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Snapshots of Creative Renewal
No matter how we approach New Year’s Eve--with dazzling exuberance, quiet reserve or indifference--it’s hard to escape the sense that another cycle of life has ended. We navigate the portal to a new year catching our collective breath. Sometimes the passage seems clogged with the air of uncertainty. Whether it be radical or milder, endings test our acumen and ingenuity. We are full-term pregnant with stakes that require evaluation and decision.
Turbulent endings may ultimately lead to powerful breakthroughs and renewal. Cultural evolution bears this out, as do our personal histories if we are aligned with growth. In face of challenges, the passage demands particular attention to the inner level of creating. In order to resolve issues that appear to exist outside, we need to look within. These snapshots contain a distillation of optimistic perspectives about endings, toward renewal:
The outer view can grip us too strongly.
In vulnerable times, outer circumstances can grip the mind’s attention
too firmly. In this state, the outer level can appear daunting—a phenomenon
that exists beyond us and beyond our direct influence. We feel out of
control, and emotional discomfort sets in.
The aerial view brings more subjectivity.
The discomfort we feel is actually a “call” that signals new opportunity.
In order to decipher the signal, our perceptions need pulling back from
outer circumstances. It’s not about denial. But by observing present
challenges in the broader scope of our personal histories, the obstacles
are brought down to size. From the aerial view we recall past endings
survived, learning and confidence gained, circumstances that, a the
time, felt even more dramatic than these. Past evidence reveals that
we ourselves are larger than circumstances, which are fleeting.
The inner view is highly productive.
Recognition is required to understand and benefit from the call. Realizing
that we are larger than they, circumstances can no longer hold us hostage.
They might look like captors, but in truth they are reflections. When
we experience tensions, lacks and frustrations, it’s tempting to panic
or blame an outer condition. We forget that most often looking within
is the wisest response. Circumstances, people and events often cannot
be controlled. But going within to
shift an attitude or belief is where we do have control. Doing so
will lead to new actions, and the shifting will be revealed in the reflection
of events.
The long view requires patience.
No matter how much value we’ve instilled in our work, it may be time
to further enhance the value of our services. Aiming to create more
income or celebrity is missing the mark. In contrast, aiming to create
more value in service to others is building trust and attracting income.
Most likely, you are now seeking more value for the dollars you are
willing to spend. So is everyone else. We need to glance away from nervous
preoccupation with the ephemeral, and re-focus. It may take quite some
time to navigate through this year’s endings. Creating more genuine
value for the people we serve may be challenging. But patience and a
long-view focus will lead to improved conditions.
Endings will lead to renewal.
Endings lead to new beginnings, easily stated. But this year’s end seems
to call for something deeper than a beginning. It seems to demand renewal.
The kind experienced by reflecting on the inner level, where the most
significant questions and answers are found. I remember reading once
a phrase that struck home: ‘The inner subjective is primary.’ We could
call this little pearl one of nature’s laws. It suggests that what we
create in our minds and hearts is the primary generator for creating
outcomes in the law of probability. By extension, outer results are
secondary. During stressful times, it’s reassuring to recall the inward
realm as our refuge and primary place of power. Reflecting and sorting
there awhile is the most powerful response to rough endings, and the
first key to life-giving renewal.
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*Essay by Barbara Bowen of
GatewaysCoaching.com - the definitive source for creativity and
artist career growth.
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in your creative career. She would love to hear from you.*
Copyright ©2009 Barbara Bowen and
Gateways Creativity Coaching. All rights reserved.
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