Big shifts and grand gestures get a lot of attention when it comes to breaking new creative ground, but there’s something even more powerful about the small tweaks and shifts you make as you create. It’s where playing turns into crafting; how an idea shifts from vision into form.
When you feel ready for a big change in your life it can seem like you have to “go big or go home” or maybe even trash what you’ve already created for something completely new to make real headway.
Why? What is about the creative ground you’ve already planted that no longer feels right, inspiring for fulfilling? If you can’t answer that, making a big change won’t offer anything different other than a lot of extra work towards an unclear goal.
Mastery Starts with Subtlety
Instead of thinking you’ve made a mistake or need to start from scratch to get something “right”, focus on the power of tinkering with what you’ve already created to shape it into something with a bigger, more refined purpose. Better yet, focus on tweaking your point of view.
[bctt tweet=”The small, subtle changes you ponder and practice help you build creative mastery and feel into the flow.”]
These small acts of creative love help you slowly amp up your craft and break into new creative ground in a gentle, thoughtful way that’s focused and intentional.
Through concentrated effort to connect through the action of small changes, you build a stronger connection to your project or work and can view it with a more refined perspective, which slowly helps build confidence and clarity.
Next time you think you need to start over, surrender to making small tweaks instead – letting them sink and marinate along the way. Be with them. Experience them with all of your senses. Be willing to see with fresh eyes.
The each little change you make could help bring a project or idea to completion, allowing you to let go and move forward with peace, or open up brand new creative ground you never expected. Taking it slow also gives you a chance to listen into something deeper with a more open heart.
Practice is the Most Important Part of Creating
The tweaking is all part of the practice of creating. You are refining your eye and growing your skills in small intentional ways that each have meaning.
Find ways to honor and be grateful for the art of refinement through practice. Cherish it as much as the performance, product launch or completed manuscript. Each part of the process helps you build confidence and character in valuable ways through these intentional acts, and has a huge impact on how you see yourself and creative self expression. The creative tweaks you make throughout your life each lead you to something you didn’t see in yourself before, which means you are creating a more refined “you” along side your work at the same time.
How do you approach making subtle changes to your work or creative projects? Are you able to feel into when it’s done and when you are being guided to explore new creative ground?
Photo credit: Salvatore D’Oro, Mark Seton, Colton Witt