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Creativity & Courage

Candice



Creativity is the art of bringing something new to life through your unique imagination, intuition, and vision(your concept of what’s possible). The only reason we don’t create is because we are scared or we “don’t have time." While time may actually be tight, it's safe to say that the biggest reason we “don’t have time” to create what we want to create is because we are straight up scared and we've prioritized something else so we have an excuse/actually feel like we don't have the bandwidth -I guarantee, you’ll be doing something else with that time, which makes that excuse kind of null.


We are scared that if we spend the T I M E and it doesn’t “turn out,” doesn’t go as planned or someone criticizes it, then it was all a waste. To be totally honest, I know my go to thought when I get into reaction about something that didn't quite work out is, “UGH see, I knew it wasn’t going to work/be good enough. I knew I sucked at this. Why did I even try?!” It takes a gut check and lots of deep breaths to bring myself back into flow, back to remembering that it's all part of the growth process.

The reality is, creativity takes time yes, but more importantly, it takes C O U R A G E. It takes courage to use your imagination, intuition and vision & to put your H E A R T on the line. When you put your heart into something, like you actually T R Y, you expose more of who you are to the world. This does open you up to criticism, rejection, and judgment,

A N D you also open your self to full self expression, deep joy, and contentment(Santosha for the yogis). **Quick side note: Santosha is not about being content as in “Eh, I could do more but this is good enough.” S A N T O S H A is essentially full on self acceptance - realizing you are already amazing, talented, etc. and creating from that place instead of a place of lack.


Back to courage & creativity…

The good news is, courage is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets, and the more you can “lift” so to speak. The tricky news is, it’s like a muscle: ignore it, and don’t be surprised when you can’t sit down on or get off the toilet for 5 days after doing a few squats(or chair poses)…you get it? If you use your courage, even in small amounts to start, it becomes easier to access for the B I G G E R things and in turn you are less affected by the meanies, critics, and people that are generally just unhappy with how their own lives are going: the haters, if you will.


Creativity works just like courage, you use it or you lose it(not forever, but until a new choice is made to tap back in). It’s a practice, just like courage, and the only way to get more from it is to give more energy to it.


“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou


If you are someone to which creativity comes naturally, amazing! Keep using it, because your creative energy will help I N S P I R E the rest of us!


I danced for 18 years: countless performances, group numbers, solos, and duets. You know what scared the heck out of me? IMPROV! I hated feeling so exposed. I would spend the entire time worrying and I was in my head thinking about messing up and being judged. It took literally everything in me to get my body to do something, anything, until the end of the song, which felt like it was 40minutes long.


I wish I could say I got over it and now improv is my fave but that would be a lie. I recently decided to start dancing again as a way to tap back into my own creativity and flow and you know what my biggest fear on the first day was…"what if she makes us do improv?!" What I can say is that my ability to shift that mindset is much different now because I’ve used my courage and creativity in other ways since then and that muscle is stronger. Although my initial reaction might be to bail, I recognize that quickly and I am willing to take a deep breath and T R Y. I know that if stifle creativity and courage I’ll miss out on growth and learning.


If how we do anything is how we do everything, we don't get to be courageous and creative in one area and then scared to create in another. We must let our body, mind and spirit ALL rise to the occasion when any situation calls for courage and creativity. I'm talking A L L things, not just music, art, etc. : how about making a new recipe, being a new parent, handling a life situation, having a difficult conversation, keeping love alive after X amount of years with one person, starting a new business, decorating a new house, freshening up an old business or an old house, literally, wherever your creative energy is being pulled.


We breathe through the fear and doubt until we have enough oomph to take the next step forward…just one step is all it takes to S T A R T creating the work and the life you're dreaming about.

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Interested in learning a little more about the creative process and moving yourself from idea, to vision, and into creation?! Check out the Creative Awakening Workshop I'm leading with my friend Alicia!

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