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Issue 38
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In this issue ~~
* Action and Faith: Honoring Natural Rhythms
* Creative Tip
* Wise Words
* Bookshelf
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Action
and Faith: Honoring Natural Rhythms
One of the recurring dilemmas we face in our creative process
is when to act and when not to. We've all had times where we've
set an action in motion -- we've planted the seeds, so to speak
-- and we need to wait to allow them to grow. But we become impatient
and feel like we want to tug at the seedlings to make them grow
faster. We're eager to see our creations blossom (and perhaps
feel an urgency to generate income from them), and waiting is
the hardest thing to do.
Writer/speaker Louise Hay has illustrated this using the analogy
of going to a restaurant. Once you place your order, you wait.
You don't follow the waiter into the kitchen to make sure the
food is prepared and served. You trust that it will arrive when
it's ready. But in life, we become impatient or panicky when
we don't see results immediately, and we feel we need to continually
do something to make it happen.
We've been taught that the way to accomplish things is to
take action, and when our actions seem ineffectual, we feel out
of control. We need to remember that life has natural rhythms
and cycles: The sun rises and sets. The tides ebb and flow. The
seasons come and go. And no matter how much we resist those cycles,
they will go on. If we fight them, it is we who will suffer.
There are also rhythms and cycles in our lives. There are
times when the smallest action brings results and other times
when all the effort in the world yields nothing. Sometimes our
ideas manifest results quickly, and other times they seem to
take forever to unfold. And there's no logical explanation for
either.
So what can you do when there's nothing you can do?
~ One powerful way to act without acting is to hold your vision.
When your activity reaches a lull, there's a tendency to feel
like it's no longer working, that it's lost momentum. By holding
the intention for a successful project, you keep the momentum
going and still honor the rhythm of the process. And it lets
you feel like you're doing something!
~ The creative process itself has its own rhythms, and each
of us has our own, which can vary from day to day. By becoming
familiar with your creative pattern, you can work with it instead
of against it. Today, in writing this article, my creativity
comes in spurts. I write a few words, stop to file some papers,
write a little more, head into the kitchen to wash dishes, jot
down another idea, open the mail. But all the time, my mind is
working on the article. On days like this, the ideas flow more
readily when I'm doing busy work, and if I can honor that, I
can be more productive than when I'm forcing myself to sit restlessly
at the computer.
~ Sometimes, you just need to let go. One client of mine decided
that writing was an important part of his life, but he kept bumping
into closed doors. He put it down, and a year later, a door opened
and he stepped into an opportunity to write a magazine column.
~ Put aside a project that's not moving and do something else.
I find it useful to have several projects going at once. That
way, if I'm stopped with one, I shift to another.
~ Learning to be receptive is another powerful skill. We all
have both masculine and feminine energies within us, and we need
to use both. The masculine is the active, "warrior"
energy; it feels powerful. But the feminine energy is just as
powerful in its own way; we need to receive the fruits of our
actions to complete the cycle. Once you've done your work, have
an active willingness and expectation for positive results to
show up in their own right time.
~ Notice if you're throwing any obstacles in your way. Learn
to distinguish, for example, between a need to let your ideas
germinate as part of the creative process and an avoidance of
taking action out of fear. Watch out for excuses and rationalizations.
~ Let yourself take breaks. Discipline is a good thing, but
some days, the most productive thing you can do is blow off work
and give your psyche a rest.
~ Learn to live with unresolved questions. When a new vision
is emerging, it rarely comes out fully formed. and trying to
force an answer can short-circuit the creative process. It may
take months, years or even a lifetime for your questions to be
answered. While uncertainty is uncomfortable, developing the
capacity to live with your questions can lead to powerful results.
~ Begin to build a sense of faith that things will work out.
Look back and notice how things worked out in the past despite
your doubts and fears. Keep a journal detailing the progress
of your projects and refer to it when you need encouragement.
~ Continue taking appropriate actions, knowing you may not
get immediate results, but are planting seeds for the future.
In his book, "Power versus Force," Dr. David Hawkins
says, "We think we live by forces we can control, but in
fact we are governed by power from unrevealed sources, power
over which we have no control." If we can learn to live
in harmony with these forces instead of fighting them, riding
the wave when it's going in our direction and surrendering when
it's not, we can make the most of our efforts and reduce our
level of frustration.
Ultimately, knowing when to act and when not to is a personal
judgment call. The best advice I can give you is to tune into
your own rhythms and develop strategies for dealing with the
slow times as well as the active ones. To everything there is
a season, and if we flow with that, our creations will unfold
more elegantly with less struggle.
Top
Creative
Tip
When you begin a project, create an image of your vision in
words or pictures. That way, if things get slow, you can renew
your intention and your enthusiasm by revisiting your vision.
Wise
Words
"There is a time to let things happen and a time to make
things happen."
~ Hugh Prather, "Notes on Love and Courage"
"Not every one of our desires can be immediately gratified.
We've got to learn to wait patiently for our dreams to come true,
especially on the path we've chosen. But while we wait, we need
to prepare symbolically a place for our hopes and dreams....
The delay of our dreams does not mean that they have been denied."
~ Sarah Ban Breathnach, "Simple Abundance: A Daybook
of Comfort and Joy"
"The creative person is willing to live with ambiguity.
He doesn't need problems solved immediately and can afford to
wait for the right idea."
~ Abe Tannenbaum
"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart
and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the
answers which cannot be given you because you would not be able
to live them and the point is to live everything. Live the questions
now."
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Top
Bookshelf
(click on the book graphic to see a
description at Amazon.com)
 "Power versus Force:
The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior" . . . David R.
Hawkins
"12 Secrets for Manifesting
Your Vision, Inspiration & Purpose: How to Make Your Dreams
Come True" . . . D. Richard Bellamy
"Manifesting Your Heart's
Desire" . . . Fred Fengler, Todd Varnum
"Your Heart's Desire:
Instructions for Creating the Life You Really Want" . .
. Sonia Choquette
"The Ultimate Secret
to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want" . . . Mike Hernacki
"Manifest Your Destiny:
The Nine Spiritual Principles for Getting Everything You Want"
. . . Wayne W. Dyer
"The Seven Spiritual
Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your
Dreams" . . . Deepak Chopra
"Don't Sweat the Small
Stuff -- and It's All Small Stuff" . . . Richard Carlson
Top
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© 2001 Sharon Good. All rights reserved.
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 Books
and tapes listed in the Bookshelf section of each newsletter
can be ordered from Amazon.com. To go to a specific book's page
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