Get Dressed, Get Out There
I once read that creation takes courage. I think it can require it when one struggles with a blank canvas or a blank screen, uneasily awaiting the colors, shapes, and words to flow.
To make original work can be daunting.
It also can be easy. Sometimes you can create something without seemingly putting much effort into it at all. You're in the zone. You're even having fun, making yourself laugh as you write that greeting card referencing inside jokes between you and the recipient. If only the creative process was always this easy.
Last week I found myself needing some courage. It wasn't a blank screen that daunted me. It was the intimidating void in which I was to take next steps of projects. Call other colleges for speaking opportunities? Work on a video from last summer's Pacific Northwest trip? Follow up with contacts recently made while visiting the Red Lake Indian Reservation? I didn't know what move to make. I resisted making any.
It brought to mind advice I've heard from multiple, older, self-employed people.
"Get up every morning," said one such bowtied realtor to me in 2010. "Get dressed, comb you hair, and get out there."
Overcome resistance. Show up for life every day through thick and thin. You'll be amazed what simply showing up consistently can lead to. I never forgot this lesson from the successful, white-haired realtor whose picture I'd seen on a city billboard. Oddly, I also didn't forget his meager tip for having waited on him at the restaurant where he offered me this advice. But his generosity in life tips compensated for stinginess with dollars. Haha.
This past week I proceeded by working on the video of our recent Cuba event in Minneapolis.
The lesson I took away is that sometimes it's more important just to take action. When our worry about taking action (or taking the correct action) keeps us from any action, it's best to simply take that step into the unknown. Life is learned on the go.