Hello Creative QB’s,

3.5 minute read

Today is your day to leap barefoot, make a splash, to take the plunge into anything you deem as your creative leap of faith. You take your leap by showing up, by being present to your intuition, by listening for the call, the desire, the yearning to make, do, build, design, create, sing, dance, play or change. ‘Your Successful Creative Life’ is made when you act upon the desire, when you take a leap of faith and step out.

On day one at art school, I stepped into my first ‘life drawing’ class and the life of being an artist disrobed in front of me, literally. A middle aged man, probably an artist himself, trying to earn some dosh on the side as an artist model, stripped off and laid spread eagle over a velvet pile of cushions in front of our class of clueless, recently graduated school kids. (The guy was probably only 30, but I was 18 so anyone over 25 seemed old to me then).

I am sure my life drawing lecturer thought it was a great joke, a way for him to test us out, see how we would react as newbie art students drawing a full sized naked man. There, straddled over my easel chair, one thing I was certain, in that moment I went from the school kid daydreamer staring blankly at the blackboard to the shock of ‘hello, so you wanna be an artist?’ The experience was a combination of complete internal panic, fear, excitement and thrill. Of course on the outside I was playing it cool, like, “yeah I’ve so got this”!

I have experienced the same feeling many, many times over in my creative career. I cannot tell you the amount of times I have been in situations beyond my comfort zone. Some by coincidence and some by design, either way, the experience is the same. A hot mixture of emotions akin to jumping off a cliff and hoping there is a net strong enough to hold me when I land.

The true lesson I learnt that day in my first art class was about how to show up for creativity, how to put yourself ‘out there’, how to embrace the fear, to harness and channel it into creative work. I never want this kind of experience to leave me, because it means I’m still here, showing up like that 18 year old kid with a sense of innocence and possibility.

All these years later, I have also learnt that while you are out there, far from your comfort zone, dangling on the edge, waiting to get wet, that you must continue to have faith. You must believe there will always be a net to catch you.

The beauty and truth of creativity is available to you with open arms if you trust in your inner creative self. Sometimes you may fall a long way, with a few bumps and bruises before you hit the net. But when you show up, as your creative self, the net will always appear, like an apparition in the fog.

Learning, leaping barefoot, establishing your footing and collecting your creative strength.

Developing a keen muscle for trying out new things, failing, trying again, keeping on trying and developing a deep belief there will always be an answer, a way through for a creative solution to emerge, it is like stitching a stronghold on your net. The ability to take creative leaps makes you agile on the path towards personal creative confidence.

Even if you wander around in the creative wilderness for a while, harnessing the courage to leap, you are learning. Failure teaches us much and gives us clues on how to navigate the wilderness and find a clear path. The day you find your clearing is the day you catch your breath ready to continue towards, when you know a leap of faith is required.

When you get to your one day, you will realise you have actually been learning, leaping barefoot, establishing your footing and collecting strength for a while, that you are ready to take the plunge and splash into anything you deem as your creative leap of faith.

You take your leap by showing up, by being present to your intuition, by listening for the call, the desire, the yearning to make, do, build, design, create, sing, dance, play or change. ‘Your Successful Creative Life’ is made when you act upon the desire, when you take a leap of faith and step out.

In stepping out, you are likely to experience panic, fear, excitement, and thrill. Have faith, trust your net will appear. Better still, perhaps you will catch the wind and your hive flying Creative Queen Bee wings will glide you to where you need to be.

Big ♥ Amanda