In my experience, creative closure is an essential part of the creative process. It’s the part that stings, disappoints and sometimes sets us back, as much as it teaches humility, imbues us with hard won wisdom, and sets us free.
The challenge is in understanding how we come to creative closure in our mind and heart, even when saying goodbye to something feels forced or like a last resort.
As much as we want reasons and clarity why something isn’t flowing or is no longer an option, we only know what we know right now, in the moment. The moment serves as the tool in our hand – and there are two ways to use it.
#1 We can stay present with how the moment feels and take extra self-care to work through our emotions about it, instead of pushing against it.
Some options:
- Journal
- Meditate
- Time in nature
- Punch pillows and scream
- Eat all the comfort food – but not forever!
- Call a supportive friend or family member and vent
- Practice forgiveness and release all the ways you blame yourself
When the feelings have been acknowledged and honored, it’s easier to be honest with about creative closure. We become friends with it rather than rage against it, wondering why it’s happening to us. And we can drop the victim energy that goes with it.
#2 Get clear on the facts vs what we are making the experience mean about our value.
It’s extremely easy to look at an momentary experience of stuckness, lack, frustration and non-movement as failure, and a way to point at ourselves and say, “What am I doing wrong? Why can’t I get it right? Why can’t I do this better?”
No one is safe from this part of the creative closure process.
At times we can get stuck in this mode without realizing it, drifting in and out of victim energy until we see how it’s still clinging to us; lurking in our subconscious mindset. To get past the mental patterns that keep us in victim mode, it’s important to focus on facts vs internal beliefs.
Side Note: I recently recorded a podcast called Facts, Feelings and the Truth Between for my Flirting With Enlightenment podcast; it offers additional tips.
Getting clear is not about staying on top of every thought or idea that pops in our head, as much as it’s about paying attention to how we feel, then notice what we might be focusing on in that moment. The more we practice, the easier it is to notice how we fall into a self-blame pattern, and can take the moment to course correct, rather than pile on more negative self-talk.
The act of creative closure is also easier when we ask ourselves:
- What is ready to rise?
- What is ready to sunset?
When we take the time to sit with the answers, we may realize how something must “sunset” in order for another to rise up. Or, we finally see that we’re living an outdated story based on past conditioning rather than necessity.
This is the biggest gift of practicing creative closure. We offer ourselves the time, tools, and understanding of what a specific moment or season meant for our creative self expression, while realizing how it evolved is not personal. It’s simply what is.
Now we get to decide what it means, and how we move forward from it.
If you are interested in connecting with me for coaching or an intuitive reading, please set up a time to chat on my website at the blue tab. Want to read more blogs on a similar topic? Check out Transformation and Getting to the Heart of Your True Creative Identity or True Clarity Within Starts With the Power of Your Words. And you can always get more insights on my podcast, Flirting With Enlightenment.