Snow Let Go

Ah, it appears we are off to the races for a long snowy winter ahead. We’re often too busy curling up under blankets with a good book to worry about the evolution of our interior spaces during the winter months. I am contemplating some additional time writing this winter myself, but I may squeeze in a couple of painting projects as well if I can crack some windows.

Continually evolving as a creative person and entrepreneur, I am excited to see where all of this is going for me. The opportunity to reflect is also welcome this winter. I see parallels between my own life and that of my design work. My approach is the same -it’s important to create the framework for new ideas to emerge. It’s also important that framework allow you the energy to pursue those new ideas with gusto when they do emerge. I just finished a terrific book entitled “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. The whole book is geared toward helping creatives heal from a world that tells them they are not allowed to behave in ways that actually facilitate creativity. It also outlines the process of rebuilding and claiming your creative life for yourself.

There’s a big difference between a creative occupation and a life of being creative. When the boundaries of 9-5 or whatever is assigned to your creative pursuits dissolve away and true creativity flows into your whole person-hood, something amazing happens. It fundamentally shifts everything; including and especially how you think about your occupation. Once you cross over into that life-space, you can’t think about your life or the occupation of your time the same way.

I think that fear is a fundamental reason why so many people resist the true creative impulse throughout their life – the implications can be scary and it can be messy. I can say with confidence that being truly creative doesn’t have to be either of those things. If you have courage and resolve to build something different – something that allows creativity to keep flowing through you – it’s joyful. Indeed it’s the building that is the hardest part, because you will never stop this building process if it’s working. It can and will take you places you never anticipated.

Is this starting to sound like a design project? It does to me – we feel the same trepidation toward any actions that change our environment or the way we relate to people. When we change our spaces or create meaningful experiences that shift our thinking; we can change the trajectory of our lives. It can be frightening and it can also be illuminating. What we do with what we see in a new light is our choice. Resisting the impulse to change out of fear is the only way we can really fail.