Let’s talk about your middle . . . er. . . the middle!
If the beginning of your project is the inspiration, the middle is the creation. It’s a stage where the beginning idea is ignited by the actions that must occur for the creation to come to fruition. Examples might be making a phone call to order supplies, registering for a course, or picking up your pen and starting to write.
The middle can be a rich place where you make choices that will affect how your project shows up in the end. A stage where the creation starts, lives short or long, dies, then perhaps gets re-created over and again, until, it’s ready to come out and play.
The middle can also be a questionable space where nothing seemingly occurs. Where there are long periods of what seems like dormancy or death without resuscitation. The middle can be a precarious space where many creators jump ship and leave their creations behind because no-thing is (apparently) happening! You’ve got 5 chapters written and inspiration hasn’t knocked on your door for chapter 6 to appear.
When that occurs, it could be time to ask your project, relationship, book, or song, “Are you at the END? Or are you still in the middle incubating?” This is a stage in many projects, where people give up and abruptly end things just before they are ready for take off! My advice for when you’re in the middle and your project seems to disappear and doubt creeps in? Your creation may be just about ready to POP. So don’t give up!!!
This point in the murky middle can be one of the most uncomfortable places you’ll ever be as a creator.
If your project is in the excruciating middle, ask everyday, “What does my project need from me today?” It literally may be nothing except to go out in nature or go for a run. Or simply hang out with your friends that have been bugging you to get out from behind your desk and go do something else while your project is creating itself. Or it may be as simple as, but not always easy as, “Crumple the page and start over.”
The middle is not the shiny new beginning; it’s turned into something unnamable, untameable. It has a life force of its own, and now as the captain, the creator, your job is to be totally present, to not give up and to ask daily what you can contribute to this life form.
Here are some questions to ask when your creation is in the middle . . .
- Is my project/idea at the end, or is it incubating and creating itself?
- Ask your project, dance or creation, “What do you require of me today?”
- If your creation is in the incubation stage, ask, “Is there another creation I can put my energy into while you’re creating yourself?”
- What energy can I receive from my creation?
- Who or what else can contribute to this project coming into fruition?
Remember that you’re not seeking an answer to any of these questions with your mind. It’s not about thinking it, it’s about getting the energy, and listening to what you instinctively understand. Once you get the energy/information from these questions, you can take the according actions!
Now that we’ve looked at the beginning and middle stages of creation, please join me next week as we move you through to the end! And then leave you with a very messy alternative for creating beyond . . . anything!