Tomorrow is the start of 2017 National Novel Writing Month also known as NaNoWriMo. This year, I signed up. My inner critic is asking, “Are you going to finish that?”

Before I sat to write this week’s journal entry today, I checked in on my daily inspiration from Martha Beck. Naturally, the message was perfect. Today she wrote, “The heart of all good writing is simple honesty”. I let out a big sigh! I’m making a commitment to write 50,000 words in 30 days and that initially came with some angst. Are you going to finish that?

I was in a coaching session with one of my coaches yesterday. She is a gifted writer. We talked about my tendency to procrastinate. She noted that procrastination can be a good thing. That there are times when we’re truly not ready for something and putting it off makes for greater creativity later. I agree. Yet, in my case, I know procrastination generally stems from fear. Fear of not completing what I started.

I’ve always loved creating things; art, decorating, writing, even program/workshop development is a creative practice for me. As a young girl, I created gifts for family and friends, made cards and wrote cute little verses in them, organized backyard carnivals and haunted houses, and always loved Christmas. My mother would send my brother and I off to the store to get all kinds of supplies to make ornaments for the tree. We’d hold up in the basement for hours designing, making, and admiring our creativity. I’d be so excited about hanging them on the tree!

However, there were many, many, unfinished projects as well. Things I’d start and get bored with, or I’d be inspired to do something else. I can still hear my mother complaining. “Are you going to finish that?” “You have to finish what you started first.” While I know her complaining was well intended, I came to see not completing something as a bad thing. How would I ever get through life if I couldn’t finish what I started?

Later in life, I developed a history of sticking with things that I didn’t like or want to continue to do. I believed this was the way to be successful in life, and culturally, there’s a lot of pressure to do so. Once, someone told me I had stick-to-it-tiviness. At the time, I saw this as a good thing. Yeah! I’d fixed the problem of not finishing things. In reality, I was punishing myself for all the unfinished business of the past. Now, I recognize my ability to step away from what isn’t working any longer as one of my gifts.

I certainly have the experience, wisdom, and presence of mind at this point in life to see all of this more clearly and choose projects that really light me up. Still, I’ve learned a few things about life from my unfinished projects.

• First, everything is practice, including life itself. Everything. We’re intended to follow our desires, try new things and continually learn what we like and don’t like. It’s how we grow into who we are meant to be. Trying, moving on, and trying something else is all part of the process.
• Experience is this business of life. When we leave something behind that isn’t serving us any longer, like an unfinished project or maybe even a relationship, it doesn’t mean we’ve failed, nor is it bad. It’s simply the end of that experience and this is living. Honestly, I no longer believe in failure or mistakes. There is only experience. We learn, grown and are led to the next choice on this spiritual journey.
• Patience keeps us present. In the past, when I began a creative project, I often focused on the finished product more than the creative process. While it’s great to have a sense of the end in mind, attachment to the result takes us out of the present moment. For me, this creates anxiety that the project isn’t turning out fast enough or the way I want it to. The more I practice patience, the more I am present with what is unfolding in the moment and the more I am in the flow of creative genius. Certainly, this is a beautiful thing!
• Finally, lighten up! You are joy. Express it! As I reached midlife, I gained the wisdom necessary to stop taking myself and life so seriously. Thank goodness! It’s all a game that I came here to play and I love that perspective. Everything I experience externally in my life is a mirror reflection of what’s happening internally. It is within my power to manifest a more desirable outcome by shifting my inner thoughts and beliefs. As I play more with this concept with life, with ideas, and with work, I create more magic for myself and those around me. How cool is that?

Experience is never wasted. All of my unfinished business has led me here, to writing a book. My experiences and unfinished business have brought me to a place of being far more selective and clear about where I put my creative energy, and what it feels like to be in the flow of creativity.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll light a candle and set my intention for simple, honest, and playful writing. When my inner critic pipes up to ask, “Are you going to finish that?” I know the answer is yes.

What do you want to let go of and open your heart to greater creativity?

From my heart to yours,

Big question time! If I create a spiritual retreat/adventure in Italy for fall 2018, would you be interested?
Drop me an email and let me know…

• Would you come?
• What would you like to experience while there?
• How do you want to feel?

Be among the first to get all the delicious details.