Creatives, Stop Trying to Solve This Problem

Hello, beautiful creative people, and welcome back to The Creative Spotlight. Today I want to talk about a concept that's a little bit bigger than our creative process, but it will influence your creative process - because if you're struggling with this, it is no doubt affecting the way you bring your creative work into the world. Not only that, it can help you in much bigger ways.

Let's talk about problem-solving.

Humans are naturally problem-solving machines, so ain't that handy? But here's the thing. Have you ever felt like you are in a constant state of trying to solve a problem, a constant state of trying to fix things? Not always the same thing. There's this constant wheel turning of fixing and fixing and solving and fixing and solving. From that perspective, something is always wrong, and you're like, "Man, can I catch a breath where things are just good?"

In all reality, things at any given state, in any given moment, for most of us, are pretty okay. If we can get back into the present moment and take a deep breath, we can really acknowledge that maybe there's not so much that needs to be fixed after all.

Now, I don't say that to belittle your problems. You do have problems, things you want to fix or change, and that's okay. So let's take a look at a different way to address problem-solving. This was a realization I had a few years ago, and for me it was one of those big light-bulb, groundbreaking, aha moments, and I am reminded of it every now and then when I'm really hitting the ground trying to fix a thing: maybe this problem doesn't actually need to be solved.

That's the concept of today's post. Some problems need to be solved. Some problems need to be dissolved. This is the perception shift and where we want to focus our energy today. If a problem didn't need to be solved, and I could simply dissolve it, that would mean that I would have to stop perceiving it as a problem. If it's not a problem, it doesn't need to be solved. Bear with me because this is true and it works.

Let me give you some examples from my own personal life. These might not be examples exactly from creative endeavors, although there are those, too. I want to give you a few examples of how simply problems can dissolve sometimes.

After I had had my second child, I was suffering emotionally a bit. It was very challenging, and I didn't really know what was going on. I felt heavy, depressed, overwhelmed, kind of a lot of things, and this wasn't because I didn't want to have a second kid. I did! I was very excited to have my second baby, which made it all the more confusing. Like, what's wrong with me? I remember one day my husband gently, delicately (I think almost maybe scared to even suggest it) said to me, "Do you think it could be postpartum depression?"

I took this deep breath and kind of sat back. I don't even know what I said, but I do remember going for a walk and listening to a podcast of a bunch of mamas talking about a bunch of mama stuff. They outlined, described, painted a picture for me of what postpartum depression was. I was like, "Yep. That's it."

And the most amazing thing happened. I did not seek help for postpartum depression once I understood that that's what was going on for me. It went away. I dissolved the problem because I understood what it was, and the perception shifted.

Instead of going, "What's wrong with me? What's this problem that needs to be fixed?"

I went, "Oh, that's not a problem. That's a pretty normal, natural experience for a lot of mothers. Guess it's not a problem. Guess it'll go away with time."

When I dissolved the problem, when I shifted the perception, it didn't go away in a while, it went away real quick, like what I would almost call miraculous. That's one small example.

I'd like to move into a secondary concept here about dissolving problems. How do we do that? How can we always look at a thing and decide, does this problem need to be solved because it's math? Just kidding, math isn't the only thing. But some problems just have a tangible, real real world solution, and some of them can purely be dissolved through a shift of perception. Here's a tool to help you determine if a problem can be dissolved - this is what I call the two-sided coin. Don't all coins have two sides? Yes, they do.

When I first experienced the two-sided coin in my own life was through the deep, deep feelings of love and sadness. I noticed that love on the other side of it is almost always attached to sadness. You can agree or disagree, but it's rang very true for me in my life and I know a lot of other people who've shared a similar sensation. So much love on one side of the beautiful gold coin, just love love love with hearts all over it. On the other side of that coin is sadness. Almost like we can love so deeply and so fully that there's a sadness to it. Perhaps it's a feeling of anticipated loss. Perhaps it's a nostalgia. Have you ever felt nostalgia for the present moment even though it's happening right now, because there's a knowing in you that it won't be forever?

I feel that love and sadness are two sides of the same coin. We can always flip and look at the other side of that coin. Per this example, this is to say that there are two sides to every problem.

Let me give you another real world example. (Lots of motherhood ones today, so bear with me if you're not a mother. You can hopefully still relate.) I have a new baby right now. He's 4 months old and I'm working quite a bit, so I'm having to pump to make sure I have enough milk to feed him. That can be really stressful sometimes because it’s really hard to actually feed him, but then also to pump and make sure there's enough. It's really important to me that I don't leave him to go do my show and he has no milk. So, you can see this is a problem.

I get stressed about it like, "Ugh, gosh, I wish I didn't have to worry about this."

On the other side of that fear and worry and anxiety around preparing enough milk for my baby is the reality that soon enough, too soon, he won't need that milk from me anymore. So by the time that problem is gone, I'll miss it. Once that problem is gone, the other side of that that problem is that I have a sweet baby that I get to feed. When the problem's gone, so is the joy that is the source of the problem.

We can look at our problems with fresh eyes in two ways. Could the problem simply be dissolved via a perception change? Is there a way you can look at the problem and go, “What if it just isn't a problem? What if there's a different pair of rose-colored glasses I could put on that makes me realize it's not actually a problem?”

Or can you, option two, look at the two-sided coin and go, "This is the side I'm looking at. What's on the other side?"

I'll give you a more creative world example. You know I have an immersive theater, and we also know that sometimes being an artist comes with financial struggles. Let's be real. Sometimes being a human comes with financial struggles. Let's not pigeonhole that on artists, please. Sometimes I look at that side of the coin that wonders why the theater isn’t making more money, while the other side of that coin is that I could have chosen a “real job” as they call them, and have a lot more money and not have the joy that comes with the theater.

So is it a problem, or is it a gift that I get to do this? Is there a way you can flip it?

Sometimes you can tell me the math still doesn't math, Em. That's fine. Math problems have to be solved, but I invite you to expand your creative mind, you creative soul you, and see what's on the other side of the coin. See if a problem needs solution or dissolution. See what's on the other side of that beautiful golden coin that you like to call a problem. What if you didn't? What if you just didn't call it a problem? What if you went, "I'm well. I'm okay. I'm taken care of. I have a heart and a mind and a soul that gets to create."

What if, through a simple shift of perception, I can dissolve problems? That's alchemy. That's magic. You are fully capable. I think that as creatives, we have even easier access to solutions like this than some other people because we naturally have wild imaginations.

The invitation, my darling, is to look at a problem in your life right now, a thing that you were endlessly trying to fix, and do one of two things. Ask yourself the question, and there are kind of two ways to ask the same question. One of them will click for you more than the other. Does the problem need to be solved or can it be dissolved? Or what's the side of the coin I'm looking at and what's on the other side of the coin?

Like I said, today's post is not directly about your creative process, but about you as a human soul who likes to create - and we know that we create better when we're not in a stressed state. If we're constantly stressed and worried and trying to fix things, creativity just doesn't make it on the list very often. We create our best work when we're in our best state. So do the work of personal healing, do the work of dissolving your problems, do the work of shifting perception so that you grant yourself the opportunity to bring your creative work into the world, because it is your responsibility to do so… and how lucky are you to have that responsibility? 💚

Now go do your creative work.