The Next Chapter – Secret #4 Surrendering to Creative Cycles

I’m taking part in an online book blogging club called The Next Chapter. This post is part of our discussion about The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women. Feel free to jump in to the conversation here or with some of the other posts about Secret #4.

So, I’ve run into a very small snag with the book blogging thing . . . I had to return the book.  It was a library book (one of only 2 copies in Vancouver library) and it was requested by another library user so I could no longer renew it.*  But, I did scan all the important pages into my computer so I can read those bits and base my blogging off of that, along with the other posts I read.  

Crazy Creative Cycles

Ok, so I struggled to try to think of what my creative cycles are like.  Since I struggle to put myself under the creative banner, I’ve never really reflected on my creative cycles.  Never really stopped to take note.  I’ll have to try to pay more attention.  Cycles are one of those things where the more you know about them, the more you are able to use them to your own advantage.

I acknowledge that outside events guide some of my cycles.  November is increasingly becoming a time of literary intensity for me.  The turn to fall weather still carries with it certain studious impulses.  Winter and snow makes me feel like hibernating (but only because I can’t afford to spend two months off of work so I can be on a mountain skiing). 

The Void

When creative voids come, I’m usually too busy doing other stuff to notice.  I throw myself into something, become engrossed, and when I’ve saturated myself, move on to something else. 

There are times that I do feel like I’m just not connecting with the right life rhythms in general though.  I get into kind of a funk.  That is the frustrating void that I sometimes have to work through.  How do I manage?  None of my methods seem particularly sage or special . . .

• reading
• thinking
• writing
• occasionally talking
• forgetting
• cleaning and organizing, clearing the air
• getting in touch with my primal visceral self
• looking to higher powers for guidance/signs
• returning to or creating rituals

Perhaps it was my Christian upbringing or just my own life experience that has taught me to have faith that things will work themselves out.  I also have a certain stubborn streak – there are some things that are just not an option for me.  Things like: not improving, not surviving, not making the best of it.  I may feel moments of fear and doubt, but I know in the big picture, the void is just temporary.

The Pinnacle

I also get times of intense energy and passion.  Actually, I sometimes think I might be slightly manic-depressive.  I like the phrase ‘strike while the iron’s hot’ so when I’ve got the energy, inclination, and passion to do something, I usually shuffle things around so I can do it.  Sometimes when I’m in a manic phase, I will take on a bit too much for myself and have to dial it back or get burned out too quickly. 

My pinnacles are usually fairly personal things.  If I come out and share with you voluntarily the bright spot with something creative, it means you are part of the inner circle.  Generally, I’m not going to jump up and down and shout it from a rooftop.**  I might manage to convince myself to a small celebration or a treat, but I have difficulty allowing self-indulgence.  Instead I’ll just glow inside for a little while, and then get back to the rest of my life. 

*I did have to incur a small library fine.  As a Virgo and a person who is always punctual about returning library books, having to pay a $0.60 fine actually caused a bit of anxiety and stung my pride a bit.  But, it was my own fault.  Had I not left it to the last minute to try and renew it, I would have seen the request and been able to return it on time.  My only option for a timely return would have involved breaking my writing date.

**I sometimes think it would be nice if some of the people I knew would do some jumping up and down and shouting from rooftops on my behalf.