Accepting the frustration that comes with creativity
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only person in the world who wants to write and yet feels frustrated almost the entire time. Although of course, I know this is not the case. I’m sure I’m not alone.
Here’s a story about pushing through the pain, the frustration, and the chaos of creativity.
I’ve sat down at a cafe because writing with a strong coffee is one of my favourite things to do.
I love the hum of a buzzy cafe and the music coming from the speakers perched in the corners of the room. Today it’s a soundtrack from a bygone era, happy, boppy rock.
Hands wrapped around the latte, I stared at a blank screen. I felt like I had nothing to write about. This, of course, is a lie, because there are always ideas. I can feel them bouncing around my mind, captive, unable to find their way to the page.
I sit with my coffee, staring at my computer screen, thinking about writing.
Thinking about creating.
The world of creativity seems somewhat perplexing. We always see the finished product, whether it’s a movie or a book, or we participate in courses and educational curriculum that provide the perfect solution and the ideal plan to achieve the goal we’re seeking to achieve.
And yet we rarely see the messy middle of these creations. We might see posts about it on social media, and give a nod of approval about the “vulnerability” of showing the truth of say, the ‘entrepreneurial life’, but do we truly allow this vulnerability in our own lives? Do we allow for messiness in our own work and accept that creating things, coming up with new ideas, and learning something new is always going to bring with it confusion and frustration?
It seems so easy to slide into the judgments and the critical self-talk because we forget about the messy middle.
The most difficult thing is writing when I’m uninspired. The most difficult thing is to sit at the computer to write an article when I can’t remember what I meant by the random idea I scribbled during a burst of inspiration. My mind bounces around, refusing to focus on the blank screen, and I get distracted by little admin tasks that I better do before I forget.
