Are You Stuck in Creative Chaos

Its time for my monthly article on creativity. You get these if you subscribe to my newsletter but I like to include here for any roaming people new to my blog. I hope you enjoy.

Are You Stuck in Creative Chaos ?

So just what is creative chaos, as a creative person you might never have heard of it.  I hadn't heard the term until I took my coaches training. When it was described to me I thought aha that is my problem. Say you have this great idea, you have broken it down it into small steps and things are moving a long at a good pace and then boom you hit a wall. All of sudden the idea you had doesn't seem so exciting anymore. Now it just seems like a lot of work. Or perhaps you’ve begun to see the amount of time it might take. Maybe you don’t want to invest that much time. Or you may find yourself stuck because you don't know what to do next.   You've entered a stage of the creative process called creative chaos. Creative chaos is a normal part of the creative process, that is the first thing you want to remember. It happens to everyone who is creative. It can be hazardous to your creativity though.  Its been documented that 85 % of people who get into creative chaos give up.

Other ways to know if you are in creative chaos.

• You may begin to question your ability.
• Maybe you were foolish to think you could write a book, or become an artist, have an art show etc.
• You can't figure out how to bring the idea in your mind to reality.
• You find yourself avoiding working on your project.
• You think its just too hard.
• You get frustrated because you have reached a point where you don't know what to do next.
• You begin to doubt the wisdom of the idea in the first place.
• You begin blaming your lack of progress on some skill or aptitude or wisdom that you lack.

So if you are in creative chaos, what can you do about it.  As a coach I have numerous tools that I share with clients who are in creative chaos. Some basic ideas I can share with you are:

• Reframe those negative statement from your inner critic to positive ones.
• Act as If you were competent to paint a picture or write a book.

• Trust that you have the idea for a reason and trust that you will be given the skills to complete the goals.
• Vary your approach - work at different times, and in different locations.
• Take a break, step away from the project, take a walk, play with another creative activity.
• Lower expectations, instead a one woman show start with something smaller. You could plan to be in a show with other artists.
• Break your goal down to smaller steps that are more manageable.
• Take classes to learn the skills you are lacking.

The one thing that we all need to remember is that Creative Chaos is normal. Everyone who is creative goes through this at one time or another.  If you don't want to be in the majority who give up at this stage, you need to take charge and work through it. On the other side of it, your project will start flowing again and you'll be on your way to completing your goals and dreams.

I don't like to promote myself all the time but do so at least once a month.  If you are interested in coaching with me you can go to my website Safe Harbor Coaching for all the details you need to know. I'd love to partner with you and help make your creative dreams come true.