The flow state, that magical realm where ideas pour out effortlessly and we feel a deep connection to our work, the world, and the divine, is every creator’s favorite place. But what if we can’t reach it? What if your creativity is blocked, your sparkle fades, and your energy diminishes? Don’t fret; step back and assess. What’s missing? What’s the key that opens the door to your flow state?
Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious,
and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things.
You simply must do things.
Ray Bradbury
This week, I couldn’t get into my flow state.
I had a bit of a scare this week.
I sat down at my desk to prepare to record an episode of my soon-to-be-launched podcast, The Courage to Live a Big Life, and sketched out a brief outline of what I would cover. I adjusted the mic settings, sat up tall in my chair, and clicked the record button.
When I finished, I played it back. Huge disappointment.
It lacked Magic. Sparkle. Energy.
“Where am I?” I wondered. “Where is my flow, resonance, connection to myself and to my audience? Why am I off my game?”
I thought about the thousands of times I have coached clients, led workshops, and taught classes. I flashed back to the dozens of podcast interviews, webinars, and media appearances I have been a part of.
Magic, sparkle, and energy flowed effortlessly from me during each of those at-bats. Why then, had each packed up and trotted off now?
When I coach, teach, and am being interviewed, I leave my body. My entire focus is on delivering extraordinary value, whether that be in the form of insights/downloads, guidance for setting yourself free, or practical information on how to tap into and express one’s vast creativity.
I am completely keyed in on serving, and as odd as it may sound, a channel opens for me. When in this flow state, I receive information from not only my own well of experience and expertise but also from someplace else. A place of unending energy, ideas, and unconditional love.
It happens so regularly that I have come to expect it like bird song before dawn.
I realized that as I was recording my episode, I didn’t have a connection to an audience. It was just the mic and me. Well, the mic, me, and a pulsating self-consciousness.
I had left my perch on the edge of the soul’s canyon and had placed myself on a hot, lifeless stretch of pavement. I was not serving. I was performing under the bright stage lights and judging myself as I spoke. I grabbed an outline I had made for a presentation from the week prior, flipped it over, and sketched out a quick “Wilson.” (If you do not understand the reference, check out the film Cast Away.) I taped it up in front of me and clicked record.
(coming soon—sign up to be notified when the first episode is live!).
This connection was the key to unlocking my flow state.
I could feel the difference immediately. I was back on my surfboard, riding the waves of my intuition. In my mind’s eye, my brain created images of the people I love serving—real people who I cherish. They appeared in short flashes, like a carousel of sweet friends. This connection to my audience was the key to unlocking my flow state.
I stopped being self-conscious. In fact, in those moments (as is true when I am coaching and teaching), “I” (the ego of me) ceased to exist. I traveled to the river bank of connection where the ripples of my inspiration flow over smooth stones and carry me downstream.
When I teach classes like The Sketchbook Entrepreneur Masterclass, the Buoyant Renaissance, or the Buoyant Studio, I often remind students that our best work comes through us the more “we” are out of the way.
That is, the less we are overthinking, judging, and forcing a certain outcome, the better our art will be. When we let our souls rise unfettered from deep within us and take the wheel (or the brush or pen or scrap of collage paper), our work holds an energy that captivates and connects. It flows easily from our minds and into our medium.
When we are thinking at all about whether or not our work is any good and how it will be received, we prune our connection to that divine portal where the Magic happens. If we have split intentions when we set off on a creative journey, the tap will turn off, leaving us blocked and stranded in a colorless desert.
Of course, there is a place for our strategic intellect in the creative process. It can serve us well during a quick brainstorming session or first outline. It can guide us to prepare well for the coming adventure.
But when it’s time to create, it needs to take a back seat (or get out of the vehicle entirely) so that the verdant, unlimited creative life force living dormant within us can awaken and rise through us and into our work, carrying us into our flow state and beyond.
Don’t forget: I am launching my new podcast, The Courage to Live a Big Life, next week!
Sign up to be notified when the first episode is live! Until then, Listen to the Podcast Trailer.
