Snapshots: Tips for The Creative Process

All people are creative.

No one is excluded from this reality. But there are some people for whom consistent creative expression is vital. When lacking the proper creative outlet, these people experience disruption and pain to one degree or another, and creative career coaching may be in order to help them produce again.

Highly creative people must heed the creative call and take action.

If we ignore the creative call, it will re-emerge to nip (or even beg) at our heels. It might be necessary to carve creative space amidst other commitments, as we pay dearly if we ignore the call completely, and sometimes a serious one indeed. The good news is, everyone can expand their creative expression, and in various ways. To become a professional artist is for some, essential, and for others not the only answer. There are myriad ways to live a more creatively engaged career life. In the process of creative coaching, the first step is to help clients mine their experience and intuition for the possibilities.

Belief patterns can be re-formed.

When a negative belief has ingrained itself in our minds, it can seem inescapable. To realize that we are in command of the belief pattern, and not the other way around, is the fist step to eliminating it. We are larger than belief. Our creative voice is infinitely larger than our critical voice in the creative process.

Creative expression is not born of ego.

The creative impulse arises from the depths. The receptive state is an invitation, and as the energy arises through the heart and mind, our unique vision is expressed. I believe the creative act is generous, and less about receiving attention than about sharing a new view, angle or insight. In this vein, the creative process can be examined within the framework of a larger self.

The Inner Critic is a helpful servant in disguise.

It may be hard to wrap arms around this statement. But the inner critic is a key figure in creative power. If we push the critic away it gets stronger. Alternatively, if we understand its messages and respond, it will yield to the creative voice and begin to play a supportive role. This process of transformation is about using one’s “awareness mind” to listen deeply. It takes some people longer than others to unleash full creative expression. But with practice, the critical voice is tempered into a helpful editor. As sure as day follows night, the creative voice is waiting to take its proper lead. Creative career coaching can help to nurture and speed this process along.

Creative spontaneity can be re-gained.

When our creativity is in retreat, we feel arid and unmoved. But as we find ways to lift the shades, the light begins to pour back in. This is a natural rhythm of the creative process. The ebb and flow operate at various times, in varying degrees. Dry times can be disappointing, even alarming if our livelihood depends upon it. But there are tools and techniques that help to ease those shades off. The creative energy doesn’t leave, it simply goes into retreat. When we re-create the opening, it returns in a way that feels at once familiar and new. Creative expression is in perpetual evolution. Upon the return of creative energy, we experience ourselves and our world just a bit more fully than before.

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*Essay by Barbara Bowen of GatewaysCoaching.com - the definitive source for artists and creative careers in transition. Contact Barbara to empower your creative process and for help with your career goals. She would love to hear from you.*