I love sharing this story with my clients when they find themselves stepping into that place of confusion known as, creator’s perfectionism. Or perfectionism is not your struggle, but creator’s block is. Have you every been there? I have. Let me share with you how to stop feeling overwhelmed and blocked creatively?
ENTERING THE NEUTRAL ZONE
I have found that these feelings of being blocked creatively, are simply an inner message. A message, or signal that says, “Change is about to happen. Beware, you’re preparing to enter the NEUTRAL ZONE, stay focus on the goal.”
I created this illustration to help describe what I am talking about.
ENDING THE OLD….Can make you feel lost.
The process goes something like this….
- You begin to notice unexplained emotions, and reactions that are not typical of you. These are indicators that it’s time to change an old routine or habit, and welcome in something new. As you become more aware of your attitudes and feelings, you can recognize the beginning of this cycle, and anticipate what steps will follow.
- “ENDING the OLD” – What you have been doing is not working for you anymore, and now you are ready for a change. This decision may be easy for some, yet for most, letting go is not a simple process.
- Feeling Ready, you bravely step out into the dark…expecting to instantly arrive at your NEW Destination (your New Beginning). However, to your disappointment, you find that the change does not come quickly, and you are confused as to what happens next.
- Feeling lost and bewildered, you can’t seem to figure out why you are not making progress. You ask yourself, “why is this change taking so long?” Unaware that there is a process of time which falls, in-between the ending of something, and the beginning of another; you find yourself feeling….
- vague
- unsupported
- blocked
- lost
- empty
- disappointed…….. as well as many other emotions.
Remembering back to how strong you felt as you began this journey. You begin to question yourself as to whether you have the stamina to continue. You ask yourself, “Am I brave enough to continue moving forward to create something new?”
Questioning Yourself, and Your Judgement
At this point you begin to question yourself….”Did I make a mistake?”, “Have I not done something right?” You feel like a toddler taking their first steps, shaky and unbalanced.
In this state of uncertainty, if one does not understand what is happening, they may find their confusion turning to self-doubt, opening a pathway for depression to step in.
The Solution is to Trust the Process
Even I did not know what was happening when I found myself feeing lost. Now that our last child was about to leave home, I was uncertain as to where my path was going to lead. I couldn’t seem to shake off this gloom that continued to lurk around me. In my mind I could shrugged it off as a stage of grief, and knowing from past experience, I would eventually come out of it. However, I still felt miserable.
A Million Possibilities my New Growth could take me.
One evening, I came across this information about the neutral zone, and everything started to make sense. I was not stuck in grief, but rather I was simply looping around, going up and down and back and forth.
My lack of direction, commitment and indecision was simply a process of creating a new vision. A new picture. I wasn’t lost, but rather busy investigating the million possibilities my new growth could take me!
So sit back I have a story to tell You…
A lesson from Mother Nature, to help you get back on track, and realize that you CAN trust the process and come out right where you are suppose to be…..but it takes patience.
A Gift for You
If you are facing the Neutral Zone right now….take a moment to relax and listen to a piece of music being played by Gary Freeman (my hubby), Every time I listen to it, I feel a deep understanding and recognition of my thoughts and feelings. Music is the language that speaks when words can not seem to do justice. When my creative juices are exhausted and I begin to face burnout, this music has a way of helping me to relax and recharge.
Gary Freeman…COMFORT
***This music is under copyright laws, you may not copy, nor distribute.