Sometimes I’m woken up in the middle of the night. Most of the time I’m driving down a highway, windows down, radio blaring. That’s usually when I end up missing my exit, because it was in that moment, my next creative idea came to mind.
This time it was more like a seed planted than an “aha” moment. Different things all happening within a few weeks, in perfect synchronization, and before I knew it, I was digging my feet firmly in the ground saying “I’m doing this”.
Of course this is the point I swirl into my creative cycle, which goes something like this, more or less in this order:
1. Obsess: I can think of nothing but my new creative endeavor. Yes, that’s me staring into space and not hearing a word anyone is saying around me. I’ll nod my head now and then so you know I’m still in the room, but that’s about all your getting from me as far as adding to the conversation. I’m already in conversation with the committee in my head after all.
2. Charts: They make me feel smart and organized.
3. Research: Endless research on every aspect of what I’m about to embark on.
4. No Sleep: too much obsessing, charts and research to do.
5. Self Doubt: what happens after I finally get a couple hours of sleep.
Suddenly my beautiful seed that had sprouted new leaves the days and nights before has wilted. It’s been strangled by a weed. The weed grows on the notion that “when you share this great creative idea you have, no one will get it, and you will not succeed.” And it is at that point I get back in the car, and hope for a new and better idea.
NOT THIS TIME! No Fear! That is where this creative cycle begins and ends.
“For in every seed is the promise of a thousand forests…” Deepak Chopra
more to come…
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