Are you ghosting your inner artist?
On Creative Commitment, Intention as Action, and the creative consequences of not showing up
In a group coaching session the other day we were exploring three common tendencies that can block an artist’s creative flow. “They are the three horsemen of the apocalypse!”, an artist cried out, therefore re-dubbing them for life. The three horsemen are burnout, comparison and procrastination.
Specifically, we were looking at procrastination - at what happens when we come up against and create delays in our creative workflow, when we encounter resistance, when we find ourselves making lame excuses or even legitimately valid reasons why we can’t show up for our art.
On the topic of procrastination, I’m adamant to emphasize that we, artists, are not lazy. While laziness can be our inner critic’s most common jab, most artists I know are dedicated and driven. So, when it comes to procrastination, laziness is rarely what lies underneath. When we do find ourselves procrastinating, our work is generally to look under the hood — to see what feelings or stories we may be hooked into that may be hooking us, and making it hard to show up fully for our creative life.
Just the fact that you’re showing up to do this kind of work, that you are reading and engaging here, is proof enough for me, that you are not a lazy creator.
And yet, I want to turn the screw a bit as we pivot to explore questions around creative commitment and intention.
While I still believe that none of us is lazy, we, artists — we, mortal beings — can be undisciplined (perhaps this is akin to laziness?) when it comes to making and meeting commitments in our creative life and practices.
So, even while an artist may be making lots of motion like they are hard at work, there are subtle ways that we can, in fact, even in all our busy-ness, find ourselves undisciplined in our habits of mind and practice.
Specifically, as we begin setting commitments and intentions for our creative work, it’s critical to notice where we may get stuck in thoughts, stories, attitudes, beliefs or biases that slow us down, derail us and that may keep us from committing to the very commitments that we made for ourselves!
Okay, I’ll say it, this is the arena where we, artists, can be a little - lazy!
WHAT’S IN A WORD?
The word intention means:
a thing intended; an aim or plan;
the action or fact of intending;
a person's designs, especially in respect to marriage.
The Latin root for "intention" is intentio, derived from the verb intendere, which means "to stretch out," "to strain," or "to lean toward".
The word’s root signifies both the idea (and the act) of focusing one's attention and aiming at a goal. With intention — we need something to intend - something to point ourselves towards, an object to aim at. But as much as the importance of an object or creative target to aim at - an intention is also an act, a leaning or moving towards…there is motion in the word, itself.
And, the words “strain” and “stretch” are part of its root, so there is not just motion, but also some healthy tension baked into the word!
I emphasize these attributes to the word because intention is not namby-pamby. An intention is not just something you set, like in a zenned-out, spa-style yoga class. If we are serious about building rich and satisfying creative lives, we must also be prepared to stretch, to lean in and to act!
And, as we lean into our creative work with more intention and begin to name a few creative commitments that might move us toward our goals, we need to be vigilant and skillful with how we work with our bodyminds — to see what comes up around those commitments, to anticipate what might get in our way, to look with curiosity and love at where we can, in fact, be lazy or avoidant, and to set up the structures and support we need to ensure success. (Success on our terms, in our language, according to our creative standards, of course.)
To intend and to commit to something also implies (nay, demands) some degree of valuation - one, that we are worthy and two, that our creative inquiry and work have some inherent worth and meaning to us. We may have to work with some of the more undisciplined, disbelieving or lazy parts of our minds to access and connect with this sense of value, and to take meaningful action.
So, what are your creative intentions over the next 3 months, 6 months, or for this week? If you have been reading along in this series, you have hopefully been doing some work to clarify the creative desires and goals you hold. Our creative commitments and intentions are the fuel that carry us closer and help us to realize them.
Like a parent to an intended suitor, who asks, “What are your intentions with my child?”
Marriage is a commitment and a serious one.
And, so are the commitments we make to our art!
When it comes to making a creative commitment, the stakes are high…but maybe not in the way you think?!
While we need to maintain a space to be playful, experiment, take risks and fail big as artists (and I want us to hold that potential for failure with lightness), when we break the creative commitments that we have made with ourselves again and again, our inner artist (and other valuable and vulnerable parts of our creative selves) internalize a message that we are not important, our art is not important, and our creative life is not important.
As a result, our imaginations, inspiration, ideas, and full creative capacities may stop showing up for us.
Want to dive-deeper? We’ll walk through some powerful questions and actionable practices for setting and following through on creative commitments, and for assessing where we may be getting stuck or lazy in our commitment to our creative selves and lives!
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