Perhaps you noticed — or perhaps you didn’t — that I stopped writing these posts for several months. I just stopped!
Why?
Because every time I sat down to write, what came out bored me. I was writing because I thought I should — because I thought you were expecting something. I wasn’t writing because I had something that burbled up that I wanted to share with you.
My wonderful webmaster, Brian, nudged me gently every week. “Andrea,” he’d email, “do you have a TRY THIS post for this week?” I’d feel a twinge of guilt, but no new idea would light me up with enough energy to motivate a new post.
Until now … when my ideas seem to be flowing again.
3 Ideas to Help Refill Your Creative Well
Here are three right ideas I’d like to share with you right off the bat.
Idea 1: Let the ideas find you!
This first idea is from a wonderful interview someone did with my daughter, Carla. I can’t resist sharing it with you! She says it so much better than I might.
Hold on tightly, but let go lightly. Be willing to sacrifice everything for your vision, and then drop it all if a better way emerges. (You are made of ideas … they are not scarce. You’ll know the ones worth ditching it all for!)
I particularly love the notion that ideas are plentiful and you can have fun sorting and savoring them, and then grab the ones that won’t let you go.
Idea 2: Structure time for opportunities to emerge.
You miss many opportunities with friends and partners because it takes effort to pin down a date and time. Consider setting yourself up for lots of wonderful experiences with others by establishing regular date-times for, well … who knows what?
My husband Tyko and I have found this strategy to work very well. We have a standing date. Every Friday afternoon from 2:00 on, we go out together to do something special.
Often, we stack things — a museum, a meal, a movie — or perhaps a long walk in the park, a picnic and a play. Some weeks, I plan them. Other weeks, he does. And sometimes we just set out to see where our feet take us. This structure, makes room for periods of refreshing spontaneity that we can count on every week.
Idea 3: Stillness is part of a bigger trajectory.
Starting and stopping and starting again — that uneven pace of getting things done — isn’t bad or good. It’s just the normal pattern of creative energy.
The times when you stop something can be as productive as the periods of flow because, though you may not be aware, in those fallow periods, you’re planting the seeds for what’s to come.
So rather than thinking of my recent vacation from this blog as a sin — an error or a failing — I can see it as merely part of a bigger trajectory. One in which not doing something is as important as doing. Because not doing — stillness — gave me an opportunity to listen for, and perhaps hear, the ideas that are inexorably guiding me forward. You may find that to be true too.
ThisSit Still for a Few Minutes Today
I’m sure you have a big to-do list. But put it aside for a minute or two and just let your mind wander. Pay attention to the ebb and flow of ideas. Notice which ones make you feel good. Try it again later today or tomorrow. Notice if any of your ideas come back. Just like that.
Share an idea you can’t let go of in the comments below. Or, head on over to Facebook and share an idea that’s popped up for you there.
