Stop Believing You're Unsupported

Hello, beautiful creatives. Tell me if you've ever had this experience because I definitely have.

You have a vision. It's aching in your heart. You want to create it. You can see it so clearly. And yet before you even get started, you feel paralyzed.

There's a hard stop because this little piece inside your mind is saying, "But how? That vision is so big. It's bigger than me. There's no way I could ever put all those parts and pieces together. There's no way I could have the support or the resources or the time. I just can't do it."

And it's not because you're not talented or don't have a vision. It's because you feel unsupported from the world around you.

If you've ever felt this way, or you felt like your vision is bigger than you, then keep listening because I have definitely felt this way and found a really helpful solution: a simple perception shift that you can start to make right now. I have a four-part framework that I want to share with you today, so let's get into it.

The idea here is that the feeling unsupported is so false. I know I don't know you personally or who's on your bandwagon. I don't know if you have a spouse or partner who is cheering you on, or maybe you have a creative group of friends and a support system. That's good if you have it and not a deal breaker if you don't - because I am talking about another level of support: co-creating with universe, with God, with higher power, whatever that bigger meaning is to you.

It occurred to me over the course of creating several projects. If you don't already know, I'm a playwright, producer, performer. Sometimes at the start, projects do feel really big. I'm not just writing a script. I'm writing a script that is 100% going to be produced within the next couple months. It needs a stage and actors, and it needs a director and costumes, and it needs lights and sound. It needs so many things, so many parts and pieces. At the beginning it can feel really big, and if I allow myself to become overwhelmed by the bigness of my vision, I could literally hit a full stop.

Then something occurred to me in the last several years. This is just a little shift of language and it makes all the difference. Language fuels our beliefs. Our beliefs fuel our actions. If we can tweak a couple words and really get on board with it, we can really change what we're capable of producing - as well as the emotional pizzazz and enthusiasm that we have about creating while we're creating.

Here's the shift: I realized that we assemble more than we create.

Bear with me. Let me explain this because it's very true. The idea of being a creator, I think, is super sexy and fun. I think it's profound. We create our realities, right? All this manifestation jazz.

Yes, it's true. But if we really take a step back and look at the phrase “I create”… that's big stuff. That's God level stuff, and a lot of responsibility - so much that it could stop you down your tracks.

What if instead we consider the reality that we don't actually create, but instead we assemble?

I assemble pieces that already exist. In this perspective, I am completely supported, not just by a friend or spouse, or a fellow group of creatives; I'm supported by the universe and all that is within it.

So here's my production. I need the stage. Guess what? I don't have to build it. It's already there. Maybe I have it, or maybe it's a contract or a phone call away. I need actors. Thank goodness I don't have to procreate all of them (although I have four little ones and one of them is turning out to be an actor so far). I don't have to invent these people. They are there, I just have to connect with them. I have to assemble them. I, the playwright, do not have to invent the language. I have to assemble the words in an elegant way. If you are a painter, you don't have to create the paint. You assemble it onto a canvas. I know this is just a word shift, but it changes everything because suddenly I feel like 90% of the work was taken off my plate, and what's left is this beautiful opportunity to play, to assemble.

Picture a child playing with building blocks. They didn't build the blocks. They built with the blocks that were already in existence. They didn't build the floor and earth beneath them. They used the support system of earth beneath them that was already there to build their little castle out of blocks. This is true in every aspect of your life. If you can make this perception change, all of a sudden this vision, this beautiful creative vision that feels bigger than you is not that big. Can you assemble the pieces? Can you make a phone call to the gallery where you wish to have a show? Can you call the friend who knows a friend who knows somebody who can give you a name? Can you write the songs? You don't have to invent the notes. You can compile them, compose them in an elegant fashion.

I love this idea that we assemble more than we create. The pieces of your creation are already out there. They're already in existence. Can you bring them together in a really playful and visionary way? This does not rob you of your unique creative brilliance and vision, because truthfully, nobody can assemble that vision like you. It's your vision. The idea here is that you're not responsible for 100% of it. The universe did most of the work by giving you the pieces to assemble.

This should feel like a breath of fresh air - like the ground beneath you that supports you just wrapped itself up and gave you this loving hug while saying, “I got you.”

Don't let your big visions feel too big. They're not too big. All the pieces already exist!

Let's break this down into a really actionable thing and not just a perception shift. There are four parts to this process. The first part to making this process work for your creative workflow is Step One: Receptivity. We've got to get into a receptive state to start. Let me share a short story. Like I mentioned, I'm a playwright. I have an idea. The idea's already been cooking up there for a while. It's time to write, like, today. I find a beautiful spot to sit down. The screen is blank. I begin to type. Except I don't, because all of a sudden there's a blankness. Yes, this is an expression. You could say maybe this is what writer's block is, but it's kind of bigger than that, because I've got all the ideas, but where are the actual words? Where's the actual bringing forth of this thing? We've got to get into the receptive state. I can't tell you how many times I've done this. My favorite office is my poolside office in Costa Rica. I sit at a beautiful table at a gorgeous pool, and I go, “I'm going to type. Ooh, I'm going to swim.”

To get into the receptive state, each of us will have our own unique different way, but I guarantee you nature is one of the best ways to get into it. I remove myself from the blank computer screen staring at me. I go get in the pool, and not for a quick dip... I stay there because in that water, all of a sudden the words start falling on me. What I did was get into the receptive state. I stepped away from the pressure of the blank computer screen. I did something that feels really nurturing and soulful to me, which is being in the water. I can also do this with a walk out in nature and look at some gorgeous trees. You will have your own way to do this, but let's be real, we're all human and nature has a pretty profound effect on almost all of us, so that's my number one suggestion. If you know another way that you like to kind of clear your energy and get into a receptive state, then that is Step One for you.

Step Two: Delivery. Okay, so we've cleared ourselves out. We're not feeling so much pressure - now we can receive the delivery of information. This is support from the universe, the creative ether, from the mind that actually exists outside of your mind. I receive the delivery. Now, we're all different and how we receive things can be different. Some of us might hear it, some of us might see it in our mind's eye, and some of us might just have this feeling of suddenly knowing. Those are at least three of the most common ways. You might have a different way of receiving these types of messages or energy. Don't get wrapped up in this feeling super profound like the voice of God has got to thunder down on you. It's an idea that presents itself: a vision, a sound, a thought. That's the delivery. Don't question it. Don't doubt it. Just receive it.

For me - being not just a writer, but I'm an auditory writer because these are scripts - these are meant to be spoken aloud. I have a really hard time writing characters if I can't hear their voices, so I kind of make the joke that I hear voices. I don't hear little voices in my ears, but in my mind, all of a sudden, the conversations that my characters are going to have just start happening. But guess what? They don't happen when I sit down at the computer screen because I'm not in a great receptive state. They happen after I put myself into the swimming pool or go on a beautiful walk. Then I can open up and it starts flowing in. Now, don't be worried if it doesn't start flowing in all at once. This is still a practice. I've been writing scripts this way for a long time now. I figured out what works for me, what my receptive state is, and how to receive that information, the delivery: listening, opening up, seeing, hearing.

Okay, let's move on now to Step Three: Acknowledgement. The ideas are coming in. The images are there. Now is the moment to acknowledge the reality, the truth that all the pieces already exist. There's nothing in your creation that doesn't exist yet. Even if you're inventing something completely new, I guarantee you that the materials you're going to use to create that invention already exist. This is an empirical universal truth. It's already in existence, you simply have to assemble it. This is a great time to like get out a piece of paper or your notes app and jot down all of the different physical, tangible, real-life components that are a part of your big vision. They don't all have to be tangible, but most of them you'll find to be so.

I love the example of an artist doing a gallery show. You've got a canvas, paints, paint brushes. Easy. Probably not that overwhelming of a task, but what if you want to do a gallery show with 20 pieces, now there’s the overwhelm of having to make them. You need 20 canvases, all this paint, and a connection to the gallery show. So you write down 20 canvases, x amount of paint brushes, all of these paints, blah blah blah. Guess what you don't have to do? Build a gallery, or invent the gallery person who will book your show. They already exist. So you write down 10 different galleries that you have in mind. We start to realize everything's in existence. Can you assemble the pieces?

That takes us beautifully into Step Four: Assembly. You've got the vision, received some creative input from the ether, written down a list and acknowledged that all of these things do exist. Now you begin the fun part: assembly. When you begin the assembly piece, because a big project can still look big and feel daunting, you start with the easiest or the most obvious first action. If you're painting, you probably need the canvas or whatever surface you're going to paint on first, right? You could call the gallery first, that might be a good motivation, but you can't paint if you don't have the supplies. So start with the easiest or the most obvious. As you come into your creative zone each day or week or whatever your frequency is, you just go back to step three. Go back and glance at that list - what are the pieces that need assembling? - and move on to the next easiest or most obvious next step.

Today I want you to realize that you are not unsupported. Sometimes we come to that dead stop because we don't feel supported. The vision you hold feels bigger than you. Good. Good for you. Good for dreaming big and having a vision that's bigger than you, because you are more than capable… especially when you realize that you are not unsupported, you are hugely supported. Even if you don't want to get spiritual about it and talk about God or the universe, fine. Get physical about it. The pieces literally already exist. You don't have to carve the wooden blocks to build the little tiny castle. You just need to get the blocks and stack them into a castle. You are hugely, hugely supported.

I've done this time and time again with my work. When I come in with this really fresh, supported feeling at the top of a project, things really flow and I hit so many fewer roadblocks because I don't get stuck in the how, when, why or who. It's all out there, I just need to pull the pieces together. And so do you.

I invite you, my creative friend, to use this four-part framework for your next creative project, however big or small it may be. Quick recap:

Step One, get into the receptive state. Don't skip this step. You'll have so much more fun in your creative flow. If you're already there, it could be a 5-minute walk. It could be a 2-hour swim. It could be whatever gets you there. It could be a short meditation, a little loving on your puppy. whatever gets you into that really smooth open space.

Step Two: Delivery. This one is just listening. You got yourself into a state to receive information, and now you can receive the delivery that's coming into you. Remember, don't get freaked out like it's got to be the pounding voice of God. It's the thought, the vision that comes to you. It's still yours, but it's coming from outside. That's such a juicy, big supported feeling.

Step Three: Acknowledge that the pieces already exist because, my friend, they do.

Step Four: begin the process of Assembly. Make that list in step three and just start plugging away. Have fun with it most of all because none of us are creatives because we don't enjoy it. We're creatives because we do.

Thank you so much for reading today. I invite you to hang out with me a little bit more and subscribe to my newsletter below. I send out one a week with more stories, thoughts, and ideas about embellishing, improving, evolving, and growing in your creative process.

You know in your heart that you have to create. It is your responsibility to share those visions that you receive with the world around you. It's a way that you connect.

So, my darling, go do your creative work.