Dispelling the Myths: Inner Critics, Imposter Syndrome, and Magic
Why I believe in a different take on creativity, and how I work with clients to maintain their creative flow.
HOW
A close colleague from graduate school lovingly refers to me as a serial seeker. I can't deny this nomenclature, and I have reached the point of ease and self-acceptance where I wouldn’t want to. Serial seeker feels not only accurate, but also true.
Even in the earliest days of my career as a fine artist I was driven to reach the essence of a thing. If I was drawing the nude figure, I wanted to find the one thing about the model's body that kind of said everything about the model’s body.
My years as a psychotherapist working with adolescents in crisis furthered this quest. Teens are relentless in their pursuit of authenticity and purpose. They are at a pivotal point of development where many are realizing for the first time that they have not been granted much autonomy. They want autonomy. If a suggestion is made, teens want to know why. Why should they do it, why should they do the thing? Why should they do anything? Each intervention must arrive with a destination. Teens want a case to be made for almost everything. And rightly so. We expect a lot of them. Their insistence made me make a habit of asking not only why, but also how. I wished to reach the essence with them.
If there is a well, I want to get to the bottom. A stone, I will not leave it unturned. A tree, I want to see the roots. Get me down in the duff.
This curiosity has served me well in my endeavors and is one of the traits that has made it natural for me to work with people. I love to listen, ask intentional questions, and genuinely get to know other humans. Simply put, I want to see your core.
When Mentorship clients come to me they are usually not in a place of starting out. Well into their careers, I work with people who rely on their creativity to make a living. The creative process for my clients is high stakes. They have deadlines and obligations.
Years ago before Jerry Garcia died, I remember reading an interview with members of the Grateful Dead where they were asked why after so much success they continued to stick to a grueling tour schedule. The assumption was of course that they had musically made their mark and could walk away at any time with a tremendous amount of success and wealth. Their answer was twofold. One, they are artists and music is their life. Making music is not a thing they will ever step away from. I expected this perspective, but what came next surprised me. They spoke about the obligation they felt to their fans, not only as listeners to their music but as a very large group of people who they felt responsible for keeping employed. This circle reached far and wide for them. Everyone from who is on their direct staff like roadies, sound engineers, to doctors and assistants, to the food vendors and janitorial staff at large arenas, and even the fans who sell band merchandise, licensed or not, including those who sell parking lot burritos and grilled cheese sandwiches after shows. Wide focus, their music kept food on the table for a lot of people. The Grateful Dead built a universe that others relied on and the band factored this into their decisions.
This is what I mean by high stakes.
Understanding the obligation my client's creativity has as a cog in a usually much larger wheel has driven me to get really specific and intentional about the guidance I offer.
I have spent close to a lifetime working toward getting to the bottom of creativity and the creative process. If you are a reader you know that my take is a little unusual. Unlike many offerings in the creativity space, I do not believe in an inner critic, even as a psychotherapist I think imposter syndrome is not a thing, and that the creative process is not magic, but maintenance. For some, this perspective sucks the air right out of the room. And that’s okay. I’m not here for amateurs or hobbyists. I’m here for creatives and leaders who depend on their creative process, their ingenuity, innovation and genius to manifest when needed. This unconventional perspective begins to make more sense when understanding the essence of creativity as energy itself.
As a serial seeker, I always ask HOW?
There is not a shortage of incredible and inspiring guidance out there for creatives. Many clients come to me after engaging in The Artist's Way or any number of other really beautiful journal writing, list making, accountability and fear fighting processes and programs. And yes to all these. Exercises like this are great and do keep creatives in their creativity to a certain extent. They are inspiring. Many creatives find success with these tools, until of course they don’t. And as a serial seeker, I of course want to know why. When exactly do these exercises no longer work? More importantly, WHY?
What I have discovered over the years as a creative myself, and also working with creatives in a variety of capacities, is that these exercises do not address the root cause. They work for a while, but tend to fall short when shit gets real. And for every creative professional out there making a living and supporting individuals and entire companies with their genius and leadership, shit gets real, real fast.
When clients come to me after working through a system or group of exercises there is a lot of humility. They feel defeated as if they failed journaling, sketching, and the daily practice they had committed to. And this is just not the case. You cannot fail journaling! In my opinion these supportive tools and exercises should not be used alone. They need to be paired with deeper work. The core issue here is not the individual creative, but that these exercises and this kind of guidance rarely ask the question, HOW?
Fight through the fear by writing/drawing/painting/singing/brainstorming every day.
But how? How do I fight through the fear?
How do I write/paint/dance/sing/innovate when I have nothing to write/sing/dance/innovate?
How do I get through the crippling invalidation that stands in the way of me:
Journaling?
Sketching?
Singing?
Brainstorming?
Playing?
Leading?
How do I engage my creative process when I cannot bring myself to do the thing I’ve been told will get it going?
It takes a long time to get to this point where the exercises no longer yield the promised results. In fact I think most people out there don’t reach this place. Yet creative professionals do. The demands on creative professionals is not limited. There is not a single project to get through. A single pair of mittens to finish by Christmas, a journal that can be put away when the mood doesn’t strike. For creative professionals the mood must always strike, or at least strike in a reasonable amount of time to get the thing done. This powerful igniting of the creative process is repeated over and over again. Eventually, many experience what is known as burnout (when we look at creativity as energy itself, burnout has an entirely different meaning and origin. Eeeek, I know, I’m a witch).
After endlessly asking HOW, seeking out the essence, getting to the bottom of the well, overturning every stone, examining each root, and rolling around in the duff I have come to the conclusion that one CAN have sovereignty over their creative process and this happens energetically. It is through interacting with creativity energetically that we can address what gets in the way of doing the work needed to maintain the creative process.
Start with interacting with your creativity as energy. It is this relationship that allows for all we know to do to ignite our process becomes possible.
I’ll play myself here and ask, HOW?
How do creatives do that? How do we interact with our creativity as energy?
Just like anything else, viewing creativity as energy and working with the creative process in the energetic realm is a skillset. Turns out it is pretty easy to learn, does not take a lot of time, and can be accomplished in about 10-20 minutes a day. Plus the benefits extend far beyond having sovereignty over your creative process. Moving energy, meditation, and nervous system regulation have all been proven to have widespread health benefits. The key to this work and method is maintenance. While I excel at moving clients from being stuck and overwhelmed to making their creative process work for them, the clients who work with me before hitting the wall discover ease and delight in their process without getting the shit scared out of them first. My most successful clients meet with me weekly to maintain their creative process. Worry about getting stuck, running out of ideas, invalidation, judgement, and fear all become my problem. It's ALL GOOD.
Back to HOW?
What do I do exactly with my clients? HOW do I do this?
First it begins with education, learning how to view creativity as energy. I teach my clients how to do this and the benefits of doing so through examples and short and easy meditations. We consider the guidance available from Human Design and the Gene Keys. Second, when creative blocks occur, and they will - creative blocks are a natural part of the creative process - we determine what is to be integrated from the block and then simply get the energy moving again. How do we do this? Through Energy Work and clairvoyance. HOW does this work? We are energy. All things are energy. And energy can be moved and cleared.
HOW?
Does it work? Do people get unstuck, recover from burnout? Make deadlines? Feel invigorated again? Have sovereignty over their creative process?
YES. Over and over again, yes.
Sometimes I think it is too good to be true. What if the essence of something, what if addressing the root cause was not a struggle? Not only not a struggle but what if the response had widespread benefits that extended far beyond addressing the symptom?
But then I remember, I've been working on this for nearly 30 years, so maybe it's not that simple after all :)
These are questions I continue to ask myself as I seek, and seek and seek and seek.
Always asking HOW.
Where do you ask HOW? What do you seek to get to the bottom of?
xxx
LAS
SOLAR TRANSIT
9-9-24
Gate 47
Gate of Realization
On September 9, the sun gracefully transits Gate 47, the Gate of Realization. During this celestial transit, you are invited to embark on a journey of mental clarity and insight. Gate 47 encourages a deep exploration of your ability to process and make sense of complex ideas and experiences, allowing you to channel your energies into achieving profound realizations and understanding.
The energy of Gate 47 advocates for embracing the power of mental breakthroughs and realizations. It is a time to trust in the process of contemplation and to allow your mind to work through confusion towards clarity. This gate emphasizes the importance of patience and persistence in your mental pursuits. By giving yourself the space to think deeply, you gain the ability to transform confusion into coherent and insightful understanding.
However, this energy comes with its own challenges. Those experiencing the transit of Gate 47 may struggle with feelings of mental pressure or frustration when clarity does not come easily. The urge to force realizations or to give up on complex problems can be strong. It is crucial to recognize that the power of Gate 47 lies in its ability to foster patience and trust in the natural process of mental clarity. By resisting the urge to rush through confusion, you can harness the full potential of this gate’s energy.
To enhance the frequency of Gate 47, cultivate practices that support mental clarity and reflection. Engage in activities such as meditation, journaling, or any method that helps you process thoughts and experiences without judgment. This period is ideal for allowing your mind to explore and connect seemingly unrelated ideas. By embracing the process of realization, you create a space for profound insights and mental breakthroughs.
Gate 47 tasks you with the opportunity to develop mental resilience and insightful perception. It is a reminder that true understanding often emerges from the depths of mental confusion and that the mind’s journey through complexity can lead to breakthroughs. This gate also provides a chance to reflect on how you can use your mental clarity to support and inspire others. Consider how your ability to navigate confusion and achieve realizations can positively influence those around you.
Here are some journaling prompts to deepen your understanding and engagement with this transit:
1. Reflect on your relationship with mental confusion: How comfortable are you with not having immediate answers and working through complex ideas? Consider how these moments of confusion can lead to deeper insights.
2. Explore your patience with mental processing: Are there areas in your life where you tend to rush through confusion or avoid complex problems? Reflect on how you can cultivate more patience and trust in your mental journey.
3. Contemplate your thinking patterns: How can you use this period of mental exploration to connect and integrate diverse ideas? Consider the steps you need to take to allow your thoughts to evolve naturally.
4. Consider your impact on others: How does your ability to navigate mental confusion and achieve realizations influence those around you? Reflect on how you can support and inspire others with your mental resilience and insightful perception.
By aligning with the energy of Gate 47, you can enhance your capacity for mental clarity, resilience, and insightful perception. This transit offers a valuable opportunity to embrace the process of realization and use it as a foundation for profound understanding and effective problem-solving.
NEW PROMPT!!
Do you know about Tapping? It can be an effective addition to energy work and nervous system regulation. Many of my Mentorship clients include Tapping as part of their daily ritual. You can learn more about Tapping and how to do it by hitting the button below.
EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique Tapping Prompt for this transit.
“Even though it makes me anxious to sit with mental confusion and not have immediate answers, I now trust that patience and mental exploration bring great moments of insight and alignment, and I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
Have a great week exploring these transits! Ready to learn more about your Human Design? Hit the buttons below to schedule a reading with me and download the free Human Design information sheets to learn more!
Q + A
Welcome to my exciting monthly feature: Q + A! I'm absolutely thrilled to be diving into your thought-provoking inquiries about Human Design, Astrology, creativity, and Energy Work. Your curiosity fuels my passion for sharing knowledge, and the process of answering your questions continually enriches my own understanding.
Consider this space a welcoming sanctuary for curiosity, self-discovery, and expanding your horizons. Here, you can explore the intricate world of Human Design, Astrology, and Energy Work, and discover how they can profoundly influence your creativity and success as a creative professional. It's a journey of enlightenment and empowerment, and I can't wait to embark on it with you.
Don't hesitate to send your questions my way by simply clicking the button below. I'll be selecting one or two to address in the upcoming first newsletter of each month. Your inquiries drive the conversation, and I'm eager to provide you with insightful answers.
Q: Why should I follow the Solar Transits?
Following solar transits can be a powerful tool for self-awareness and personal growth, as it connects us with the cycles of the cosmos, reflecting the insights of both Human Design and astrology. Solar transits occur when the Sun moves through different astrological signs and Human Design gates, influencing how energy is expressed collectively and individually.
In astrology, the Sun represents the core of our identity, vitality, and life force. As it transits through each zodiac sign, it highlights specific themes, energies, and areas of life. By attuning to these transits, we can gain insight into the collective focus, plan our actions more strategically, and align our personal growth with the natural flow of the universe. For example, during a transit through Aries, we may feel driven to initiate new projects, while a Cancer transit can encourage nurturing and emotional reflection. Understanding these shifts allows us to harness the energetic climate, making decisions that are in sync with the astrological influences.
In Human Design, solar transits affect the gates, which are energetic points within the bodygraph. As the Sun moves through each gate, it temporarily activates that gate’s energy in everyone, regardless of their individual design. This offers us a chance to explore qualities we may not naturally embody, giving us a fresh perspective or inspiration. Following these transits helps us recognize external influences on our energy and behavior, allowing for greater self-awareness and improved decision-making.
By tracking solar transits, we can navigate life with a deeper sense of timing and clarity. We become more attuned to shifts in energy, allowing for intentional growth and a greater understanding of both the universal and personal cycles at play.
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