Creative Resistance

I have a few things to share today that might help expand your experience of your own art practice.  You see, I'm a bit obsessed with cultivating my awareness of what I respond to, what makes me curious, what calls for my absorption because I have found that incredible improvements come as a result, not just in my artwork, but in my health and experience of my life.

Being devoted to this part of myself is, clearly, good for me.  And I know it's good for you too.

Do you have resistance?

Do you find that you go through periods of deep creative resistance?  Maybe it comes in the form of doubt, or confusion.  For some of us, it shows up as extreme disappointment or even anger when we think about our work (or lack, thereof).

It can feel very lonely, these times.  But what if I told you this is normal?

I wanted to share something that I've realized over the last few years:  

when I feel resistance, it seems to be an indicator that I'm ready to grow.

If that sounds odd, let me give an example of how this is true in human development:  Babies, in their first year of life, are constantly gaining new skills following a pretty predictable timeline, and you can generally expect certain advancements at certain ages.  I noticed that both of my babies would get inexplicably cranky and unhappy right before that new skill emerged, and once it did emerge, they became mostly content again.

It's as if we have something inside of us that knows where we are, it knows when we're ready--but not quite.  This creates great frustration because the desire for the ‘thing’ is known to us because we can almost see it, taste it, touch it, but it's not quite there yet.  To this part of us that ‘knows’ we are almost ready, it seems extremely frustrating. 

Have you ever noticed this?

You're all excited to learn something new but it feels hard, you feel lost, or it just doesn't feel the way you'd hoped.  

It seems logical to try to resolve the discomfort of resistance by backing off, shutting down, or moving on, but that doesn't get rid of it.  

Because if you're ready to grow, everything in you will push you in that direction, and an unanswered call becomes its own kind of uncomfortable resistance.

Here is the super simple, but magical tactic I have discovered:  move into it.

For me, I have come to know resistance as an indicator that I am ready to grow.  And then it's up to me to make sure that call gets answered and I go to work.  

So next time you feel that resistance kick in, instead of shirking the studio, ask yourself, “What am I ready for?” and then listen for the answer.