The Creative Process

Part of the creative process is sifting through what sometimes feels like a massive bin of ideas. I imagine myself leaning over, halfway in, tipped over the edge of the bin, one hand gripping the edge for support, and the other picking up one idea after the next, tossing each one aside one by one after careful examination.

The process feels long and tedious and emotionally taxing. You pick up one idea, thinking this could be it, excitement builds, but upon further investigation, you doubt for one reason or another that this one is the one and you toss it to the side in search of another idea.

Maybe one day you find an idea worth removing from the bin to begin to bring formation and life too. You begin the actual work of going from ideation to execution. It begins to take shape. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the idea loses its appeal, and you are left feeling like what’s in your hands is nothing more than empty promises.

So back to the bin you go, tossing it aside, and starting the search all over again.  

I know I’m making this sound so exciting, right? The creative process is not for the faint of heart.

Maybe you’ve found it easy and don’t relate. Maybe you’ve found a better way.

But if this in any way sounds familiar or relatable, I have some encouragement to share.

The creative process has within it a sort of transformation process to it. Meaning, that as you gather ideas, and as you sift through them, even if seemingly endlessly, the ones you choose to remove from the bin and polish off may not always look like ‘the one’. That’s because, in this stage, it’s not. It needs to be brought into the transformation phase.

The phase where heat, pressure, and refining come into play. The one where you smooth out the rough edges and clean it off with some special cleaner used just for ideas. The one where you really see if there is anything worth salvaging at the deepest layer. Is there a diamond? Is there gold? Is there hope?

You keep working the idea, running it through its paces, testing it again and again.

You may not even be aware of the transformation happening at this stage, because you’re so deep into the process of it.

The idea, like a seed, begins to grow some roots and take shape. You see the tiny signs of life poke through the soil and hope begins to burn in your soul that all this hard work and effort may actually pay off.

Then as the roots begin to deepen, and the green signs of life sprout through the earth above ground, nourished by the rain and the sun; you stoke it to life like you tenderly would the kindling of a fire. You’re nearby, babying it, until it’s sustainably showing its beautiful colors.

This is the creative process. It’s hard work, dare I say agonizing work, where if you stay the course, you will by faith and the grace of God, one day see that your little baby seedling, the one you dug out of the bin so long ago, has a life beyond what you could have ever expected or imagined.