Creativity Killers
Recently, I haven’t been able to get past writer’s block mountain. Months like these do a good job of convincing me that digging deep inside my heart is entirely too exhausting, and scaling the heights of inspiration will make breathing itself hurt.
I envision planting the victory flag at the on top of the rocks and rubble of circumstance and flowing with creative fury as I triumphantly craft words into a masterpiece.
In reality, I’m still at home base pretending to prepare while I hide.
And the cycle continues every morning. It’s the same routine. I slyly peek out the window. I squint as I look towards the summit. It’s as beautiful as it is daunting. I turn around and see my base, my secret hide out where no one will see the colors of my soul. Stunning and scary fight ugly and safe. It’s tug of war with myself.
The days that I’ve relented to ugly and shacked up with isolation, I have agreed with deception. There’s more to the process of beauty than lonely, unarmed, tumultuous and tortuous climbs around the edges of internal despair. It’s easy to forget that even in the darkest and most difficult territory, the most important weapon in creativity’s arsenal remains:
Hope.
Hope is many things. It’s a reality check, it’s a motivator, and it’s a wrecking ball. When I shake hands with truth and allow reality to push me, I can tap into the joy of things to come despite the climb. I can see the illusion that I have nothing left disappear like a mirage as the full weight of heavenly promise crushes despair.
And then the words come. They pour out. When fear is kicked out and unbelief is removed, the creative process is uncorked and unleashed. Fake identity is finally exposed as an imposter and the raw materials of the true self emerge.
Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army once said, “The waters are rising, but so am I. I am not going under, but over." Let this resonate. Though the elements rage against your soul, don’t give in. Create. Make an impact. I believe the key to unlocking culture shifting creativity is in identity rooted in truth. As Brennan Manning so eloquently and simply stated, “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.”