Are You Self-Censoring?
Or Are You Tapping into Your Wild Creativity?
“The trick to being truly creative . . .
is to be completely unselfconscious.
To resist the urge to self-censor.
To not-give-a-shit what anybody thinks.
That’s why children are so good at it.
And why people with Volkswagens, and mortgages,
Personal Equity Plans and matching Louis
Vuitton luggage are not.” --Linds Redding
Time and again, I get bungled up in my identity as a writer. I obsess about my shortfalls and failings, and compare myself to other writers. Soon I'm far away from the freedom and creativity that has brought me each discovery in my work. The joy is replaced with consciousness about "Christi" and her image in the world.
Last week I found myself in this trap. I was getting ready to share my work at Saturday's Burnt Tongue Reading Series, but overwhelmed with the thought I had nothing much to offer.
My "selfing" kept getting worse. Pretty soon, the only way out was to abandon my connection with Christi-the-writer and any potential reaction to her, past and present.
And I became free. When I read my story on stage, I felt this total separation from the writer and experienced the joy of the work and the delight in the story and the whole reason I write in the first place.
It's a fascinating paradox that the more we fuss with image, outcomes, the need for approval, "perfection," and "shoulds"--we lose touch with who we really are.
We are deeply creative, rich, human, emotional, moving, iridescent beings.
If your brain is focused on the "all about you," the paradox is that you are losing your soul. Once you let go, lose your selfness, and return to play . . . the wonder and the creating and the abundant life is all yours.
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Journey Dance and Creative Writing. Check out my video with Jenna Abernathy about our Stories in the Body workshop. We'd love to have you join us Sunday, September 13, at 9:30 a.m. at the Motion Massage Studio in Northeast Portland.
To register for Stories in the Body, email me at christi@christikrug.com or join us on Meetup.
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Wildfire Writing class at Clark starts September 24 and runs through October 15. Thursday evenings, Columbia Tech Center, 6:30 - 9 pm. We have some wonderful fiction writers and returning writers in the upcoming session, so although the catalog description says "Wildfire I" - this class allows to dig deeper those who are ready.
Burn Wild meets Tuesday, September 22 at TaborSpace at 4 pm. This workshop is an incredibly authentic, heart-bonding experience for those of you who favor a wholistic, day-to-day, journaling approach to your creativity.
Wildfire Master class, p.m., (private) runs roughly every other Wednesday at 6pm and has potential openings. Let's talk if you think you might be a good fit.
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Photo: Listen to Your Mother, May 2015. Story on video here .
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