Your situation is just as unique as you are, but the struggles you experience aren’t. You might not even be able to put the issue into words, but read through this next section and see if any of it sounds familiar.
Are you in one of these three stages of creative denial?
- You know there’s something deep in you wanting to be expressed, but you aren’t sure what it is, or how to do it.
Every so often you take up a new creative hobby. You go out and buy all the stuff for it, and even finish a few projects. But soon you’ve lost interest and the stuff gets pushed to the side. You may have stacks of journals with just a few pages filled. Or perhaps you hang out with artists and writers, go to gallery openings, and film festivals, craft shows and nurseries, but you don’t dare try anything creative yourself.
- You know what your thing is, but you aren’t doing it (or doing it as much as you’d like).
There is this thing that you think about a lot. You have some great fantasies about what it would be like to actually get to do your thing as much as you want, even get paid for it. But, you just can’t find the time for it. Or every time you try to get started, something else comes up.
- You’re doing your thing and you’d like to create some kind of business around it, but YIKES, the thought of that has you completely overwhelmed.
You’re afraid if you take money for your thing it will cheapen it or make it less fun. Perhaps you’re waiting to get it exactly right before you put it out in the world. Or some supposedly helpful, caring people have laughed about your desire to make money from something so silly. (Their words!) Or maybe it’s just that you don’t know where to begin, and the more you think about it the more complicated it seems.
My approach works best if you’re open to:
- The possibility that you can have a life you really love
- Exploring your creativity, even if you can’t imagine calling yourself an artist
- Being as kind to yourself as you are to others
- Looking at your life with a different perspective
- Practicing a more loving way of being with yourself and the other people in your life
- Expressing your true self, even if that phrase seems a little cheesy
Keep reading if you’re curious about what to expect from this approach. And, if you haven’t already, get the free Check In With Yourself audio.
