Surrender to the Creative Process: But How?

“The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.” - Bruce Lee

People describe the impulse to create in many different ways. Maybe the creative process is fun for you, or calms your nervous system. For many people who consider themselves to be creative, the process of making art (of any kind) feels like a compulsion–it’s something you have to do. Creativity can feel like a release–something you need to get out of your body. Something that can feel unsettling until you give it the time it requests. 

It’s no wonder that the creative process is one of the most effective ways to complete the stress cycle. Creating something can let our emotions out of our body and replace them with new ones. After creating something, you may experience happiness. Peace. Or just the feeling of understanding a complex feeling better than before. 

But if you don’t consider yourself a creative person, you may not be sure where to start. What exactly is “the creative process”? And how do you “surrender” to it? 

Many people set out on a creative endeavor with a plan. You might want to paint in a particular style, or a particular subject. You might want to make a particular object. You might have an outline for a story you want to tell. 

That’s a great place to start. But in order to surrender to the creative process, you have to be open to the unknown. You have to let go and trust that the creative energy within you has the answers, even if they don’t appear in your outline. 

You should never know quite where your painting, poem, song, etc. is going. As Robert Frost once wrote, “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” 

So how do you surrender to the creative process? For me, it looks a little something like this. 

Take Notes: Even if you’re not the kind of person who plans their sketches or outlines their writing projects, you should probably have some system for taking note of things that interest you or capture your attention. 

There’s a good deal of romanticizing that goes along with the analog artist aesthetic. The tiny notebook in your back pocket for writing down quotes and lines of poetry. The sketchbook pulled out while you’re waiting for the train. A thick logbook with scraps of your life you want to draw from. 

If that works for you, great! But for me, nothing beats the functionality of tech. The glimmers I see around me live in…the notes app on my phone. Visual inspiration lives in my photo reel, not a beautifully-curated inspiration board. I’ve always liked the old photography tip that “the best camera is the camera you have with you.” So for me, the best tool for observation and capturing ideas is the one I’ll actually use. 

Writing, for me, usually starts with a few unpunctuated lines in my notes app, or even a saved Instagram post. 

The next steps in my creative process are all about inviting myself to enter the flow state–that magical state of being when the work seems to do itself. Where time ceases to have meaning. Where the things I produce don’t seem to come from my conscious mind, but from other magical liminal space. Here’s how I get there: 

Eliminate Distractions: It’s almost impossible to achieve a flow state in your creative work if something else is demanding your attention. Distractions could be work, family members, your pinging phone. The best way to achieve a flow state is to prioritize uninterrupted time. In my particular phase of life, this means that writing happens at 5AM, and art happens after my daughter goes to bed. It’s not necessarily ideal, especially when my creative work could use some more natural light. But in this phase of life, I’ll take what I can get. 

Lay it All Out: When I begin to write, I open up a new document and paste or type all of the ideas or glimmers into a stack. I don’t organize anything yet. I don’t attempt to make meaning yet. I just put all the pieces in front of me. This helps me to see what connections I might have missed. 

In painting, this could look like assembling your supplies. Looking through a magazine for images that speak to you for a collage. Building a color palette with mixed paint or other medium. Doing a warmup scribble. 

Make a Mess: Now’s the time to really let go. You might be tempted to create the perfect underpainting, sketch out the whole image, or craft the perfect beginning to your written piece. Don’t do that. First, make a mess. In writing, this looks like starting most of my written work with a stream-of-consciousness ramble. 

What am I thinking about today? 

What have I been talking about with people this week? 

Here’s this idea, what does that make me think of? 

If you can allow yourself to just free write or ramble, eventually it begins to take a shape you didn’t see coming. Connections form. If you keep adding layers, you may see something take shape that you didn’t expect. 

Wait for the flow state to take over. You may experience a feeling of peace, an a-ha moment, or a propelling feeling, like the thing you’re creating has taken control. 

Let the magic happen, then step back and see what you’ve got. In surrendering to the creative process, you must accept that sometimes what you create is a magnificent bloom, and sometimes this is just the seed. Both outcomes are desirable–either way, it’s been time well-spent honoring your creative self. 

What do you think? Does your creative process look different? Have you been trying to control your creativity instead of surrendering to the magic of the flow state? Let us know in the comments!

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