the top and the bottom of this page.
We are all creators, but it’s on us to sit down and do the creating.
Be amazing
LW
