Hiya. I’m writing this on a plane to London, with my last sessions before the trip still on my mind. My darling entrepreneur clients had a bit of PDF-itis this week. Please consult the description of this virus below, and see if you’re exhibiting any of the symptoms. Apply the remedy liberally, if applicable.
As entrepreneurs and creatives, we set our own timing. No one says how our creative process works but us.
So there’s no one to balance us when we don’t give each part of the creative process it’s due, which is all too often. Get a glimpse of an idea, and BAM! We’re already worrying about how it will work, when will it happen, will it or won’t it make us money, and what everyone will think about it.
Creating the life you want is not an instant PDF download.
You will almost never know exactly how to accomplish an idea the second you think of it. And if those babies were insta-downloads, even a small idea would be one mother of a PDF, that still means you gotta let it finish downloading all the way before it’ll even open, before you can rea]want because they simply will not give themselves enough time in dreaming, idea generating mode to bring it fully into being.
So many artists I work with wait to use their gifts, expecting the PDF to hit their desktop with a huge *ding!* – to have every step of the way lit up before they get going.
I’ve been working on this myself for years, and I still notice myself getting caught in it. I spent 3 days straight in airports this week, and I just wanted to hurry up and get there. And for the last few months I’ve just wanted to hurry up and grow my business to the next level already, because all of these ideas are dropping in and I want them to be done.
Reveling in the process again…
People want to turn on the floodlights in the cathedral to confirm that they’re not in a cardboard box. And they’re in such a hurry to find the switch for the floodlights that they stay in the dark way longer than they need to.
Learning about your own gifts, building the life and business you want is about lighting one candle at a time, until the whole cathedral glows.
And an idea needs to be softly coaxed into being – candlelight is so much more suitable for this than searchlights. You’re in you’re right brain when an idea is hatched – seeing connections between disparate things, creating a metaphor so that your clients can finally understand what you offer, composing a new melody, sketching an idea for a new series of paintings… That’s all right brain territory my darrlinks, which means procedural how-to stuff is off-topic, unless the to-do steps are inherent in the idea.
Bring in the workmen to measure the cathedral after you’ve lit it up – don’t let the left-brain responsibility stuff jump in and take over until you’ve loved up your idea, and lit it up candle by candle.
Some of the most successful creative geniuses and entrepreneurs talk about their creativity as if it’s an act of worship, writing a devotional to their spirits every time they put together a new venture.
I believe it.
Do you know the feeling they’re talking about? The surge of energy within as an idea comes almost through you, and you feel a strong pull to it, a want and clear picture of that want in a way you’ve never felt before. That rush of relief as you remember “oh, yeah. I’m in a cathedral. And I love this place – I’ve built it with my own two hands – this is mine.”
Some of us have just realized we’re in a cathedral, or we haven’t seen a glimpse of it since we were young. So there may be less devotional “projects” lining the walls, not as many altars to your gods. But so what if your biz dev awards don’t crowd the niches, or you haven’t made a single work of art to honor this place yet. So what if you’re a newbie, or an oldie, or whatever?
You’re in it just the same - you don’t have to earn your vaulted ceilings, your perfect acoustics, your patterned inlaid stone floors. You are who you are – your internal space is gorgeously crafted by those instincts and talents of yours.
It’s so important for us to remember what the actual act of creating is: seeing a connection between two disparate things, or being inspired to a want, and then seeing/hearing/feeling a glimpse of the remedy to that. It’s like a cosmic call and response – I see a hole, and I want to fill it. I see a discomfort, and I know an ingenious way to soothe that. I see a blank canvas, and I alluva sudden know how it would feel to have it saturated in color. I hear a story on the inside, and I can’t rest until I’ve brought it out.
The remedy: one candle at a time.
Got a feeling you’re in a cathedral, and want to see the full magnificent manifestation of it all around you? Instead of running around like hell in the dark looking for the floodlamps, strike a match. Light the first candle… Your very own shock-and-awe will unfold, one little flame at a time.
Soften your mental stance- you will not think nice things about yourself or come up with brilliant ideas until you chill the f— out, my sweets. I don’t think I need to back that up with fancy brain terms for ya, that’s just common sense. Take a walk. Ask for help. Do whatever it takes to fall in love with the process again, so you can revel in your internal cathedral again, and your ideas can come brilliantly into being.
Ok, cross your fingers for good travel juju this week. I love love hearing from you, and I may be a bit behind in responding to your comments this week. Will do my best, in between deep dunks in opera and theater (themes of the week!)
xoxo
Sinclair
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