The other day I had a sudden realization about how and why I keep getting stuck with my paintings.
I start most of my paintings in a beautiful, playful, flow state - just playing with colour and shape. I lose myself in the process, and it feels lovely. At a certain point, I step back and am truly awed that this beautiful thing came from somewhere deep inside of me.
Then, not to be upstaged, my brain pop ups and wants to be involved - to control the outcome...and that’s exactly where I get stuck. Worrying that I will mess it up, overthinking colour choices, not feeling sure if it is done or not.....I paralyze myself.
Like Wile E. Coyote when he runs over the cliff - not falling until he realizes he is no longer on solid ground - I freak out as soon as my brain comes online and demands to be a part of the process.
And then it hit me that what I am doing at beginning of each painting is freely, curiously allowing uncertainty to be right there with me - not fighting it at all, not even noticing it at first actually. It is this allowing that is actually the mechanism that opens the door to this flow state I love so much!
I realized that until I am willing to be with uncertainty about how my paintings turn out I'm cutting off my own access to the good stuff.. the magic... and it wasn't long before I saw how that little bit of wisdom applied to every single thing in my whole entire life.
So.... to consistently access the magic, I have to consistently choose to be ok with uncertainty! Sorry brain, I love you for other things like math, but you are not driving the car when it comes to feeling and being led by my creativity.
And if this doesn’t apply to every corner of my life I’ll be darned.
In order to create something truly magnificent, uncertainty must be allowed, celebrated, even.
I hope something here is exactly what you need to see today and that it helps you set yourself free!
Love,
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