Life ebbs and flows. And even further, each aspect of your Life ebbs and flows. And just because one aspect of your life is in flow, it doesn’t mean that all of your aspects are in flow. Things can be going amazingly at work or school, but because you’re so busy at your job you don’t allocate the proper time for your personal goals. Or your personal writing can be going so well and is so fulfilling that you end up slacking on your guitar lessons. Or you could have just started a new romantic relationship and you spend all your time with that person and nothing else gets done. (You get the point).
When we’re busy, and Life is doing Life’s thing (for better or for worse), we’ve all experienced time and personal tasks slip away. (I personally couldn’t tell you where the past 3+ months since my last post went).
When it comes to your Art, Creations, Personal Goals, etc., [usually] no one is asking for you to do it, so it’s relient on you to put in the work to get them out and done. And when stress or activity builds up in another aspect of life, it’s easy to put your work in another aspect of life aside and not have to worry about the stress associated with it. And once you are able to rationalize not doing your personal/passion work once, it only gets easier and easier to not do it again.
But every Flow has an inevitable Ebb, just as every Ebb has an inevitable Flow. And sometimes a lot of time can pass between each turn. When/If enough time has passed it can be hard or feel uncomfortable to get back into something we’ve put down for so long. We can find ways to rationalize not picking it back up. Tell ourselves that since we put it down, it’s not worth picking back up again. (I’ve done this many a time in life) But know that there is always a choice. And it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. If you want to start something new, or you want to pick something back up that you used to do, do it. Every time I’ve picked something back up that I’ve put down, I always wonder why I put it down in the first place, and am so happy that I started again.
A prime, personal, real world example of this for me are these blog posts. Once life made a change, and other areas ramped up, it became easier and easier for me not to write these posts. To where all of a sudden I looked up and 3 months had gone by. I told myself that it had been too long. That I can’t just go back into writing these and pretend like nothing happened. “What do you mean I didn’t post for 3 months? Maybe you just didn’t get em? I’ve never stopped. I’m perfect!!!!”.
But then I actually thought to myself “Who cares?!?!? If I want to do it, I’ll do it”. So I did it. I’m not perfect, I slip up. Maybe I’ll slip up again, you never know. But let me tell you, I’ve actually had a blast writing these last 2 blog posts and getting back in the ring again. So if you’ve been thinking about getting back in the ring and picking something back up you used to do, I hope you find the courage to do so, and let the joy, relief, and magic return.
Keep Creating,
Nelson
From “Creative Quick Takes” circa 2019