There are surely more than three!….and yet I have chosen to focus on three. Thought one may be easier….. and yet I was drawn to three so, here goes!
In no particular order, because I suspect ordering for importance means giving in to two out of three of them! You decide for yourself which of these is impacting you today. …and, notice how. Please offer your thoughts on my list….(frankly I don’t own it)…AND would love to expand it to serve my own ‘noticing’. I welcome a conversation!
My first is beliefs. I chose not to specify whether it was a limiting belief or not because I’ve been reflecting lately on whether it’s possible to have a belief that isn’t in and of itself limiting to some degree. I’m flooded with ideas and they energize me…. and, yet when I start to develop one, I find I’m immediately stalled by commonly held beliefs. To name a few: there is nothing new under the sun so why this idea; what makes you believe you can make this work; this will impact people but why would they pay for it.
Then there is certainty. Every creator, inventor, breakthrough scientist had to let go of certainty to fully embrace their creative energy. Yet you like certainty…. you feel safer with people who are certain so, those who don’t have it appear indecisive, at best, and weak, at worst. I recall Hubbell (Robert Redford) in “The Way We Were” saying to Katie (Barbra Streisand); “Are you really so certain of everything you’re so certain of?” Maybe this is a ‘get it done’ approach? But when you are so certain you miss so very much and you don’t see that which will have the most impact!. Galileo is quoted as saying, “All truths are easy to understand, once discovered.” How can you be open to discovery if you are so very certain?
And a BIG one: fear! I always loved the phrase “feel the fear and do it anyway” (Susan Jeffers). You need to do more than just act through the fear!. How can you be in a place of true creativity when you are in fear? I suspect, if you could reduce the fear rather than ignore or deny the feeling, you will harness your strengths and imagination in powerful ways.
Creativity, by its very nature, is about exploration and openness; embracing your child-like curiosity. I encourage you to notice how you limit, silence or ignore your creativity. Human nature is creative and resourceful. What can you do today to access and harness your full and creative self?
Written by Roxanne Bartel