​I just got back from the woods. It is a misty soft morning and there were drips of left over rain on all the tiny new born leaves and branches. Stunning!

It is spring and I have been dealing with a ton of ideas popping inside me- images of things I want to create. It is very fun. So much potential and bubbly energy!

I love it..... until it starts to feel painful.

The pain comes in the form of overwhelm, indecision, pressure, should's, impatience, and then moves into frustration, impotence, lack of energy, being stuck, and finally into a feeling of being a fraud, not really being an artist, being worthless, etc.

YIKES!

Does this sound familiar?

Recently I have found myself using the term “creatives” as a label or shortcut term for my people. I am also seeing that term tossed around by others. I thought it might be useful to explore what I mean when I call my tribe creatives.

A creative might not know that they are a creative, they might not feel artistic or musical or whatever. I know that I did not- people had to tell me. It is hard to see from the inside.

So, these are some of the signs:

You have been called passionate- you can dive into an idea with all four feet because you see the ways that it can be so great for the world around you.

You have been called a dreamer- your imagination is always on. If you have ever run into a hypnotherapist, they might have told you that you were already in a trance.

You often have more ideas than you can follow through on, and may bounce from one project to the next – on a good day it is invigorating and affirming, and it can also lead to a feeling of ineptitude when you see all the dropped projects around you.

It can feel hard to trust yourself and your ideas because you know that you have not always been able to stick with one long enough to reap the benefits.

A creative is someone who thinks outside the box and makes links between boxes that others might never have thought of.
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Have you ever felt that sense that you are a fraud? For creatives this is a normal part of the creative cycle.  And it can be very painful, but it does not have to be.

It is very common after a period of creative activity to feel like a fraud and a dilettante- The voice in your head starts berating you with things like, "All these fabulous ideas are silly and they are going no-where."  "You do not have what it takes."

​This can spiral into  a real morass of self-pity- as you look around and feel completely isolated- you have been so caught up in your own thing that you do not feel your sense of connection with anyone. You start telling yourself that you have been a self-centered egomaniac and everyone has gone off to enjoy each other and ignore you.

Ouch this is painful! Am I going over-board here? I may be stating it rather strongly, but for many creatives, be they small business owners, artists, writers, musicians it does feel like a seriously painful roller coaster.

First of all this is a normal cycle for a creative person, and maybe in-fact for all living beings- it comes with the territory- like the phases of the moon or a woman’s cycle- the tides- the seasons- there are times that are full of growth and potential, times of flowering, and times to drop the leaves and go inside and recoup.