Alchemizing Fearful Anxiety Into Creative Fuel

Today, let's honestly observe the devices we use that inhibit creative energy to flow through us.

DANGERS OF THE TRAIL

CREATIVITY is GOD ENERGY flowing through us, shaped by us, like light flowing through a crystal prism.

When we are clear about who we are and what we are doing, the energy flows freely and we experience no strain. When we resist what that energy might show us or where it might take us, we often experience a shaky, out-of-control feeling. We want to shut down the flow and regain our sense of control. We slam on the psychic brakes.

Every creative person has myriad ways to block creativity. Each of us favors one or two.

Now, note carefully that food, work, and sex are all good in themselves. It is the abuse of them that makes them creativity issues. Knowing yourself as an artist means acknowledging which of these you abuse when you want to block yourself. If creativity is like a burst of the universe’s breath through the straw that is each of us, we pinch that straw whenever we pick up one of our blocks. We shut down our flow. And we do it on purpose.

We begin to sense our real potential and the wide range of possibilities open to us. That scares us. So we all reach for blocks to slow our growth. If we are honest with ourselves, we all know which blocks are the toxic ones for us. Clue: this is the block we defend as our right.

It takes grace and courage to admit and surrender our blocking devices.

Who wants to? Not while they are still working! Of course, long after they have stopped working, we hope against hope that this time they will work again.

As we become aware of our blocking devices—food, busyness, alcohol, sex, other drugs—we can feel our U-turns as we make them. The blocks will no longer work effectively. Over time, we will try—perhaps slowly at first and erratically—to ride out the anxiety and see where we emerge. Anxiety is fuel. We can use it to write with, paint with, work with.

Feel: anxious!
Try: using the anxiety!
Feel: I just did it! I didn’t block! I used the anxiety and moved ahead!
Oh my God, I am excited!

(The Artist's Way, 2016, p. 163 – 166)

Read the following affirmation with purpose and intent:

I trust my creative intuition.

I am the master of my creativity, allowing the flow of divine energy to shape my actions and guide me towards my true potential. I acknowledge and surrender any blocks that may hold me back, using my fears and anxieties as fuel to fuel my art and push through any obstacles.

download printable affirmation card

The Deadlies Exercise:

Take a piece of paper and cut seven small strips from it.
On each strip, write one of the following words: alcohol, drugs, sex, work, money, food, family/friends.
Fold these strips of paper and place them in an envelope. We call these folded slips the “deadlies.”
Draw one of the deadlies from the envelope and write five ways in which it has had a negative impact on your life.
If the one you choose seems difficult or inapplicable to you, consider this resistance.
Repeat steps 4 and 5, drawing a new deadly from the envelope each time and putting back the previous slip of paper so that you are always drawing from seven possible choices.
Keep repeating this process seven times, even if you draw the same deadly repeatedly. This is significant, as it may help you to break through denial and gain clarity.

“Saying no can be the ultimate self-care.”

– Claudia Black

What is one way you can play with using anxiety as fuel to unblock your creativity?

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