“Patience is also a form of action” Auguste Rodi
I read this quote recently and understood it in a way I never have before. Why, you might wonder… well, I had a realization not long ago about an ingrained thought pattern that’s been adversely affecting my creative process!
Intrigued?
Call it conditioning from family, from society, from culture… the origin of the thought pattern doesn’t much matter but a few months ago, I noticed a kind of frenzied energy that existed within my being. This inner voice was hurrying me to finish my task, to rush and get it done. It wasn’t just a voice, actually. It was a physical sensation of anxiety buzzing inside of my body, preventing me from feeling or being calm and present.
As I became aware of it, I recognized it as a thought/behavior pattern that has always been a part of me. In my earlier life, it really ruled how I lived. Now it rears its head on occasion, but in the one I described above, I noticed the discomfort it was causing AND that there was no valid rationale for that sensation! I was not in a hurry. I had no deadline. There wasn’t anything I had to rush about. It was simply an old pattern/habit of mind.
As it came into my conscious awareness, I was able to breathe into it, come more fully into the moment, and slow down.
And then – a few weeks after that- I realized that this pattern, of hurrying up to get something done, was a direct counter to the creative process.
In point of fact, it was acting as a block to my creative expression!
Because art occurs in the unfolding.
It isn’t something that is hurried along to completion. A masterpiece doesn’t appear on a canvas. It’s planned, executed, refined, sometime completely re-imagined.
The entire creative process is an exploration, not a rush, rush, hurry up and get it done.
For months, I’d been feeling stuck with some of my creative projects and despite trying to move ahead, nothing was feeling right.
Once I identified this old thought pattern within me and allowed it to surface so I could release it, the creative flow began to return.
I felt myself relax into my projects in ways I never have before. It’s enabled me to experiment, try new things, rip apart finished aspects of pieces and redo them. And instead of feeling like a failure because they’re now even farther from being completed, I’ve found a renewed sense of excitement and curiosity.
All because I stopped rushing to finish.
How about you?
Is this a pattern that lives inside of you?
If so, how might you be able to allow it some time to rest?
After all, these ingrained patterns are here to serve us – at least initially- until they don’t anymore.
You know I’m a big fan of the breath as a way to reset.
Why not give it a try and invite in a slower pace?
I have to admit, it feels really great.
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Image of “The Campers” courtesy of the New York Public Library via Unsplash