Now Reading: Cross the Finish Line! (Part One)
A number of unrelated deadlines are piling up over the next 30 days. A good time to dig up an re-read my copy of Cynthia Morris’s Cross the Finish Line! Five Steps to Leap Over the Hurdles to Completion.
I hope to learn how better to become a ‘serial finisher’ as Cynthia calls it.
In Part One, Cynthia sets out to deconstruct the creative process in order to identify why it becomes so difficulte in its later stages. She employes a great metaphore: the creative funnel. Wide open, free and exciting at the top, narrowing down to reality-based constraints toward the bottom. Then there are the emotional undercurrants: the “emotional eddies that swirl under the surface of your creative life”, ready to sabatage! Fears such as “I don’t have anything to say, or show.” and “No one will like it.”
The way to overcome these fears is to keep creating.
This is where having a creativity coach would be nice. Those inner challenges sometimes haunt me. I wonder how much C.M. charges. She goes on: “sticking with a creative practice has been the best teacher, the most challenging coach, and the biggest give to my development as a person…our art making grows us as humans.”
She continues with three suggestions:
- A physical practice. My new thrice-weekly morning yoga combined with loops around the lake and lunch time walks at CCI.
- Support from your creative tribe. A little weak here. Need to step up the active collaberation sessions with Darren.
- A clear sense of your motivation. No problems here, with this month’s challenge set.
The External Battle with easily identified obstacles (lack of time, money, community, knowledge) is where we find the best fake excuses for impeded progress. The key to overcoming these? Concentrate on the payoffs of finishing. “While being an idea magnet is fun and exciting, finishing your projects brings a deeper satisfaction that is worth the effort.”
Action item particularly relevant today: stronger engagement with Darren as my primary creative friend. At least monthly creativity-focused meet-ups.
New Perspective: My Creative Life is a relationship that I am committed to. Like any long-term relationship, it has its ups and downs.
–now, back to work.