Experience is the word that I have on my mind today. I’m talking about both my creative experience as I work through creative projects and my age and experience that I carry with me each day. The latter type of experience covers more than just my creative work and often adds breadth and depth to my creative work if I relax long enough to let it.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel really insecure about my level of creative experience, whether I’m coaching, beading or writing. I’m really aware that there are many other people out there that are really good (translated: better than I am) at what they do. They have paid their dues, learned the ropes, completed their work and are reaping the positive results of all of their earlier work and struggle.

Please don’t cringe when I mention the word insecure. It doesn’t mean that I am not qualified to coach or to do any of the other creative work that I do. It just means that I’m still feeling a bit ‘new’ in the persona of being a working artist, who also works with other working creative artistic women. I think that sometimes being ‘new’ has its good points.

First of all, I’m less likely to think that I know everything, before I listen to my clients’s story and concerns. I’m less likely to resist asking for help if the need should arise during a coaching session and I’m less likely to fall back into negativity, when my client goes through challenging times. I’m also less likely to blame myself for what my client is facing or sharing, especially when she is struggling and learning to take responsibility for her own creative growth.

I can also listen because I believe, I support and I care about my client. I assume that my client is doing her best and that she will continue to do her best, as she faces any number of challenges on the way to breaking down a creativity block. I can be amazed as she shares with me all of her creative work, or just a portion of it. What she does during the week , what she thinks about or problem-solves and what she finishes are all amazing to me at one level or another. It is very exciting to me to see someone actively pursuing their creativity, no matter where they are on the creativity continuum.

I can also give better support to her. Support may sound like my regularly pointing out the positive aspects of her work. Or reminding and teaching her to give ‘credit’ to herself for all that she has accomplished during the day or week. Or reminding her of her goals, and how her actions fit into a pattern that will help her meet the goals or not, that she set in our first session. Emotional support also involves gentle and firm challenging of information that is inaccurate or incorrect. This can cover many areas, not the least of which is looking at her creative work, how she uses her skills and how she develops her ideas. It also encompasses the whole business area of her creative work. For some artists, but not all, working out the business of their creative work is really new to them. It can be very frustrating to have to switch hats on a regular basis, in order to learn how best to display and promote her work. Some artists would rather ignore this whole area, I’ve experienced this situation in the past.

In an ideal world, she wouldn’t have to wear both hats. She would be able to hire someone to take on those responsibilities. However, in the beginning of building her creative business, she really has to be willing to wear both hats, switching back and forth on a regular basis. She has to be committed to the process of growth that comes from recognizing problems, recognizing strengths, celebrating milestones and problem-solving through those areas that will make her creative work and business that much stronger, more effective and more expressive.

Well, now you may be saying that that all sounds well and good, but I can’t seem to sell my jewelry, even when I worked very hard to wire-wrap some of my new pieces for my last show. Or I still become frightened when I try to discuss my art with potential customers or other gallery artists. I haven’t written up a good telephone script yet, like some of the others, so that I can keep on topic when I call potential referrals. Yes, there are many parts of the creative and business process that aren’t easy to learn, practice and learn all over again. When I talk about how amazed I am at the creativity I see in my clients, I’m not just talking about their creative skill. I’m also describing the courage the learn as they talk to new customers. The curiosity they show as they ask penetrating questions of a more experienced artist, and the humility to listen and learn from that same artists’ answers.. The confidence it takes for an artist to believe in her own work, especially when she steps out and puts a new twist on a tried and true skill. It takes honesty to admit that some skills are either especially challenging or not very interesting to her, even though she needs to master them anyway. When an artist starts to come to some of these conclusions, she has made major creative progress.

Now this doesn’t mean that she will always create at this pace or that she won’t stop or step back from her work. Artists aren’t robots. Artists are people with full lives, moods, desires, frustrations, loved ones, people they would rather not be around and tasks that they would rather ignore. All of this and more finds its’ way into their art and sometimes really makes a major impact on their creative work. Artists strive for perfection, at the same time, that they realize they aren’t themselves perfect. Learning to live with these differences and still continue to create is really quite a feat for anyone, especially for relatively ‘new’ artists.

So, where are you in this arena of experience? Take some time to reflect on your creative experience, your life experience and your business experience. You might also want to choose one vulnerable place in any of these areas, that you would like to improve. Take some additional time to create a simple plan for changing this vulnerable area. Decide when you would like to start making this change, track your progress and see what happens after working on making this change. Did it work? Did you start to see some change? Do you want to give it a few more days? Or move on to another skill or vulnerable area?

Please do take the time to complete this reflection and changing exercise. Even if you decide not to continue it, after the initial try. I believe that it will demonstrate to you, how small actions can effect deep change in all areas of your life, even after only a short practice time. Experience isn’t always about making huge and challenging changes, sometimes it’s about working through the small and sometimes inconsequential changes of everyday life.

Enjoy experimenting with your experience.

 

Tags: Articles - Creativity Coaching //