the messier the process, the more beautiful the outcome 🌬️📖

i'd rather listen to my body than...

… impress others.

… hit every deadline.

… be seen as perfect.

To create an outfit that I personally find very cute I sometimes have to be willing to make a mess and that’s not something that’s very easy for me to be honest. I’m quite a tidy person. I grew up with lots of chaos at home, so it can even be something that triggers me. But the thing is: I can always clean the mess later. Can you find any connections to your own creativity within this story? As writers for example this means that WE CAN ALWAYS EDIT LATER. (Note to self!) Where are you not allowing yourself to be messy? Are you holding back out of fear of what you might find in the backdrawers of your creative projects? Maybe what you once found hideous, you now find cute. Maybe what once fit, you’ve outgrown. However, you will not know, unless you are willing to make space in your wardrobes or suitcases, drop a pile of clothes on the floor and rummage through a box of accessories you usually never use.

Fight me but I think that socks are underappreciated statement pieces.🧦☁️

Is there some underappreciated part of your creative project you can learn to appreciate?

I’ve been trying to submit a mini novel to a writing competition for three years already and I’ve never hit the deadline. Instead of beating myself up over having such a slow writing process, I’ve decided to see it as the very essence of my writing. By being this slow, I can make my writing process a lot more collaborative.

I also believe that my projects have their very own spirit. Recently, they’ve asked me to give them space and not constantly hover over them. I’ve been a bit overbearing, especially when it comes to monitoring outcomes. Taking a step back and letting our soul wander is sometimes the most liberating thing we can do for our creativity.

I have a book I’ve been wanting to read about the decision to have children or not. I’m curious about what it’s going to teach me when it comes to the process of writing a book and finishing creative projects. Everything is interconnected, you see. My book is my baby.

Yes, I could have submitted something already, but at what cost?

Sometimes I feel like an old soul that has lived a thousand lives already. I just cannot be bothered with being stressed anymore, even for university and work deadlines. I’m becoming bolder and bolder when it comes to asking for the accomodations I need.

“I need more time” is something that I write to my professors regularly. Every single semester actually. It works. It makes me enjoy the learning process way more. Only rarely have they ever been merciless, which is also not the end of the world. I always think “What’s the worst that could happen?” The worst is never the end of the world. All they can do is say no.

I want to clarify something for the paid subscribers who are committing to finishing a creative project with me: The idea is NOT that we stress ourselves out over it. I know that’s what the combination of these words can evoke in us: STRESS.

My extremely magical friend

CosmicSky

has written a post about this recently.

Sky writes:

“I subscribed recently to a dear friend of mine who is a naturally gifted writer and poet (see Mixed Magic Imọlẹ). Little did I know that I had inadvertently signed up for a creative project. This should be cake walk, given creativity is a huge part of my life, having had a musical project I’ve nurtured over the past 8 years which I incorporated 3d artwork and animations about 5 years ago. And yet the thought of starting a creative project has suddenly left me paralyzed. I have so much to do, at least 3 albums that have never seen the light of day, 2 remixes I haven’t really finished, and at a music videos I’ve been meaning to create. Not to mention the video game I started making a few years ago that I would be over the moon to continue creating. Somehow, the only thing I want to do is read books and make vision/ mood boards or plan my spring/ summer wardrobe. I feel at odds with myself. When I see others release their material, I get FOMO, and I know I should probably keep releasing my material. But this is where I start to really make things harder for myself. I will stay up all night creating something only to find myself need to rest up and recuperate. I find I can’t do things in moderation, it takes so much energy to climb the “getting started” curve, I just go into overdrive.”

I’d love to respond:

Dear Sky,

thank you for sharing your thoughts and intimate reflections on your process of committing to a creative project! I appreciate your vulnerability SO MUCH. I know how challenging it is, how raw it can feel and how many repressed emotions it can bring to the surface. I also feel honored that I’ve inspired you to write publicly. I’m so proud of you, while also admiring you so much. Not because you’ve created a lot, which of course is impressive, but because you’re living in your truth and defying societal expectations in so many ways. I admire that you’ve NOT released some of that music, because it hasn’t felt right, rather than just pushing yourself out of FOMO. I know that we sometimes want to have achieved all our goals already, but then life would be over already. I trust that the right time will come for you. I have this weird faith that all we have to do is to get the ball rolling, but we don’t have to push it up the hill forcefully. Maybe the hill is where we rest, where we turn around and not where we keep pushing. I recently stumbled across this quote by Jorge Luis Borges that also encapsulates this:

“You never finish a poem,
you just let it go”.

Maybe we have to think of committing to finishing our projects as committing to letting our projects go. I also don’t have any expectations for what kind of a creative project that is. To me, reading books, making vision/mood boards or planning your spring/summer wardrobe sound like perfect creative projects to commit to finishing. I’m cheering you on.

Love,

Imọlẹ

You can read Sky’s full post here:

Committing to a Project

PS: Anyone else with encouraging words of advice can drop them in the comments. 🌧️

I just went to the book launch of this beautiful poetry collection by Laurène Southe. Read more about it here. Grab your own copy as soon as it hits the stores.

PPS: If you can, use Ecosia, instead of Google. I do too. For the Congo! ❣

PPPS: It’s a tiny action, but it’s not nothing. Stay informed. Plug in. Gently. ❤