Today, I was called to advance my craft by reflecting upon my failures. A big failure for me when it comes to creative writing is just sitting down to do it, especially when inspiration isn’t already present. I’m not the only one who struggles with this. Just doing it is often the hardest part of the creative process for many writers. So what type of resistance is that, and how can we work with it?
The First Step of the Creative Process
I’ve been doing a good job lately of keeping a consistent daily writing practice, even if I only do a few minutes of journaling. But I know I could do more, or get started sooner and more easily, or maybe have even more time for writing if it weren’t so hard to get warmed up into it.
That’s the point of resistance, isn’t it? Getting warmed up. By that, I mean getting settled into the sense of slowness, warmth, and safety that I need to enter a flow state. ‘Warming up’ in this sense is a matter of nervous system regulation: specifically, of transitioning.
Our nervous systems aren’t designed to make sudden starts and stops and twists and turns. Suddenness usually puts us into one of the dysregulated states of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, and it is very difficult to be creative or playful in these energies.
Therefore, the first step of the creative process MUST ALWAYS be safety. Or else the rest of the process will be like a night of insomnia: restless, unsettled, uncomfortable, forced.
Mindful Listening As a Threshold to Safety
Synchronously, I happened to read the section in The Artist’s Way on Listening. It did a pretty fair job of summing up the solution I’ve been narrowing in on lately. Let’s see a few main takeaways:
- You’re doing the writing wrong if you’re trying super hard to think something up. Just get some random, meaningless words down instead. It should feel easy. There should be no work involved, no effort-ing.
- The Creator (or the muse, the genius, Spirit, God, the higher self, the collective consciousness, or whatever you like to call it) is the one doing all the work; you are just a conduit. “Expect the universe to support your dream. It will.” -Julia Cameron
- The story you are writing already exists in its entirety. Your job is to listen for it, watch it like cinema in your mind’s eye, and write it down like a good secretary.
- “Listening is a form of accepting.” -Stella Terrill Mann
Listening is the key. Listening means the same thing as mindfulness meditation, safety, and (for me personally) privacy. Mindful listening means slowing down, being present, letting go of thoughts and fears, listening for whatever else is arising spontaneously.
Art happens when the mind is enjoying a simple, comfortable world.
I find that when my mind is full of those overexcited voices, intrusive thoughts, fears and doubts, it’s because I am not using my physical ears. I am listening internally too much. Artists are often sensitive or introverted types, gifted at listening inwardly with keenness. And yet if we go too far along that side of the spectrum toward inward focus, we disconnect our consciousness from our bodies and physical reality, which is the only thing that is actually real.
So, it’s a catch-22. Yes, have a rich inner world and explore it indulgently. And also, don’t forget to come back to earth. To do this, you must find ways to place your awareness on the external world. Mindful listening is just one option.
Here is a simple mindful listening practice to try out:
- Put your focus on the tactile sensation of sound hitting your eardrums.
- Notice sounds around you that are highest in pitch, then medium, then lowest in pitch.
- Notice sounds around you that are closest to your body, then in the immediate vicinity, then quietest or furthest away from you.
- Let in all sounds from all of these separate ranges at once. Imagine letting your conscious awareness fill the world outside of you, rather than staying inside your head.
- Allow curiosity to lead your listening flow. This means, don’t get stuck on any one sound. Don’t hold onto expectations. Meet each sound as if hearing it for the first time.
Speaking of Curiosity…
Sometimes when I practice listening, I am able to slow down and find some peace and calm, but I still feel resistance to the writing work. Do you experience that, too?
I think this resistance comes from an implicit construct that many of us in Western cultures have: the belief that work is supposed to be hard. And our inner child responds to this with: “I don’t want to do something hard!”
For instance, I feel resistance to figuring out where to pick up again in my novel writing, to thinking logically about what happens next, and to trying really hard to make it ‘good.’ This, and every other form of resistance, is just judgment.
When we get to this stage, curiosity may be the remedy. Curiosity is judgment’s opposite. It allows, rather than critiques. It flows, rather than tries. It pulls you along playfully, rather than asking you to grind it out effortfully.
Curiosity about my fictional world allows me to feel excited about diving into another realm. Curiosity about the characters helps me uncover motives and backstories with ease. Curiosity about what could happen next (not what should) pulls me along toward discovery, rather than pushing me begrudgingly toward high standards.
A simple definition of curiosity is the desire to explore, which is inherently delightful, fun, and easy. It is motivated from a place of love and meaning, a place entirely free of judgment. With a curious and open mind, we can ask questions instead of reaching for answers. We can let go of needing to have it all figured out and instead let the question float away into the dark ether, trusting that the answer will be given to use from our Source when the time is right.
Reflections
Your somatic system and creative process are unique. Not everything discussed in this blog may resonate with you. So I’d love to hear what does and doesn’t work for you and what other ideas you have. And as you continue on your creative journey, feel free to borrow these journaling prompts to help you cultivate your relationship with your muse:
- How important is nervous system safety to your creative practice? In what ways do you (or do you fail to) provide yourself safety?
- How might the practice of mindful listening help to bring your awareness back into your body, external reality, and the present? Would some other somatic mindfulness technique work better for your system?
- Is creativity supposed to be hard? Is work supposed to be hard?
- How might you reframe your resistances and creative blocks as forms of judgment?
- Rather than thinking about what to write, what questions do you have about your story so far?