Creating is about bringing something to life. It’s coaxing an idea out of the ethers and flowing it onto the page, canvas, sheet of music. It uses the powerful energy of imagination and intuition to sense the possibilities orbiting around us and focus on one of those possibilities to bring it into form.
Creating can be the most thrilling experience or the most teeth-gnashing one too. But if you understand the phases of creation, you’ll have a better chance of engaging with your creative spirits when the timing is right.
The first phase of creativity is when the idea drops in — boom! An idea has made an impression on your energy field. This is when you get super excited and grab a piece of paper or a recorder to pin your idea to something, so it doesn’t float away. This phase feels magical because your concentrated focus is bringing an idea out of the energy of potential and possibilities.
Next, you use all your senses to flesh out the idea. Because sometimes, an idea is elusive, like getting a whiff of someone’s perfume that has left the room. Your body becomes alert and fully engaged, feeling into the energetic atmosphere while your mind is doing its best to interpret what the body is picking up.
Once in the creative flow, you become deeply immersed in the here and now. The idea becomes more concrete as you focus and coax it into physical life. Simultaneously, everything else fades into the background. This feeling of flow in the present moment is what makes the process of creation addictive. The power of focus draws energy through you first before the inspiration becomes physical, and energy moving through the body feels fantastic!
As a creator, you’ll notice when the energy of an idea/creation falls off. It drops in intensity, and this is your cue to rest. Most creators detest this phase’s idleness, but rest allows you to defocus and return to a neutral state where you can pause until the next idea takes form. Rest is an integral part of the creation process. You must give yourself the time and space to switch gears from an intense focus of birthing an idea to a more open focus allowing the next possible idea to present itself.
As you become aware of your creative process’s natural ebbs and flows, you can relax into each phase without resisting where you are. You may still enjoy one stage more than another, but with awareness, you can appreciate each phase’s qualities and learn to work with them, making the act of creating fun again.