Sitting Quietly Before Leaping Tentatively

Making Time & Space To Access Creativity

Some of us are used to creating time for ourselves to explore ideas, and others are in a system which provides the structure to explore and make. But for many, swept up in life, it can be really hard to cross that line and say, ok, today, I make time to make.

For me personally, making time for making (or rather not making time for making), is tied up with value judgements. Persuading the inner critic that taking an hour to opt out is going to be worthwhile, is a tough call. It’s almost impossible to argue, in real time, that sitting and doing nothing for an hour whilst I tune in to thinking/making will be as “productive” as the hour I could spend at my desk. The metrics don’t apply, but no time to argue about what value means, I’ll just get back to my desk.

It would be easier, I know, if I were already absorbed in the work, but supposing we’re at the beginning of our journey, how do we legitimise the shift from productivity, schedule, and must do’s, to the slower, more languorous pace which many of us need to tune in to making work, which may or may not ever result in much (and let that be fine).

“This is the way I work and it doesn’t look like much…” Seth Price, Art Now Podcast with Heidi Zuckermann

When I was trying to get back into the habit of working in a sketchbook, I used one of my sketchbooks as a place to work through the gremlins that were in my head. These gremlins (the inner critic) were stopping me from working by being negative, so I figured if I could write or draw out my response to counteract these gremlins I could put the gremlins back in their box…

Gremlin voices can be quite loud, bullish, and definitely insistent. But if I listened, behind them, there were more tentative voices, instinctive voices, that were trying to be heard, and I began to write down their shy responses to the gremlin.

I discovered the shy responses were all about giving credence to my instinctive urge to be quiet and still as a way to access an entry point to a creative space.

Once in the quiet space, it wasn’t or isn’t that I am sitting waiting for an idea to land, more that the quietness gives me the best possible chance to connect and process all the things which have been allowed to pour in – the podcasts on dog walks, the books read, the things seen. And alongside this sorting process, the questions and prompts grew my understanding of the fragility and quietness of a tentative, early stage creative voice, and how it needed to be held gently. It helped me appreciate something very tangible about the way creativity might present itself to us (or me).

There are lots of ways of accessing the creative process and starting to make work. Some of us can shove everyone out of the way and go and find like-minded communities to help feed and support our processes. Others might enjoy getting out and about visiting, reading, watching, taking part. Some of do all of these. But if you have an instinct that for you, finding time to turn inwards might just be the trigger you need to show your creative self you are ready to listen and believe in what it has to say, then I share the questions I’ve been asking myself, as a way to validate time spent opting out from the busy world, and opting in to a quieter world – if only for 30 minutes at a time, and without any guarantees of the payback.

If they are useful take them – but if you have your own way of stepping into a creative space please let us know!  

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