The other side
we'll create when life calms down. right?
I don’t know the answer to this question.
We'll create when life calms down, right?
I’m not sure.
We have to believe that there is life waiting for us on the other side of hard chaotic times.
But. It’s dangerous because “when life calms down” becomes “next week, next month, after she is potty trained, when mom is out of the hospital, once they’re in college…”
Euphemisms for “never.”
It’s ok if you can’t create or don’t want to create or change your mind about how you want to spend your time.
In fact, we think the world would be a healthier place if we embraced that our ambitions shift and the direction of our desires change.
What worries me is when we deceive ourselves with delusions about what’s possible in our imagined future. This is not the same as having hopes and dreams. I’m talking about the magical thinking that allows us to sit with our inaction.
Magical thinking that imagines a future self who is more motivated and excited and capable and talented. Magical thinking that imagines a future circumstance where we aren’t interrupted and maintain a constant state of flow. Magical thinking that imagines we are someone and something and somewhere we are not and will never be.
That kind of magical thinking is dishonest.
And it is dangerous because it justifies staying stuck, staying blocked, and staying put. I’d rather you admit you don’t have the energy or desire to create right now - and face the devastation of that - than lie about what’s possible.
We created Brainstorm Road on the hypothesis and lived experience that life, for us, wasn’t calming down.
It’s not forever.
Circumstances change inevitably, and we change along with them.
But it is untrue that we will wake up magically inspired, motivated, and unstuck after years without a creative practice. In our opinion, the magic is not in magical thinking, but in contending with right now. What is possible right now?
Circumstances will change. I don’t know in what direction. Maybe for better, maybe for worse. That part we can’t control. The part we can control is what we do in the 10 minutes we have today.
Where we are tired. We are spent. We are distracted. We are interrupted. And the work is (frankly) no good.
How do we create in those conditions?
How do we forgive, allow, and encourage ourselves to do something for the sake of it and not because it will do anything but fill us up inside?
Because if you can figure that piece out - there is no question in my mind you’ll create when “life calms down.”
SPEND 10 MINUTES A DAY ON YOUR DREAM PROJECT
Brainstorm Road’s flagship program is starting in July. It’s a community of people taking weekly action on their Dream Projects. Each week, you commit to spending 10 minutes a week on your project. On Friday, you tell us what you did. Learn more here.
We think it’s awesome you want to make stuff. Let’s do it together.
There's definitely always something - I remember thinking I'd start my creative projects post job X, post grown kid launch Y - but other types of busy have morphed and become the block. In my 10 minutes today I've decided to put the monthly merges on my desk top so that I can't ignore them, and to use them to prompt daily inspiration and movement. Also noting that I worked with my sister in person/real time last week to draft /translate emails to possible sources for writing a travel /family history story pitch. Will look to get those sent next week. One step at a time!
It sounds like you've been reading my scratchpad Margo!! There's no flow, no calm moments in my life right now or over the last few months. But still I turn up when I can and build the habit.