Getting unstuck from an idea or an energy is work. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally....whatever other "...-ally" you can come up with. It's just not easy to let go of an idea - at least this is the case for me. This post talks about how to find something else to do, when things aren't going the way you think they should.

Now, I'm not talking about just giving up on lifelong dreams willy-nilly. This is about creating some space, loosening the death-grip on the process and letting some energy in. My experiences in opening and closing businesses, taking risks with dreams that scare me all point to the fact that I ultimately do not know ALL that is entailed in how my dreams and goals will play out. They will play out, it's just not up to me to call ALL the shots.
SO. When I find myself in a place of: Geez, I'm here again? - insert incredulousness, sarcasm, annoyance, disgust or "other" -or the thoughts of: I've done everything I can do in this idea, situation, process,  then it's time to find something else to do. STAT.
A change of focus to something I've been curious about is key. Something I've told myself I don't have time for....for a long time! It's been learning spanish, various experiments in cooking, bookmaking, writing and handlettering. Focusing on something else I can do, rather than being frustrated with what I can't seem to force is a tough practice, AND a worthwhile one when it comes to quality of life! I would not have learned spanish, made awesome salads and soups, created books with handlettered messages....or even gotten to this blog if I hadn't chosen to.
So, dear friends, what have you been curious about? What have you been telling yourself you can't do? What do you now have time for? What action would you like to take?
If you can't go any further in one direction, set it aside and go to something else.
You get to choose something exciting, nourishing, satisfying...if you want to!~ Who knows, it could be amazing~!

It’s supposed to be helpful, enticing, motivating, assuring…even reassuring…permissive…encouraging, but when I hear phrases flipped out to me like “Trust Your Gut” or “Go with your Instinct” or “Follow Your Bliss,” I sometimes feel more paralyzed and panicked than empowered.
Why?
When I listen for what my gut says, or try to contemplate my “bliss”…even ask what that might be, sometimes nothing comes back. It’s like calling down a well or into a canyon without reverb, echo or call back. Spooky. Quiet spooky. Anybody-home?-spooky. And that’s inside me. Feels like there’s nothing there. 

I get worried that I’m missing an important piece that everyone else has. That I’ll be left behind or that I am missing something or missing out on something….it’s a dramatic sort of panic, “This is my life and what I need to be DOING WITH MY LIFE, FOREVERMORE.”...and oh-BTW, I need to know and decide immediately, right now, instantly!~ (Can you hear the pitch and panic escalating?)
Does this ever happen to you?

Drama Be Damned...or Maybe It's Not How It Seems...or Feels
It’s easy to forget that not everyone is in the same season….that my path may be in a quiet stretch right now. That it’s not wrong, it’s just quiet. Worry comes when I begin to believe that quiet inside equals nothing inside. It doesn’t.

Quiet can also mean peaceful, resting…healing, a sort of passing through. It is a comfort to think of creativity and ideas and passion as just napping….or, for longer seasons, hibernating. 
 
And my biggest challenge when my gut isn’t singing out about what it wants or what is next or what is right, (and it seems like everyone else’s gut is rapturous and ON) is accepting it. Waking a sleeping bear can bring  severe consequences: a bear sleeps when it’s time to sleep and for however long it needs to, to get rested and ready for the next season of Spring.

Same goes for me and my bliss, instinct, gut – can’t force it out of quiet time. But I can check in and see if it’s still sleeping, and respect it’s need for quiet if it’s not speaking up.

PLUS! Maybe I don't need to believe everything I think. Every feeling of doubt or concern that may come up is not a hard, cold fact.

What do I DO about it? What are the actions I take?
I say, “Okay. You’re sleeping. You must really need it. When you wake up, creative instinct, I will be right over here.” And I get really gentle with myself in that acceptance. It's helpful to frequently repeat this belief....as feelings do tend to come up.

Then, I find something else to do. And trust that when my creativity-bliss-instinct wakes up, it’ll let me know, and it’ll know where to find me. This is exactly what's happened everytime I've experienced dormancy in my creative nature.