Creativity And Guilt - 5 Common Guilt Trips Of The Creative Soul And How To Overcome Them

There are any number of reasons why we feel we can't unleash our creativity and start to realise some of the huge potential we have to be more creative.

Many of them, once we dig a little deeper, stem back to some form of guilt or other.

Guilt is one of the most powerful human emotions.

Feelings of guilt held over time this can be incredibly destructive.

And even if it doesn't stop us in our tracks completely, and we do manage to continue creating whilst carrying this guilt, it makes us feel absolutely terrible.

As a result we never get to enjoy the creative process anywhere near as fully as we could do.

So here are 5 of the most common "guilt trips" of the creative soul, and a way to overcome each of them:

Guilt Trip No. 1: "It's selfish creating just for me. Focusing time and energy just on me is so self-indulgent."

How to overcome it: The fact is, if you're more creative you're more happy, more alive, more fulfilled. This good feeling and positive energy inevitably spills over into the rest of your life.

So you're more relaxed, more easy going, more fun to be around. Surely this can only be a great benefit for everyone?

Guilt Trip No. 2: "I have all this wonderful creative equipment and materials, I should make use of it, I feel guilty it's just sitting there."

How to overcome it: By having the equipment and materials there it's a constant reminder and pressure on you. Make the decision to either sell or give it away, or put it away out of sight and commit to regularly taking out and using just a small amount at a time.

This way the visible pressure is greatly reduced and you won't get overwhelmed by trying to create with every piece of equipment and material in one single "ultimate creative project to end all projects."

Guilt Trip No. 3: "When I'm creating I feel there are other priorities, other chores I should be getting on with."

How to overcome it: Accept that there will always be other chores, something else that needs doing. It's just not possible to finish them all. It IS possible though to have a creative life and still do the other everyday tasks we all need to live.

Set aside a small amount of time each day that's just for you to create. If it helps, use it as a reward for getting other stuff done. But don't wait until after you've done everything else and you're completely exhausted!

Guilt Trip No. 4: "When I do create I often make mistakes and mess up. I feel guilty that I'm ruining materials and equipment someone else could put to better use."

How to overcome it: Making mistakes is one of the best parts of creating. It's often in these "mistakes" that we unlock new and stimulating paths to creating that we never would have found if we'd stuck to a rigid, safe formula.

If you really can't get beyond making a start on an expensive canvas for example, for fear of ruining it, then start on something smaller and less expensive. Build your creative confidence – and your willingness to make "mistakes" - in small steady steps.

Guilt Trip No. 5: "I find it easy to create, and that makes me feel guilty. There are other people more deserving than me that have to work so much harder than I do to get similar results."

How to overcome it: We all have our gifts and talents, the secret is discovering what they are. If you've found you can create beautiful things, that's wonderful. Focus on how you can nurture your talents. The better you become, the more others will appreciate your work.

Another way of giving back to others directly is by starting a creative class, or helping out at an existing class. Those beginners new to creating can benefit from your experience and support.

These are just 5 of the most common guilt trips of the creative soul.

Which do you most relate to and why?

Which are you going to steps to overcome, starting today, so you can begin to truly unleash your creativity?

The Secret Behind The Secret

As The Secret streaks across the planet with dizzying speed, this seems like a good time to revisit this thing called 'The Law of Attraction'.

Clever marketing aside, 'The Law of Attraction' is real and is operating in our lives at all times. It only takes paying the slightest bit of attention to see that. Why then, is it such a problem for so many people to achieve what they want in life?

Almost everything written about 'The Law of Attraction' has focused on thoughts as the primary means of attracting or repelling. That's true too, but it's not the whole story.

If it were that easy to create financial abundance, happy relationships, great sex lives, and unlimited creativity, don't you think we'd all be doing it by now?

Yet every book on achieving your goals and attracting what you want continues the story line about thoughts...that's it...change your thoughts…gain a new perspective, and it will all come around, right? I don't think so!

Here's the rub...changing your conscious thoughts is not enough, because what's got you down are your unconscious thoughts, feelings and beliefs. This unconscious part of our psyches plays us like puppets and will sabotage conscious thoughts every time...guaranteed.

The key here is to understand the power of unconscious thought. In Jungian psychology, the shadow refers to all thoughts, feelings and beliefs residing in the unconscious...not just the 'bad' stuff as commonly believed, but whatever has been relegated to the unconscious, for whatever reason.

This is the real secret...it's this stew of unconscious ramblings that are at the root of our ability to attract what we want or not.

Jung also said that something like 95% of the human shadow is pure gold when brought to light. Unfortunately, most of us are still afraid of the dark. We assume what we'll find in any mining expedition into the unconscious, is sludge, so most of us expend vast amounts of energy avoiding the journey when, in fact, that's exactly where we need to go.

It's when we begin to mine the thoughts, feelings and beliefs, lurking below the surface that we can dramatically change our lives. By examining this material, we can decide what to keep and what to toss. We can decide how to make meaning out of our life experience, and we can bring our conscious and unconscious thoughts, feelings and beliefs into alignment instead of playing an ongoing game of tug of war.

By making the unconscious conscious, we diffuse the conflict between the two. The impact is like charging up 'The Law of Attraction' with rocket fuel, allowing us to break free of the gravitational pull of the unconscious beliefs and fears that hold us back.

Are you ready to really get what you want in life? If the answer is yes, then it's time to take a little journey below the surface, so you can fully embrace The Secret.

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Some useful tools for the journey are...

1. Pay attention to your dreams.

Dreams provide a snapshot of what's really going on in the psyche. Yes, understanding them can be tricky because they use symbols with multiple layers of meaning. Writing down your dreams and writing about what they mean to you can go a long way towards demystifying their meaning. Keep a notebook and pen beside your bed and write them down in the morning. If you don't remember dreams, ask for them to reveal themselves before you go to sleep.

2. Meditate.

Meditation allows us to listen deeply. Frequently intuitive insights emerge in the quiet of meditation. Meditation teaches us to observe without judgment whatever emerges in our consciousness.

3. Write.

The process of writing informs our thoughts. It's not uncommon to begin with a germ of an idea thinking we're going in one direction only to find ourselves landing in a completely different place. This is true whether we're doing stream of consciousness journaling or writing fiction or essays. The process of writing sheds light on many thoughts that are sitting just below the surface.

4. Make art.

Art is the ultimate process to make the unconscious, conscious. To a very large extent, that's its purpose...to inform us about ourselves as individuals, as societies and as a planetary culture. This is true whether you think of yourself as an artist or not. It does not it matter much what medium you use...crayons, paints, pencils, collage, dance, acting...it all serves the same purpose...to bring the unconscious into the light.

5. Use affirmations.

Yes, affirmations are positive thoughts that don't work very well unless there is a feeling connected to the thought, so I'd encourage you to use positive feeling statements as your affirmations.

This use of affirmations is totally consistent with The Secret, but I would suggest you take it a step further. Pay attention to the critical reactions coming up in response to the affirmation. In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron calls these responses "blurts" and suggests you take the blurts and turn them into positive statements. Using this technique, you're able to drill down deeply into the thoughts, feelings and beliefs that are keeping you stuck.