The power of faith in the creative process
Faith is one of the most powerful parts of any creative process. I’m not talking about the spiritual kind (although that certainly helps) but faith in your ideas and ability to express yourself freely. And as easy as it might be to casually say to someone else, it’s one of the hardest things to actually DO when your creative babies are hanging out in the wind, waiting for acknowledgement.
Any time you are putting something in the world that is new or pushing the envelope beyond your comfy, cocoon-like perception, things can feel a little wiggly and unstable. Scary. Iffy. Icky. And that’s perfect — exactly how it should feel. That means you are really pushing yourself to new creative spaces within. It’s also where faith, your most powerful collaborator steps in. It connects you back to your heart space, where the very desire to create is born.
Being in your heart space is how you can truly create in a way that is genuinely you. It’s raw, real and exposed. It’s also undefined in a rational way, which makes it so easy for the mind to muck things up by tossing in fear as a diversion. That’s why faith in your own creative value is so important. It’s the one pure (not created by the mind) thing you can count on to bring a creative idea into the physical, because it assigns a clear personal value. The trick is assigning a value that’s worthy.
What Makes a Creative Process or Expression “Worthy”?
You are the one in charge of bringing value to your ideas, not other people. If your motivation is to truly create from the heart and put the faith behind creative ideas to grow and shape them, they are already worthy. They have your insight, energy and love in them.
It’s also easy to low-ball a creative idea or talk around it’s value by using phrasing like, “I just threw this together at the last minute” or “I’ve been tinkering with it for years and it’s still not quite right.” Why diminish it before someone else even has a chance to form an opinion of their own? Why tell a back story that cuts down your own creative gifts? This is just one way fear swiftly snuffs out faith and smothers the seedlings in your creative process.
How much better would it feel to say, “This new idea is so cool, I can’t wait to see where it leads me.” or “This project is giving me the opportunity to practice a new way to express myself, and I’m really proud of it.”
Fear is Here, Get Used to Working With It
Part of being human is being scared, and that’s completely OK. Just realize that it’s something to learn to work with, not completely avoid at all costs. When we work so hard to avoid what is scary, we are also avoiding the beauty on the other side of following through with a creative idea. It’s not comfortable, but the alternative is not feeling comfortable staying where you are or with the next creative process you need to work through either.
Each person works through fear in the creative process differently. It’s really important to find your own path and be willing to take the time to manage it. I sit with fear and sometimes way over analyze it, so I need to be sure to get some space, take breaks and get outside to connect with nature for a fresh perspective and renew faith in my idea. I also meditate and do yoga. Other people get physical to release that extra stress and it’s perfect. Just experiment tuning into the signs that show you fear is taking over faith, so you can use your own creative process to shift it into something different and supportive.
What are some ways you incorporate faith into your creative process to support your “seeds”?
You can also check out some of my related posts on challenges in the creative process regarding self criticism and creative change.
Photo credit: juliejordanscott on Flickr