Stuck is a Creative Process
A new client came to me this week feeling painfully stuck. She had made a commitment to doing work that she expected to be challenging, but after six months of concerted effort, it became clear that her current role was a misfit of epic proportion.
Now what?
Amidst the turmoil of finding a strategy where she could endure another three months in the job to honor her original commitment she felt the terror of her own belief that there was NOTHING awaiting her "out there" "in the world" that would MEET HER NEEDS.
As a theater artist, she had already spent a lifetime with job insecurity. Although she often felt valued by the institutions that engaged her for her expertise, they couldn't offer her permanence. Her current job provided financial stability, but left her feeling undervalued and because the place itself was in turmoil there was was threat even to her physical safety.
To add insult to injury, after decades in the field of theater arts education, she had accumulated what she felt was PROOF that no scenario existed in which she could be both valued - living the vision she desired - and have economic and emotional security.
Who can argue with proof?
I'll tell you: SHE CAN. She can argue with proof, but first she'll have to get UNDER the thoughts that have her believing otherwise. For that we'll need more EVIDENCE. This is where her creativity and resilience will come in handy.
As we collaborated during our first hour together her energy shifted from total STUCKNESS rooted in blame and shame to MOVEMENT where she could glimpse at a future where what she wanted SEEMED POSSIBLE. Her creativity was there all along, but she needed a safe container to coax it back out. It's a beginning.
Takeaway: Start MOVING in the direction of what is STUCK - your own self-doubt, fear, judgment. If you can be with someone who can accompany you there, that is ideal. The goal is to reactivate your inner wisdom which knows your worth and can imagine what is possible.
