So… you’re walking home from a dinner party. It’s late. About 11:45 pm. The sidewalks are slick and wet from the rain that fell that day. You’re eager to get home so you walk quickly but cautiously. A gentle mist starts to rise from the wet ground as you reach a familiar intersection and keep chugging on towards home.
Suddenly, that gentle mist turns into a dense fog so high and thick you can’t see 10 feet in front of you. You take a left at the next cross street, thinking it will get you home faster, but instead, it leads to a dead end. You backtrack and continue to walk until you find another cross street but the entire neighborhood is shrouded in such dense, ever-thickening fog you’re no longer sure of where you’re going. Or if you’re even headed in the right direction.
You whip out your cell phone, hoping to open the iMap app, but damn! Your battery is dead. You start to panic. You consider walking back the way you came but now the fog has become a swampy bog, and you’re not sure you can find your way.
Now your clothes, face, and hair are soaked wet from the heaviness of the fog. A damp chill has penetrated your bones. You keep walking, using your compromised sense of direction as best you can. You make another left onto a strange street, and then, slowly, the thick, swampy bog starts to thin. You see lights ahead. And then a street that looks familiar.
You yelp with glee! You pick up your pace and race to find your way home.
The Swampy Bog of Creativity
Anytime you create anything that’s important, new or daring, anything that matters to you — whether it’s an epic blog post, a keynote speech, an album of original songs or a brand new business — you’ll reach a point where you’ll lose your sense of direction and wander aimlessly in a swampy bog of uncertainty. You’ll take wrong turns. You’ll run into dead ends. You’ll backtrack. And you’ll seriously doubt your decision to embark on this crazy, creative journey in the first place.
And just like a bone-chilling, skin-soaking walk in a blindfold of thick fog, you’ll feel lost, disoriented and desperate to find your way home.
When I write anything that’s important to me, anything that has to communicate a big idea or move people from skeptical to super-jazzed, I almost always reach a phase in my creative process that I call the swampy bog. This is where I become so unsure of where I’m going that I’m convinced everything I’m writing stinks to high heaven. I’ll spend entire days writing in circles, heading off in one direction, writing pages and pages and pages, only to realize I’ve gotten nowhere. So I’ll throw all of those pages away. I’ll start and stop a zillion times because I can’t see what needs to come next. Or I’ll try to include an idea that’s so conceptual and cumbersome, it brings the momentum of the writing to a standstill.
For years, every time I’d hit this swampy bog of the creative process, I’d think there was something wrong with me. I was sure my creative process was seriously messed up. And I tried to find ways to “fix” it.
Eventually, I wised up and realized… creativity is not a hammer-and-nail process. It doesn’t fit into an easy 5-step formula. It’s not linear, direct, or predictable. It’s messy, moody and sometimes… really uncomfortable.
But it’s only uncomfortable because it’s asking you to enter uncharted territory. It’s taking you somewhere you’ve never gone before. It’s asking you to be lost for a while and let go of the need to know. It’s asking you to trust the Unknown.
The Shape of Every Creative Project
A few months ago, I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I watch an episode of Marie.TV. During this episode, business megastar Marie Forleo interviewed Todd Henry, author, speaker and “arms dealer for the creative revolution.” A few minutes in, Todd started talking about the U-shape of any creative project.
He shared how every creative project has a U-shape, like a valley, where you start at the crest of the valley where it’s high and sunny and you can see across to where your destination lies. You start off energized, inspired and ready for anything.
But as you descend into the depths of the valley (or the curve of the U), the light turns to shadows. The path becomes brambly, rocky, and unclear. Then night comes, and you do your best to find your way in the dark as you hear coyotes wailing and strange shrieking sounds. You start to panic. You curse your stupidity for thinking you could make this trek unscathed. You want to turn back, but you’ve already gone too far.
Then, you reach the other side of the valley (or the other side of the “U”). You can look up and see the sun shining on the high peak above. It’s going to be a climb to get there, but now you know you can make it. You power up the side of the valley, reach the top and take in the view. It’s spectacular! You can see for miles. And the fear, dread and doubt you had in the depths of the valley disappear in the light of day.
When you started your business, you started a journey that includes your fair share of time in the dark valley of the U. Every creative project that matters to you, especially those that are new, daring and connected to your heart, will require hours, days, weeks, maybe even years in the dark valley or what I call the swampy bog.
Your sales page for your new 6-week course. Your eBook. Your 5-part video series. Anytime you have the inspiration and guts to create something out of nothing, there’s a good chance you’ll enter the swampy bog of creativity. The trick is to keep going! To let yourself get lost while at the same time doing your best to find your way through to your destination.
Here are a few tips to help you the next time you find yourself in the swampy bog of creativity:
- Don’t panic. You’re right where you should be. Yes, it can be incredibly uncomfortable and very un-fun to be in the bog. But if you KNOW that’s where you are, and that it’s completely normal, you won’t struggle and curse and feel defeated. I recently heard someone say, “I bet a caterpillar is not all that comfy when it’s wrapped tight in a cocoon. But he knows it’s exactly where he needs to be to become a butterfly.”
- Let yourself float. If you feel as if you’re constantly starting and stopping and getting absolutely nowhere, let yourself float for a while. Keep creating. Keep your pen to paper, so to speak, but don’t push hard in any one direction. Let your ideas wander. Get curious and wonder, “Where is this taking me?”
- Don’t walk backward or start over! Sometimes, the thickness of creativity’s swampy bog can appear so impenetrable that you’ll do anything to escape. You’ll be tempted to throw out everything you’ve created thus far and start over, from scratch. You’ll start to believe that the reason you’re stuck is that you didn’t start with the right idea, business, words, or whatever in the first place. You’ll think, “I should just start over.”
Don’t. do. it.
Instead, slow down. Get quiet. Stop listening to the whining of your mind and settle into the knowing of your heart. Let the mind freak out while you eat popcorn and watch its hysterical show from the seat of your soul.
Then, keep going. The real trick in all creative endeavors is to keep going. Of course, there will be times when you need to stop and take stock of where you and where you want to be. But then, keep going. Until you can see the other side of the valley. Until the heavy fog lifts and that familiar street appears in the distance.
Because the fog will lift. The sun will shine on your destination. And you will be able to skip and sing your way home.
Now, tell me… Have you ever found yourself in your own swampy bog of creativity? Are you in one right now? Or is some other aspect of your creative process driving you bonkers? Like… getting started? Or finishing? If so, tell me what’s going on with you in the comments below.