Do you ever get paralyzed when you have more projects than you can count on your fingers and toes? This is how a creative mind can degenerate into chaotic explosions.
It happened to me today. I thought about the two minibooks I'm working on, one a guide to pet care with Bach Flower Remedies, the other a collection of short stories, and several other projects I am doing. One is the second volume in the Dragon's Guide to Destiny series.
I could feel myself inching towards panic mode. I will never get this done, I thought. Then I thought, Maybe I won't. So what?
With the second thought, I realized how, at least for me, creativity can run amuck: when it collides with the accomplishment ethic. In itself, that ethic is fine. Completing what we start gives a feeling of satisfaction. Trouble starts when the urge to accomplish becomes burdened with a lot of baggage. This isn't the baggage you chose to pack for your journey through life. It's what others gave you to carry.
Labels on this baggage include "You must accomplish more than is humanly possible in order to be a worthy human being," "Do that, or I won't love you," "Only struggle and suffering yield worthwhile results," and other heavy burdens.
If you're carrying that weight, knowing it is the first gigantic step towards dumping it. In recent years, children and young adults have taken the radical step of divorcing their parents. A less drastic step could be to divorce yourself from those of their beliefs that don't serve you.
I'll write more about doing that in the next post.
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