you toggle much?
Ever spent time floating or standing in the ocean?
There's something unique about physically experiencing the ancient rhythms of Sister Ocean's textures, tastes, sounds, and movements, as she enfolds you in her watery hug.
It takes a minute, but as you acclimate to her current mood, you probably discover that you need to make a series of tiny, regular adjustments to your positioning in order to accommodate her swells and ever-changing, wind-tossed directional pulls.
And once I get the hang of it, I delight in leaning my head back to enjoy the swaying wonder of heaven and wind and water and salt and sand while also understanding that if I don't keep at least a little of mind on where I am in relationship with the shoreline, I'll soon enough be far removed from the place where my towel and flip flops lie waiting for me.
It's pretty much the same with our creative flow and expression.
We need to understand the dynamic of being deeply Present to our current season, while also understanding that shift is occurring underneath it all as the reality of of our many creative endeavors.
Practicing Toggling between these two realities keeps our creative expression flowing at a sustainable pace and prevents us from experiencing creative block &/or creative overload.
eager to cut your current creative season short?
Let's say you're in the middle of the Creative Cycle's Time to Hang On-- you know, the actual writing or painting or designing or assembling or composing, etc. part of your particular creative labor.
You're showing up, session after session, intent on mothering the project to completion, when you find yourself wondering if all the blood, sweat, and tears of perseverance is worth it.
I mean, it's just so HARD and, okay, downright unsexy. Shouldn't creativity come more easily? Why not just give this one up? There's another idea that's coming up and it honestly feels more promising amd fun/ And, let's face it, I'm just not all that good at finishing what I start. It's a shameful reality about myself need to just accept.
Oh, sister, I feel you. And, I've got you.
It's time for a little artistic Toggle practice!
In perfectly normal moments of doubt and despair, we can reset our intentions and our sense of creative purpose by toggling to “Change is happening” mode.
We can invest a little time in envisioning what it will look like/feel like when the Time to Hang On concludes, and we predictably transition into the Time to Let Go, as pictured in the graphic, above.
In the Time to Let Go, we'll be able to step back from the hard labor portion of our creative process and reap a creative harvest.
But only if we don't give up with where we are now.
No matter what season we're currently in, when it feels too hard, scary, uncomfortable, and/or unfamilar where we are, we can toggle to affirm the next predictable season of the Creative Cycle.
And then, with a deeper understanding of the bigger creative picture, we can return to the Present moment, renewed and refocused to its sense of Time and Season and Purpose.
reluctant to leave where you're at creatively?
Imagine you've taken on the creative project of hosting your cousin's baby shower.
Jumping into the project--the Time to Say Hello--you decide to do a Pinterest scan to spark your own ideas for the shower's theme, color scheme, decorations, shower games, guest favors, food & drink, invitations, etc.
As you delve deeper and deeper into what's available, you become entranced by all the color, the magic, the carefully curated, color-coordinated photos of delicious-looking idea after idea.
It feels juicy and lit up to keep scrolling and clicking--, but, you also notice what's coming up for you inside…
Whoa, there are soooo many ideas to Say Hello to--to consider, to try on for size, to experiment and play with. I mean, how am I ever gonna choose among them? Maybe I can somehow figure out how to keep all my options open? Maybe I can incorporate all fifty of my favorite ideas? Oh, dang it, what if I get it wrong somehow? What if my shower isn't perfect or doesn't look like the showers on Pinterest?
What if moving forward feels ickier than where I'm at?
My Well-Seasoned Sister, I bet you know what might be helpful in these moments. right?
Yep, the Toggle.
Spending a little time toggling to the Change Ahead button can get us moving when we find ourselves white-knuckle gripping our current situation, loathe to leave THIS work, longing for time to stand still for oh, please, just a little longer, okay?
But the truth is that even as we're digging our toes as deeply as we can into the sand beneath our feet in the Present moment, Change is swirling around underneath us as steadily as an ocean current.
If we resist its creative pull, we'll find ourselves missing out.
Toggling allows us to feel the steady tick tock of Time & Change and discover a sense of gentle urgency within and without.
This toggle-induced urgency isn't meant to trigger us into Fight/ Flight/ Freeze/ Faint mode.
Far from it.
Instead, it's intended to compel us to just DO it, to show up and do the thing you're meant to do now, so that you'll be ready for the next predictable portion of the Creative Cycle, and then the one after that.
Until one day, we're able to fully experience the deep goodness and sense of purpose available when we navigate by/surrender to Creative Cycle completion.
let's get our toggle on
If you identify as an artist or creative, or if you are simply a woman who is trying to create a life with a deep sense of timeliness and purpose, then Toggling is a skill worth practicing.
For quite simply, Toggling is the work of a Well-Seasoned Woman.
For the duration of her life, one season at a time.
xo
