Creative Wellness Letters - 🪜 What's your next step?

Hi Reader, 

Are you working on any cool summer projects?

Over the last few months, I’ve been starting to work on two big projects: making my next album, and redoing my website.

Progress has been glacial on both throughout recent busy seasons, but I am taking small steps, as much as I can do sustainably among all of my other work.

You know I’m all about the small steps (because they always add up!), but I’m realizing that sometimes I have a bit of shame about how slowly I work. I am a Taurus (sun/moon/a few other things), and I really identify with the slow, deliberate aspects of the archetype. I always need a lot of time to process and simmer in my cozy cocoon, and don’t tend to make decisions quickly.

Moving slowly is comfortable because I like the safety of the project bubble. I feel very at home in a state of “working on something”, which sometimes means I stay there longer than I want to, instead of finishing more quickly. (Obviously, there is a variety of factors with each project than might warrant different paces, too.)

It makes sense that sometimes finishing a project is scary, because there’s more risk involved with being finished. Then you have to put it out into the world, and that invites evaluation from yourself and others!

It’s a mixed bag, because it’s exciting and fun to share, but those fears of vulnerability also pop up (completely normal!)

Those fears of the finished product also come up whenever they want to, at any point in the process, which can make you resist moving forward at all. 😬

When taking the next step feels risky, because our brains don’t accurately perceive the difference between different sizes of risks, you can politely tell the fear that it’s been heard - “Thanks for coming, but you don’t get to drive the car!”

There’s nothing wrong with doing something to make that next action feel safer as you begin! 

You might want to make a warm beverage, sit under a soft blanket, light a candle, or whatever simple ritual makes you feel good.

Remember that any progress is better than no progress, so setting a small time-based goal to get reconnected after a break might be just the thing.

My first small step for getting back to making the track list for my album was just opening up the Notion database where I had been cataloging my compositions, to make myself remember which ones were the strongest contenders. 

I told myself that I didn’t have to make any decisions that day, I just had to review the info.

If you run into more resistance, see how far you can break down the next step into an even smaller step, ridiculously small, even!

On certain days, we may feel more and less “finishing” energy. We may cycle between feeling comfortable with and craving the “doing” and the “done”, or blends between the two.

But, if we don’t savor any of the process, what’s the point?

Productivity culture prizes the finished product (often erasing any experience of the process), but being comfortable in the “still working on” phase is also a huge gift. 

Being a creative person is a lifelong practice - as long as we are alive, we are never done growing. That’s normal, and desirable!

🥂 Here’s to embracing the process, however long it may take!

What's your next step on your current creative project? Let me know, and I'll cheer you on!

I'm always rooting for you, and my inbox is always open, so please feel free to reach out if I can help in any way. 

I always love hearing from you!

Have a lovely week! ⁠

Rebecca

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