Working through impatience and confusion along the creative journey is by no means a unique experience. We’ve all been there, feeling the weight of indecision about our next creative step, or the intense sensation of restlessness as we wait. Distract ourselves. Then wait some more – for things to click; to show up in a way that says, YES, you are on track and thriving.
Feeling successful and in the flow is something we all crave, especially when we are creatively and emotionally exposed by sharing what’s in our heart. So when the crickets in the background grow louder each day, projects take a snail’s pace or seem to stop altogether, fear bubbles up. Overthinking kicks in. The mind gets in the way and tells us situations or circumstances mean something negative, or to give up without any reason other than impatience or judgment of our experience.
In reality, everything we are observing is just information, and any impatience or confusion is a message in and of itself. It’s an opportunity to see how old patterns turn nothing into “something”, simply because it’s not what we expected or envisioned as the path toward our self-expression, or we get stuck in fear loop. Instead of embracing and working through impatience and confusion, we fight it, or change paths as a work around before giving something time to flower; before we get clear intuitive guidance to shift direction.
Sensing the Difference Between Timing and a New Path
Time delays and lack of clarity ARE the messages we need to be hearing IF that’s actually what’s happening. Sometimes our mind skips right to the dramatic, turning information into fact, using it as a platform to beat ourselves up, or prove we are not good enough. The gift in the experience is a chance to practice an observer perspective, and not get attached to the worst case scenario. The invitation is to be mindful and continue to feed our creative spark, even when no one is paying attention, and play with new possibilities that extra time and space offers up.
Committing to the heart of what we want to create or the vision we want to build is the core ingredient of being successful. The challenge is the pressure we put on those signs and HOW we expect them to flow for us.
If you are stuck between should I or shouldn’t I, or can I or can’t I, simply be there. Without clear insight one way or the other, it’s easy to burn the creative energy we do have and squander it on overthinking and wishing things were different.
When we get caught in the push pull energy or feeling impatient and disappointed, it can help to try these three things:
- Sit in a safe, quiet space, breathe deeply several times, and just be. See what comes up, then write down whatever you feel, see, sense or hear.
- Write down how a current situation is making you feel and why. Is there truth in how you feel or is it fear talking? Is there an old pattern or fear getting activated by current circumstances?
- Give yourself a moment to just be, and not feel like you have to take action. Simply listen and observe; see what each day brings, and if your intuition is offering up new insight. Find a way to get out in nature, relax, or take your mind off figuring things out, and do your best to see extra time as a tool instead of the enemy.
When we are feeling raw, scared, and uncertain of what everything means, it can be very overwhelming. It can also put us into a space where we react out of a fear that we may never be able to get to a place of balance to thrive once again.
If you are in a space of confusion, impatience, or overreaction, call on creative play. Use the tools you already have in your creative tool box to explore ideas without accepting them; to invite in inspiration and growth. Most importantly, practice finding joy in the quiet space of exploration, to use imagination as a tool for potential and opportunity to write, draw, photograph, paint, and feel into new pockets of joy that are just for us to savor in the meantime, instead of crafting dramatic potential outcomes.
Time is only the enemy if we want to see it that way. So, use any delays to begin actively working through impatience and confusion, building new tools and methods to stay rooted in the present and creative possibilities instead of what’s not working.
Want to read other posts on a similar topic? Check out Why It’s Time to Stretch Those Creative Sore Spots and Creative Fog is Natural and Necessary To Ignite Genuine Self Expression. Interested in coaching support or an intuitive reading? Connect with me to set up an appointment. Like podcasts? Tune into mine, called Flirting With Enlightenment. On this latest episode I cover the topic Seeing and Understanding the Role of Chaos Our Lives.