The Spontaneous Creative Process
Hola lovely readers!It's been quite a while. Posts have been far too little and not much in-between. But alas, I return with another post on my recent lack of writing and how I'm getting through it.
So, we all, in some part, understand the word process. We've experienced processes, we create them, and learn from all kinds of processes. Today I wanna tackle the creative process and how discipline plays a HUGE role in said process.For me these last few weeks, my creative process has been more of writing for myself and not for an audience. Which is why I haven't posted much on my blog.I noticed something changed in my writing after college. I began writing more for the sake of people reading my work than writing for the sake of writing. There's a big difference here. One focuses on creating for people while the other focuses on creating for the pure act and joy of creating, delving into the why, and creating from a space of overflow of life.So, ya girl needed a break and I still do! Yet, I know that I need not neglect my blog, which is such a big part of my creative outlet. This is a space I'm shaping and forming for creatives by a creative (me!) and I want to continue building this space for myself and the readers who stumble across this part of the internet.
Do You Have a Creative Process?
A creative process can be anything from a routine on how you maintain and or gather creative inspiration.As I've gotten older over the years my processes have changed and evolved. The lovely part I'm learning though, is that it won't look the same everyday for me. Some mornings I will wake up and do a checklist of sorts
- prayer
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affirmations/ biblical confessions
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Tea/coffee & then creativity
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& then a 4-6 hour work day depending
On other days my creative process is more productive in late evenings, which I'm finding I enjoy a bit more than early mornings after months long experiences of waking up early.However, as a growing creative, I'm learning more the power of discipline in all things, especially my creative routine. I'm learning to do the things I don't feel like doing and choosing to write and create for myself so that what I create is out of an overflow of life and not for the motivation of a social media following.I would easily get burned out and saw myself as a creative not getting immediate results because there would not be many follows or like or comments. I would try to figure which poems or which topic I should write on that would gather views.Eventually I became tired and uninspired with it all. Now, with a little more wisdom and focus in the right place, I've taken a few steps back to gather myself and my thoughts to reclaim the joy of creativity.
What Next?
Creative processes change, but the joy that comes from creating out of a place of love and beauty and wholeness is something that will not. Although I know that having an audience isn't everything, I realize products of my creativity will have an audience.However, I never want to lose the purity of creativity itself by allowing my work to diminish in value for the sole cause of having an audience.I didn't start writing or dancing because people could see me and applaud my efforts. These giftings and talents started because creativity was bred into my being and is seamlessly a part of my being just as breathing is.So, start discovering your process. Make checklists and experiment with what you know about yourself and your creativity and see what happens.If you have a unique creative process let me know in the comments below!
Sincerely a creative soul,
~ Antavia
*Featured Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash