Keeping it Simple

When choosing to engage in a practice that maintains consistency, the best advice I have is: Keep it Simple!

This will be the simplest blog post I have written so far. It serves a purpose:

To Inform + To Practice.

It is my intention, as a writer, artist, and communicator to have a regular practice of expressing myself. The truth is, I actually like to be quiet and do not always want to do the internal conversion work of moving energy from the abstract into comprehensible form. I work best in sound, shape, pattern, movement, poetic and abstract. To bring energy from that state into something tangible, for me, takes an immense amount of consideration. I do not take that translation process lightly. Because I am in tune to many layers of subtle forces at play, I can spend long periods of time in observation being with the dynamic subtleties. I prefer to wait until the energy naturally begins to move into expression.

Sometimes when I try to force it, I end up with 4 or 5 half written blog posts that started great and hit a hard stop. That is ok. That is part of the process. Not everything needs to be completed. Some roads are dead ends and some journeys lead down roads that are closed. One may think that was a mistake, or shouldn't have happened, however that side quest is exactly what was needed. Each segment of the path is part of a process working to bring something into clarity. Clarity is simple, like the truth.

The reason I chose to write this blog this way (without bells and whistles) is because I had committed to myself to write one blog post a month. June I did not write one. I also did not write one in August. I then sat down to write and noticed that I was hitting dead ends on the topics that I was feeling inclined to write. I took my foot off the gas yet still wanted to keep the practice of writing up. After several days of half completed blog posts, this evening I decided to try a different approach.

KEEP IT SIMPLE + LET IT FLOW + JUST DO IT = Make it a PRACTICE

My writing style is what I call free writing. I let it flow. It seems though that I have not been letting it flow. I have been putting expectations on my writing that it is epic, comes from some AHA realization, and that I sit down and have one of those inspiring peak flow state moments. To me, this is the fastest way to mute the muse. Like all relationships, this one too takes work, commitment, dedication, and accountability. If I want to produce epic and be fueled by AHA moments, I have to cultivate the space for those to surface. When I have been skipping writing sessions because they do not meet those expectations, I am not showing my muse that I am reliable. She therefore is less likely to show up and join me in the fun.

It is for this reason, that I decided to write from my real experience and to reframe it as 'this is practice'.

Here is what I can offer you: If there is something that you are wanting to be consistent with, it is likely true that you are in a place of learning to hold yourself accountable and show up for yourself while also letting go of being a diva around it. It's great when all the conditions come together for the perfect execution of the task. We go through phases of optimized flow. We can organize life to live in that state. If however, you have not been in that state your options are to abandon your commitment or suck it up and do it anyways. Your choice determines the destination.

Let this blog post be that which gets you to consider where you are selling yourself short. All of the reasons, excuses are irrelevant here. They may seem important. Keep in mind there are countless ways we trick ourself into believing it's true that we were too busy, forgot, were tired, wasn't feeling it, etc... and all of those may be true. At some point though, you remembered, at some point you took a break to scroll, at some point you were feeling it and talked yourself out of it. These are the crucial moments to catch yourself in. It may not seem as though it is possible to take an acton, to staty consistent....

IT IS! GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND COMMIT TO THE REGULAR PRACTICE. LET IT BE IMPERFECT, UNFINISHED, SLOPPY, YOUR WORST WORK... ALL OF IT!

Because what matters here, is you did it and you kept doing it. 10,000 repetitions later... you will be looking back and seeing how much you have grown.

10,000 repetitions to FREEDOM! Let's GROW!

To support your writing practice, head over to my store and grab a copy of the Courage Builds Confidence Journal. This gives you a little guidance and a lot of space to work through your thoughts and feelings.

Sincerely,

Sequoia