I have been taking a spiritual creativity class and having some big aha’s around the creative process. I consider myself a pretty creative person, and I hope you do too, because you are.

Even if you feel you’re not because you had a bad experience as a child when you colored out of the lines, or didn’t get it “perfect”, please know you are creative. You create your life every day and if you look around, you can see you are a pretty amazing creator.

What I’ve realized (and you may have, too) is idea or ideas are easy.

An idea shows up as a concept and it’s not formed yet. It’s the energy of it, the feeling of it, the essence of it. An idea costs nothing – not money, time or really much energy at first.

How to honor your creative process & what it looks like…

So you have an idea, a glimmer of a desire to create something and then we get started to make it happen. YOU ARE ON FIRE!

It usually starts off with a ton of excitement. YOU ARE INSPIRED!

You have the I’m so ready for this attitude along with mantras or affirmations. You are fired up and are good for right now to be the beginner.

Loving warning: before you hit the bumps, yes those bumps (I’m talking about next) will come, I’d love to help you out with some ways you can honor your process.

1. Ask yourself, what do you need to get your energy moving? What will bring you into a space that feels like getting you into a place to play and be able to go out of the lines.
2. Allow yourself to play, be childlike, think kindergarten. It’s OK to go out of the lines and create your own rules as long as you’re safe.
3. Give yourself permission to be a beginner, to start and not know what you’re doing.
4. Have fun and pull out the crayons. For real. Draw the energy of what you are creating. It can be formless, it’s about the energy, the feeling, the essence.
5. If you’re a journaling type, write out your ideas. Do a brain dump.

Lastly, take time to meditate, sit with yourself and tune into your heart. Tune into yourself as spirit, energy. (Psst… when things take more time, energy and money, remember to come back to remind yourself of this tip.)

If you can, move your body first in whatever way you like to, then sit so you can tune out to tune in. Keep a notepad next to you so you can jot down anything that comes to you after, or even during, if you need to get it out of your head.

What tends to happen for most of us, which echoes what happens in a new relationship, is it’s fun when it starts…then we hit a wall. This wall is us, our stuff that comes up. This is what gets in the way of our creative process.

Now let’s talk about what gets in the way of your creativity…

I mentioned it above, having to get it right or perfect. (This is the one that gets in the way for most of us.)

It shows up in many ways and here are some ways it may show up for you that you are not aware of:

“I must be doing something wrong” is what I hear a lot of the time. This is the “I have to get it perfect” part of you talking.

“I have to get it right before I put it out there or I’ll look like a fool.” This is also the “I have to get it perfect” part of you talking.

“What if I look like I don’t know what I’m doing?” You guessed it, this is also the I have to get it perfect part of you talking.

You know that part of yourself so well, it talks you out of doing the things that make you happy, excited and like a child.

You can love and forgive the part of you that needs to get it perfect and do it anyway.

I’ll admit, this was me when it came to doing a new podcast. Because I already had a yoga podcast I started in 2006, I knew what it takes to do it. I also had a part of me that needed to get it right, perfect, so it took me a couple of years to do it.

Finally, I did it.

Having unfinished projects that you are still holding onto taking up space.

How many unfinished projects do you have right now? When I asked this question I had a bunch pop up. If you have a bunch of them and you are not going to finish them, then let them go. They are holding up your energy and space to create your next thing.

List out what they are, then ask yourself, “Am I ready to let this go?” If you get a YES then say bye-bye. You can write it on paper, burn it, flush it. Do whatever you do to clear this up for yourself.

Make sure you get all the ones you have that are holding space. Think of it like when a computer is moving slow and crashing while it has a ton of windows open, your trash can full and programs running.

This can also be the name of something that does not fit or feel right anymore. The vibration has shifted so you can retire that and call it something new that is better aligned.

I did this with my Facebook group and I’m so glad we did. It feels better and now is more aligned with where I am now and gives space for what I’m creating.

Asking everyone and their mother what they think and not trusting yourself.

Oh baby, this one is a killer. I see this all the time online in FB groups and for me, asking for more input from so many people only makes it more confusing and stops me from doing anything.

When you ask for feedback go to a trusted source who gets you, who is your ideal client, who LOVES what you do. And then after you get the feedback, take the time to tune into your heart. Ask yourself what really feels right.

Trust yourself, you know what feels right or not.

The big secrets here are…

The longer you put any project on hold because you have to get it perfect, have other ones taking up space or waiting to get outside validation, the longer it will take for you to ever see what could happen if you honor your process.

And that most things will take more time, energy and money because an idea is in the spirit space which moves fast, and when it comes down on the physical plane things slow down a lot.

We all want it to happen faster because we are spirit in a body and we forget about that which causes us unnecessary pain. So when this happens, remember to come back to honor your process and never give up.

We’d love to hear from YOU…

Where are you getting stuck in your creative process? What tips and tools do you use to be creative? Leave your answer in the comments below! 

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April 2016 Issue, business owner, creative block, creative business, creative process, creativity, entrepreneur, online business, women in business