We dream, we desire and visualise something greater.
We see the masterpiece before we’ve even picked up the brush. In our eagerness, we rush, trying to leap from the first stroke to the final creation in one move. We know there’s work in between, but the mind resists, fixated on the final destination, searching for the magic wand so it happens in the blink of an eye.
I know this frustration well and it can happen at the start of a project or part way through when the next step is going to take me in to the unknown. My imagination conjures the vision or the end point so vividly it feels as though I’m already there. But then reality settles in. I’m still at the starting point, and my heart sinks. Anything short of immediate arrival feels like failure. I berate myself, convinced I should be further ahead, concluding that I must not be good enough.
The temptation, then, is to seek shortcuts; to learn more, to refine techniques, anything to speed up the realisation of my vision. As if Leonardo could have fast-tracked the Mona Lisa with a spray gun. But this only delays the journey further, trapping me in a cycle of resistance. I tell myself stories of incapability, compare myself to others and lament why I ever started in the first place. I point to what I think are my circumstances, convincing myself I don’t have enough time, people are against me and even the weather is not on my side; I might as well give up. But really, it’s fear keeping me safe, stopping me from taking that first step into the unknown. I can see the destination but I’m unsure of the route’s terrain.
Telling myself to do better, to try harder only feeds the false story that I am not enough. And that belief keeps the blank canvas untouched, the brush suspended in hesitation. What allows me to break free is not force, but gentleness, patience, presence and trust. Along with reaching out for support and creating structures and routine so that the work becomes an integral part of my life, not a separate dream. To be willing to savour the process, to honour each step, the first and the fifth hundredth and first. To pause, reflect, and find beauty and wisdom in every step, in every brushstroke, even when they are clumsy, imperfect and messy.
Because creation is not about rushing to the finish. It is about becoming.
What’s the masterpiece you’d like to create? OK, I’ve used an art analogy and mixed it with a bit of a journey but how we go about creating something into existence is equally applicable to all of the projects, goals and visions we have for ourselves.
I’d love to offer you some support to help you see how you get in the way of what you want to create and help you discover the support and structures that will help you break through.
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