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Chef Carla Contreras's avatar

Thank you for sharing Elise 🙏🏼 Thinking of Phil's Tools, "Forward Motion" and "Reversal of Desire" when I get stuck in the creative process. Also saving this quote, “But fear…is the basis of creativity. Anybody who cannot stand the impact of the unknown naturally is not capable of creating anything new, or of letting something new come up, something creative."

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Brian Farnham's avatar

This one had particular resonance for me for sure. I also wonder if the Gen Z propensity to "crash out" (see the NYT article yesterday) is a good thing or a bad thing in this light. Either they're getting comfortable normalizing the kind of "falling apart" that precedes new inspiration and creativity or they're cheapening the idea and losing the true meaning.

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Elise Loehnen's avatar

That's a great question!

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Camille Robins's avatar

Thank you so much for this, Elise. As a creative person, I'm often frustrated — frustrated that the results of my efforts never mirror my intentions, that I can't find the right words, that everything comes out in a jumble before it gets clearer. But the only thing more frustrating than creating in chaos is not creating at all. That, to me, is where the real pain lives. So I'll keep creating — despite the inevitable disappointments.

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Elise Loehnen's avatar

100%

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Hailey Lowe Fennell's avatar

This is the exact thing I needed today, thank you.

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Samantha Hahn's avatar

this is beautiful

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Tina Sado's avatar

This all resonates deeply. Thank you for expressing it so well.

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Eleni Achilleos's avatar

thank you. its always a great comfort to know others go through this process and push through back into creativity.

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Christina Loftus's avatar

Thank you Elise for "creating" this beautiful synthesis of how we can continue moving forward with our gifts of creativity. The overwhelm is real; yet your words fill me with a new-found wellspring of energy and hope.

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Elizabeth Dahlie's avatar

Thank you. I’m so grateful to have found your work.

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Angelique's avatar

love this. great reminder that the upside to chaos is creativity...we know it but it's a great way to navigate this time. xx

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Albiona M. Rakipi's avatar

I love this! I wonder if it's just me, but creativity requires three things: allowing, trusting, and surrendering. It means allowing what needs to come in to come in, trusting that it will, and surrendering the need to control the outcome. Though they seem like passive actions, all three of these things are active processes. I think this is why most solutions to my problems come to me at 3 am, when my brain is no longer in overdrive.

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Satya Doyle Byock's avatar

No surprise, I know, but I love this piece. Thank you for writing it. Enjoy vacation!!

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Abigail Bruley's avatar

I suffer from a type of creative disappointment not mentioned here, but I do wish it was discussed more. Often this concept of imposter syndrome, perfectionism or creative paralysis takes center stage but what I experience is something quite different: I think my work is great, but I don't think others agree with me on that. My process usually falls somewhere along the line of pride and satisfaction for having done it, pleasure in the final product, followed by deep disappointment with how it's received.

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Tania Kirsch's avatar

Thank you, Elise. This phrase - „After all, if you never finish making something it can’t be judged.“ Ouch.

Oh and also, thank you for not having that second book finished yet - I am still slowly working through (and savoring!) True and False Magic and The Price Women Pay to be Good. With your new Workbook with Courtney coming out in the Fall, (which I am so looking forward too!) - my unconscious is begging you to slow down so I can catch up a bit. Maybe that takes some pressure off of writing the next chapter. Have a lovely vacation.

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Charlotte Rains Dixon, MFA's avatar

I find something compelling and resonant in every single one of your posts. Thank you.

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Shelby Baldridge's avatar

Such wonderful reminders, and so timely. This really spoke to me as I am working on a series of new paintings with an upcoming deadline. Play is absolutely necessary for the process of creating, as is the ebb and flow of energy. Balancing this in the current moment is pretty exhausting some days, and maybe medicine on others. Thank you Elise, enjoy your vacation!

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