As work continues on my ‘emerging vision’ project, I am preparing to take the next step up the ladder of creation which involves a serious investment of both time and resources.
This step is generating feelings which are a mixture of excitement and uncertainty.
Loving this project and its potential myself is one thing. The question is, will it ‘hit the spot’ for anyone else?
Many writers experience similar doubts when showing their work to others for the first time.
So how do you take those important next steps when faced with mixed feelings?
There are many valid answers to that question.
Today I am choosing to focus on just one important mindset which I have discovered to be one of the most successful ways forwards for both personal and professional progress.
I call this pro-active surrender.
It is a paradox that you can be actively engaged in developing a creative project and simultaneously maintain an attitude of surrender.
Yet embracing this paradox is a powerful way to remain grounded and in balance when those scary thresholds appear on the horizon.
It’s a bit like the yin (passive) and yang (active) energies of creating any piece of writing, or indeed developing any new business or personal project.
You need both for the ‘whole’ to reflect the full potential which you have envisaged.
Imagine a child’s seesaw.
At one end you have all of the tasks and actions you need to take in order for the project to come to fruition.
With writing this includes showing up regularly to make sure that your writing happens, learning what you need to know to develop the skills of your craft and seeking out the right information to support your progress.
At the other end, you need quiet time to reflect on your ideas, space to pick up on new possibilities and ‘time out’ to process the details of each stage along the way.
In the middle of the seesaw there is a point of stillness which allows the movement to happen, the fulcrum.
This is like the point of pro-active surrender where both active and passive modes combine into one.
We are mostly familiar with the active mode of ‘getting into gear’. Yet surrender is also crucially important for any creative writer.
Surrender involves learning about trust, receiving and being open to ‘greater forces’ which, if given the right opportunity, will support you in your endeavours perhaps more than you can ever fully appreciate.
So next time you reach a point where you’re wondering if anyone else will want to read your work, remember that a mindset of pro-active surrender will support you to take action and to trust that the result will be just what you need at that time.
I’d love to hear about the ways you have discovered for crossing those exciting but uncertain thresholds on your creative ladders, so feel free to add your comments below.
Tags: creative, creative process, writer, Writing
Hi Julia, I really like this post and the comment I’d like to make is -Trust your gut! That’s one of the main ways I personally have discovered for crossing any threshold on my journey towards any personal or professional goal that I may have. Also paying attention to the whispers that are nudging me to take a certain action. This combined with knowing what I love to do and want to do, involving my time and energy, without compromise, in what is important to me and is dear to my heart. So it is very much the heart leading the way. Going with the flow of those whispers and nudges, being flexible and willing to step gently with awareness out of my comfort zone has brought me through exciting, challenging and plain ordinary times but always leaving me with a sense that life is a mystery to be lived and there is a benevolence about, in people places and situations always. Yes, surrendering to this is rewarding and interesting.
Much love Sofia
Hello again – so glad you like the post, and yes, trusting your ‘gut’ – although I’d probably say ‘intuition’ specifically – is so very important. The more you do so, the more you hear those whispers of knowing … and so the journey unfolds in ways that bring you closer to your soul’s divine mission. Thanx for sharing Sofia
Julia