It’s been soooo long! Several times I sat down to write a post, but then felt overwhelmed and guilty that it had been so long, so instead of just doing it, I pushed it off…again. But I’ve recently started listening to Elizabeth Gilbert’s new podcast “Magic Lessons.” And she’s motivated me…one thing in particular that she discussed really got me thinking. She talked about how it could be possible to respect your art too much. To put so much reverence onto what you want to create that you then freeze. And that really resonated with me. I’m doing that. I’m putting so much importance on what I should write, that I’m not writing at all. What I really need to do is just create art. Just create something for me, without feeling like it needs to be high quality.
It also made me think about what Anne Lamott calls “shitty first drafts.” And while I’ve read that several times, and even logically know that’s the way it is, I haven’t been practicing that. I’m tired of letting what should be a gift become a burden because I’m putting too much pressure on myself to get it right the first time. I feel so much better about myself when I’m writing that I should be writing for that reason. I’ve always had this dream of publishing someday, and maybe it will happen, but it doesn’t have to…and even more, it’s impossible for it to ever happen if I’m not actively practicing my craft. If I’m not sitting down and doing the work, I’m never going to get anywhere.
So I’m giving myself permission to just write for no other reason than that it makes me happy. I’m challenging myself to stretch my creative muscles. To possibly fail, but most importantly to DO!
Creative Recentering 