Slow Down to Speed Up

Today, let's honor the rest required for sustainable growth.

GROWTH

Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back.

Remember that and be very gentle with yourself. A creative recovery is a healing process. You are capable of great things on Tuesday, but on Wednesday you may slide backward. This is normal. Growth occurs in spurts. You will lie dormant sometimes. Do not be discouraged. Think of it as resting.

Easy does it is actually a modus operandi. It means, “easy accomplishes it.” If you commit to a practice of writing three pages every morning and do one kind of thing for yourself every day, you will begin to notice a slight lightness of heart.

If you do one nice thing for yourself a day, God will do two more.

Be alert for support and encouragement from unexpected quarters. Be open to receiving gifts from our channels: free tickets, a free trip, and offer to buy you dinner, a new-to-you old couch. Practiced saying yes to such help.

More than anything else, experiment with solitude.

You will need to make a commitment to quiet time. Try to acquire the habit of checking in with yourself. Several times a day, just take a beat, and ask yourself how you are feeling. Listen to your answer. Respond kindly. If you were doing something very hard, promise yourself a break and a treat afterward.

Yes, I am asking you to baby yourself. We believe that to be artists we must be tough, cynical, and intellectually chilly. Leave that to the critics. As a creative being, you will be more productive when coaxed than when bullied.

(The Artist's Way, 2016, p. 74-75)

I embrace and allow the stillness I need to grow.

download printable affirmation card

This week, take an hour to follow your inner compass by doing an artist-brain activity and listening to what insights bubble up.

Each of us has an inner compass. This is an instinct that points toward health. It warns us when we are on dangerous ground, and it tells us when something is safe and good for us. Morning pages are one way to contact it. So are some other artist brain activities—painting, driving, walking, scrubbing, running.

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.”

– Martha Graham