Photo by Hakan Strand
The first step is the absolute hardest!!!!
How many nights have I laid awake wondering how this creative project was all going to come together? How many days did I roam around putting more and more things on the “To-Do” list to make my entry into the artistic world of creative business a “perfect” one?
Why is it that every time I would set aside a “perfect time” to create, the refrigerator would call me to be cleaned? Or why was organizing my email so important? Or cleaning the kitty litter, taking the dog for a walk, perfecting French cuisine, or that every menial task of doing the laundry?
Daily, I would have a sense of failure for not moving forward in my creativity. Every day it became easier to not feel “good enough”. How does one stop this over active mind, this churning stomach? How does the incredible desire to live a creative life become more important than avoiding one?
It’s so simple and yet so scary. Here’s what I came up with…….
First let’s stretch to the words of Shri Ravishankar Jee
Sound when stretched is music,
Movement when stretched is dance.
Mind when stretched is meditation.
Life when stretched is celebration.
Next……..
Remember all of those questions up there?
I've learned that I needed to stop asking myself those questions and just put my life into motion filled with those things I love to do most. So I said to myself " Self, don't ask! Act!" It's the only thing I really have to do in life. Do the thing, anything, anything at all from the heart, the rest will follow. No need to think about being inspired or waiting for that perfect moment or feeling. Inspiration arrives after you start working on the thing you were searching for inspiration about.
And after that first scary step is taken, inspiration and creation follow. Here’s to your journey in creating!
Valarie Budayr is the founder of Audrey Press and author of the book The Fox Diaries: The Year the Foxes Came to our Garden. She is passionate about making kid’s books come alive and you can find her doing that on her popular blog and website, Jump into a Book
I love this Valarie. It is such great advice. Just act. I just came home from a volunteer meeting with people who are professional artists and I ended up being the person who is going to make posters for the next large gathering. I was really getting nervous about what they would look like and how they would compare to what they have the ability to create. But after reading your post today I am going to stop thinking and just create. Thank you. You wrote what I needed to read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this wonderful post, Valarie. Even though I've taken many "first steps" - a new first step is hard! I haven't been creating, and it's hard to step out there to start a new project (of any kind!)
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