can’t get no satisfaction?

Hey, come on in! I've saved a place for you here on the couch, so we can watch an episode of Dancing with the Stars together…

Wow, this couple is OWNING the dance floor, hitting all their marks. They perform a lively two-step to one corner & then flashily make their way to the opposite corner for a dramatic dip that they hold for 4-counts before swinging into some well-synchronized spins and then hitting their final sensuous pose, face to face, one arm of each hugging the other tightly while flinging out their other arm in a glitzy, flourish that elicits a standing ovation from the onlookers. 

We exhale in satisfaction, thinking about the hours and hours of 8-count choreography repeats that went into making this dance so colorfully harmonious and beautiful and satisfyingly complete.

And then, because I've pretty much always got Time and Season and Purpose simmering on my back burner, I turn to you and begin talking about the similarities between a well-choreographed celebrity dance and our DNA-embedded, Creative Cycle.

You maybe roll your eyes a little, but because you're an amazing friend & also, you kinda wanna see where I'm going with this, you humor me. [Thank you!]

the cosmic dance

So, here's my somewhat poetic retelling of the Creative Cycle (as seen in the graphic above) as an ancient dance between Father Time and Mama Nature.

Father Time lays down the cosmic beat in a steady, dependable tick tock, tick tock. It's an invitation, one that Mama Nature responds to with a swish of her dance skirt as she rises to provide the color and beauty to their paired choreography. 

They move together in a series of well-synchronized 8-counts, cued by the freshness of the Spring Equinox's music. 

The next lively 8-count brings them to the Summer Solstice portion of the dance--a heart-pumping, fancy-footwork filled measure that's followed by a fuller and flowier series of movements attuned with the Autumn Equinox and then, of course, the quiet yet starkly dramatic freeze-motion pose as cued by the music of the Winter Solstice. 

Again and again, they swirl around the dance floor, in perfectly synchronized movements that simultaneously delight and comfort, that dazzle and inspire and satisfy, as they dance out the complete cycle of Time and Season and Purpose.

Beautiful, right? And you know what? This complete Cosmic Dance is somehow embedded in our very DNA!

And of course the really magnificent news is that we're invited to join the Dance, from 8-count to 8-count, achieving a deep sense of creative satisfaction and purpose as we participate in dance after dance after dance. 

can't get no satisfaction?

 Of course, a dance is meant to be experienced to its completion, or it somehow loses something, right?

To me, the idea of completion is associated with PREDICTABILITY, which is one of the foundational characteristics of the Creative Cycle that we explored in the last newsletter. (Read the “Dash of Seasoning” portion here.)

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When something is predictable, it's about one thing and then the next expected thing and then the next expected thing, etc. 

There's an order and a symmetry to it. Mess with the order and we risk getting messed up ourselves.

Culturally, the temptation is strong to try to skip an 8-count or two, especially those that don't fall in line with the cultural mandate that we find our value through perpetual busyness.

But, the thing is, research continues to reveal that natural, predictable, Cycle Completion is key to living a life of creative expression and purpose.  

• If we want to avoid unresolved, chronic burnout, we've gotta practice completing Creative Cycles.  

• If we want to increase our chances that our healthspans will last as long as our lifespans, we need to practice showing up for a full completion of our Creative [Life] Cycle.  

• If we want to co-create in sync with Spirit's inspiration, we need to practice flowing as Spirit flows, from beginning to end, again and again. 

Even if we don't identify as an artist or a creative, the truth is that with every inhale and exhale, we are invited to actively participate in creating a life story of our own. By my accounting, this makes ALL of us creatives of one sort or another!

connecting with the creative cycle

Most of us need a little help reconnecting with our inner “cosmic dance choreography." 

It's not our fault, it's just that we're not as dependent as our ancestors were on the earth's growing seasons, nor her solar & lunar rhythms. 

This is why I find the four season model so useful as an entry point to accessing the Creative Cycle. It seems that if we can sense it in our outside world, it somehow calls to its corresponding truth within. 

I admit I'm a bit spoiled because I live in a part of the planet where I get to annually experience the natural world's four-part magic firsthand; but, make no mistake, this wisdom is fairly simple for anyone interested to access. 

To help, I juiced up our basic graphic with seasonal labels. 

martha: a more literal creative cycle exemplar

Let's take Martha & her creative gardening “dance"-- a great place to begin to access the Creative Cycle since her story is literally synced with a seasonal growing cycle.  

• In SPRING, Martha decides to put one of her Winter dreams into action--aka, saying Hello! to something new, getting out of her comfort zone to experiment with the idea of creating a flower garden at her local park. 

• In SUMMER, Martha commits to several types of flowers, and then spends time “Hanging On/Hanging In” to fully manifest her vision, taking the flower garden dream from its early, experimental stages into a fully tangible, blooming and mature reality.

• In AUTUMN, with her garden fully established and embellished with lights and a even sculpture or two, Martha decides enough is enough, “Steps Back/Lets Go,” and decides to throw a community garden party to share her creative expression with others. 

• In WINTER, Martha says “Good-bye” to daily garden visits, and instead turns her attention back to her body and home and resources for a time of reflection, replenishment and creative renewal.

naturally renewing vitality

When Martha (and each of us!) follows the predictable pattern of the Creative Cycle, stuff gets done. 

We experience creative satisfaction, balance, and a self-renewing sense of creative vitality. 

We notice, in a deeper way, that every part of the dance is important. 

We learn that no season is “skippable” without negatively affecting the entire process--without denying us a sense of completion and satisfaction.

So, one last question, my Well-Seasoned Sister: 

You wanna dance?

xo