3Cs of Creativity & Life
So, you want to make art. (or music, or fancy cuisine, or amazing adventures) It doesn’t matter what you want, there are three simple things to help you get there.
The first one is clarity. If you don’t know what you want, anything you get will feel okay. It might not feel great, or inspiring or amazing, but you will be okay with it. Without clarity life is a series of days, events, problems or activities that fill your time but can leave you feeling unfulfilled. Like eating a meal and thirty minutes later you’re perusing the pantry.
When you find yourself always looking for something more, I suggest you stop looking. Just sit for a bit and figure out what you want. Knowing that you want to work in clay and make imaginary animals can be a very clarifying realization. As can painting with any medium. Or deciding that what you really, really want is to just explore in sketchbooks. Investing some time sorting through all the options and narrowing it down to one thing is a super effective way to save a lot of time, energy and money. Instead of being okay with whatever comes along, you have thoughtfully chosen one target and you are aiming all your resources at it.
Once you take the time and make the effort to clarify what you want to pursue, the next C is confidence. This is where you listen and even write down all the reasons (pronounced excuses) you have for not moving forward with your inspired idea. You already have a different project started, you need to buy a few things, you have never tried it before, blah, blah, blah. The greatest of these is what is people think. I beg you, please - live your life in a way that makes you happy and stop worrying about what other people will think of your favorite activities. It’s not your job to make them happy. It’s your job to live the happiest life possible. No one else has the time or energy to do that for you.
If you are worried about what other people will think - they are too busy with their own stuff to give it that much thought. If they feel the need to comment, feel free to just give a long silent pause. The longer the pause the more uncomfortable they will feel and the less likely they are to make any other comment. While they are getting uncomfortable, you can mentally review your reasons for diving into your desires.
Once you have your list of reasons in front of you, read them aloud to yourself. Are they true? Are they insurmountable? Are they comfortable and you want to fight to keep them? It is impossible to argue with anyone who holds their limiting beliefs so tightly. Instead, try writing the opposite of the statement and see it that seems possible. For example: I can’t draw well. vs. I can practice drawing until I can draw well. The first sentence gives you an out. You don’t have to do anything. The second one inspires you toward a particular focus. It gives you the direction in which to put your energy. That’s what clarity and confidence look like.
The final C is courage. Once you figure out what your thing is - do it. You have taken the time to figure out what you want and why it is important to you. You have quieted all the inner critics saying but, what if you fail. (no such thing by the way) Now, the only thing left is to get in motion. An idea that no one acts upon is great if you are a philosopher. But if you want to be great at something, you need to move toward that target. Courage is the act of getting up, getting in motion, chasing the goal and making tiny steps of progress. Maybe no one else will notice. But you will.
Knowing what you want is a gift. Believing you can get it is a dream. Working for it is a journey. That journey becomes the moments of joy that make up your life. Please make it as joyful as possible. You don’t have to ask anyone else what you want. You already know but, you have to take the time to ask your quiet inner self. That’s time well spent.
