Adventures into the unknown….
Greetings fellow creative pilgrims! I hope this post finds you well and enjoying the lighter days.
You find me here today putting the finishing touches to my website, which I took the playful decision to build myself! I wanted to learn some new skills and play around with space and pictures!! Of course it has taken me a lot longer than a professional but it has been fun and I now know how it works (ish) and I can add things and keep it fresh and updated all by myself!
So I have been pondering on how much I love leaning into something new. It is of course an inevitable part of the creative process, and for me whilst I might often have an intention for an art project I am working on, I enjoy the not knowing and the intuitive aspects of creating work.
This last week I have noticed that many people like to know everything before they start something, so that they can get it right and make the right decision. I get caught in this sometimes too! But what I have come to see is that we can trust in the process. It is something that having a regular creative practice has really embedded in me, that sometimes I know what’s coming next or where I need to take a piece of work, sometimes I don’t know and that the adventure begins in the energy of not knowing.
This also shows up in my coaching work too. I can’t possibly know what someone else really needs - but they know - they always know (even when they doubt it). So I can create a space, listen, and gently ask questions and somewhere in the midst of this line of enquiry a question will land and my wise and insightful client will speak the truth and surprise themselves with their own clarity. A wonderful co-creative adventure. Between the two of us, and the creative intelligence and presence of love that hangs in the space between us - magic gets created.
I looked up the definition of adventure: an unusual and exciting or daring experience. There was something about this that had me think of risk and how risk taking in art (and life!) is so important. The ability to make a mark that is bold and the antithesis of what you are creating, or destroying something you have made to bring something new to the fore or experimenting with new medium or materials. I love this part of art making and I have seen that this has also cross pollinated other parts of my life and work.
I have also learned now to wait if I don’t know what to do, in art, in life and in coaching. This is so helpful to realise, especially when we are trying to make a decision and we really don’t know which path to follow. (I am a Libran - welcome to my world!) I know now that I need to wait. How do I know? I can tell by the feeling that I am in. If it feels urgent or tense or loaded in some way, I know that I am off - and the invitation is to just leave it, let my mind settle and come back to it another time. Mostly in the space that follows, insight occurs naturally by itself, because it has room to emerge. Whether its not knowing what a painting needs to resolve it or finding our way through a business or personal decision, it is OK to wait.
It reminds me of this lovely quote which I always draw on when I can feel I am trying to force a decision before I am ready: -
“When you are in doubt, be still, and wait; when doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage. So long as mists envelop you, be still. Be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists - as it surely will. Then act with courage.” Chief White Eagle.
I hope you are having fun with your own adventures…….I have lots of new ones in the pipeline, some of which feel very outside my comfort zone……more of that to come!
Have a great week! xx