Creative Director: Let Go
I Create: Creative Director of My Life
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
Tuesday is my Blog day. Today is Wednesday. I don’t have my blogs automated to publish on a timer. I type out and finalize my blog each and every week on the Tuesday. And what happened yesterday, you might ask? If you don’t live on Vancouver Island, you may not have been aware, we had a ‘Bomb Cyclone’ in the forecast. AKA, a windstorm. My theory is that they think they have to use more and more dramatic terms to get our attention. We’ve had plenty of windstorms before, that have never been called a ‘Bomb Cyclone.’ We lost power. I think a good portion of our Island did as well. Since we are next to the firehall in our community, we usually don’t lose power for very long. An extreme case for us has been 4 hours. We are generally back up and running first in our community. This time, it was 18 hours. That’s why you didn’t see a Blog yesterday. So what has been a Tuesday night ritual since 2018, had to wait until today. And what do you do when you are anxious to complete a routine – a commitment to yourself – that you need the internet for? You let go.
You get our pen and notebook. Write by candlelight. You drop the expectation of yourself to get the blog out on schedule. This wasn’t my planned blog topic this week, but it’s the one that needed to be written. In a windstorm, you light a fire in the woodstove, get the candles out, let go of the need for the dishes to get done, the kitchen to be cleaned. Drop expectations. Let go. Read, write. No one is going anywhere. I also did pilates by candlelight – with guitar music in the next room. My friend is learning to teach reformer pilates. We were at her place for the start of the evening when their power went out. We improvised.
How does this relate at all to being a Creative Director? Sometimes, you make plans, and you have to be able to let go on occasion and realize that not everything will go to plan. You can’t resist what comes up. If you resist, it just results in stress. I know this all too well. Being annoyed, being upset when things don’t go as you expect. Let go on occasion and take a moment to slow down and be grateful. I have gotten better at it, but It’s been a slow lesson for me. I have to remember that I am the one that holds myself to these expectations, perhaps no one else will even notice. A worthwhile topic, nonetheless. Creating a Blog on schedule is a small example, there will be other important things that present this lesson. As the quote above states, hopefully we have the wisdom to know when it is time to let go, and other times to find courage to make a change for something important. Offer yourself some grace in the times that you need to let go.
Until next week,
Devon