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Creativity is in perpetual evolution. So is the creative growth of your career.
The learning process never ends. Many of us have trouble letting our Creativity simply spill. We get tied into knots, worrying that our purges may not measure up. Well, pardon my asking, but...measure up to what? We are often desperate for our visions to materialize perfectly on the page, on the canvas or in the office. If you don't already know, let me fill you in on a secret. There is no fixed standard. Creativity, yours and mine, is in a perpetual state of expansion. Sort of like the universe, according to Steven Hawking. The only true competition is with ourselves, as Martha Graham stated. What matters is that we continue leaning on our own edge. That edge will be unique and like no one else's edge. Most masterpieces are achieved through long periods, requiring much trial and error. Their creators spend much time in their "labs," producing with a mixture of stumbling and brilliance. Like most other meaningful aspects of life, failure is an inherent part of creative growth in an art career.

Art career failures breed solutions and wisdom.
In studies about artists and creative growth, the single-most unifying element found among all artists was the ability to continue re-creating. Artists execute a form, and they then re-form the form. They re-create, over and over, until the original inspiration has developed to fruition. Those who actualize themselves as artists and succeed in their art careers, all have this ability in common. This is the only consistent linking factor. No demographic or sociological factor--family history, genetics, habits, personality, or ethnicity--links all artists. This conclusion is a helpful guide, not just for professional artists, but for anyone committed to creative growth. It indicates that we are not meant to focus so hard on quick, end results. We are meant to stay present in a creative process, to make lots of mistakes, to evaluate, revise and change. This involves letting go of the perfectionism while, at the same time, holding onto standards. In creativity coaching, many clients I encounter believe they don't deserve a learning curve. They make demands upon themselves to spill perfection in miraculous bursts. Not only is this an unrealistic expectation, it is actually antithetical to creativity growth itself. The next time you feel reluctant to "spill" in messy experimentation, try to behold spilling as the road map to creative genius. The next time you get down on yourself or notice you are holding impossibly high standards for your art career, try reading this snapshot on creative growth again.

Creative Growth is a standard of checks and balances.
Fine art and quality journalism in a free society provide checks and balances to the state's power. Likewise, the process ofcreative growth provides checks and balances to our inner lives. Our Creations provide mirrors for us to look into. In a way they are similar to dreams, because they contain fragments of our truth. Who and what we are, what we think, how we feel, are reflected there. What we see can console us and inspire us. It can also disconcert us. Seeing who we are more clearly is wholly good, no matter what we see. Because it provides opportunity--to appreciate the things we like about ourselves and to build upon them. Opportunity to reveal our blind spots and broaden our awareness--to listen to our troublesome attitudes and shift what is possible to shift. Creative growth delivers many rich gifts, to ourselves and to others. As we create and re-create our projects, we re-create ourselves at the same time.

Do not underestimate the "inch-by-inch."
Yes, the cliche is still alive and true. Rome was not built in a day. It was built inch by inch. Each sentence written, each frame shot, each inquiry made, each gallery visited, each net search conducted, each phone call sent, each lecture attended, each film seen, each brushstroke made, each aesthetic conversation held, each bit of research don, each creativity coaching session--(and the list goes on)--will bring us one inch closer to a fruition, to an output we will finally call finished. Every inch counts. No inch is to be dismissed, even when you feel it was a step backward—-because backward steps provide more clarity. Each time you yawn while moving another tiny inch, try to stay in the moment with that inch, honoring it for the essential link in the chain that it is. Pretty soon you will notice the your inches are gelling into a unique creation. Moral of the story? Enjoy your inches.

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*Essay by Barbara Bowen of GatewaysCoaching.com - the definitive source for artist career growth. Contact Barbara with your questions about the creative process and art career change. She would love to hear from you.*

Copyright ©2009 Barbara Bowen and Gateways Creativity Coaching. All rights reserved.