I almost didn’t write this post, because I was gonna go look at the recipes for the cakes I wanna bake next week and find out what to get from the store tomorrow.
Initially I was gonna write this post a few days ago, but my inspiration wasn’t as much in writing as it was in making the summer rolls, chili-oil infused prawn pasta, and flourless lemon cake.
Part of me fought with myself over that and made it wrong. But the more I told myself I gotta write, the less I wanted to write. I just want to go make something delicious and beautiful instead!
The last 6 weeks I have been truly, truly immersing in one of my greatest creative immersions ever.
Having someone to cook for and having a well-equipped kitchen, with easy access to fresh healthy organic foods, suddenly my passion for cooking comes back online and surprises me!
I’d almost forgotten that I used to work in a student bakery and had my own food blog when I was in university. I’d almost forgotten that I often had cooking dates and baking experiments with my dorm mates.
For over 10 years I’d told myself a story that I wasn’t great at cooking, but even more so, I didn’t like cooking. Cooking to me was too time consuming: the effort-to-reward ratio was too high and didn’t make sense.
And then suddenly, I pour myself into making foods 2-3 times a day, 5 days a week, and am loving it!
Am also playing with a lot of flowers and leaves, making arrangements, decorations, altars, using nature’s gifts.
Writing had taken a backseat for me, until… suddenly, again, just like how cooking came back upon me… 10 days ago… Boom! The directive came! I am to put together my second book now! And it’s rolling really, really fast.
In all of these, I’m learning – or re-learning something:
1. Stop fighting your Creative flow.
Which direction is your creative flow going in?
Go there.
Here’s the thing: Most of the time, when people say “I’m not creative, I don’t have it in me,” what actually goes on is, they’re resisting the direction their creative energy is flowing in.Everyone is innately creative. Creating is inherent in our pulses, in our blood, creating is just what we do as humans.
But oftentimes we have judgments about what we create. We judge them – the most natural, effortless expressions of our creative energy – as unnecessary, indulgent, useless, waste of time, etc while demanding and expecting our creative outputs to be in other areas.
I was judging the expressions of my creative energy – desserts, pasta, smoothies, decorations, etc. – while expecting the output to be in emails, posts, videos and written words.
For you, maybe you just want to sing. Or dance. Or write. Or experiment with fabric and dyes. Or learn to play the drum. Or make videos.
Whatever that is, go with that.
I always talk about the masculine and feminine principles in creating, the masculine being the container or the river banks, while the feminine being the river flow of creative energy itself. It’s much easier to build river banks following where the river is flowing, instead of trying to direct the natural flow of the river into artificial, mind-made banks heading in a completely different direction.
In other words, stop fighting the flow.
And in going with the flow, I got to discover this wondrous side of me that I never knew existed:
I have this incredible ability to foresee, plan, and organize the entire process of cooking different things at the same time, so that as a cook I’m very fast and efficient with time use. Basically I can orchestrate and conduct an entire orchestra in the kitchen with order and magic. I always thought of myself as being disorganized, but this turns out to be absolutely untrue!
So, when you go with the flow of your creative energy, you’ll be shown marvelous things about yourself, because this energy, when flowing where it intends to go, will express fully its nature which is supremely intelligent and ingenuous.
2. Creativity is non-linear.
This is almost a cliché for me to keep harping over and over. But it always strikes me anew every time it comes upon me in my slumber of forgetfulness.
Creativity is rarely linear.
I don’t know about others, but for me, I never write my book (or work on anything creatively) for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month, for 3 months straight.
More often it’ll be like: write, then take a break and cook or paint something, or go for a hike and a swim, then a long period of reflection.
The lull period of reflection is still creative incubation. Ideas and inspirations are still percolating, brewing, being tossed and stirred in the cauldron of creativity, in the invisible creation process.
And then, suddenly, a creative spurt springs forth like a geyser!
When we expect a linear process and progress with our project, we’re making lives so much harder on ourselves and stifling our own creative flow.
This is why I never have writer’s blocks. When I don’t physically write, I’m still in the writing process, just invisibly so. All the swimming and cooking and painting and cat-petting will turn into inspired words, at some point, somehow. Go figure.
3. When the Muse comes to your bedside…
My favorite writing quote comes from Allen Ginsberg, famous poet of the Modern American poetry movement. He famously (or infamously) said:
“When the Muse comes to your bedside, don’t tell her you’ll f*ck her later.”
I’ve applied this quote extensively in my writing – naturally even before I’d even heard of it. When inspiration strikes, I write. I remember even twelve years ago, coming home from work, throwing my bag on the floor and sitting down immediately at the desk because words were just spilling out of my fingertips, I didn’t even have a chance to catch a breath. The Muse came and wanted to flirt with me, I gotta jump on her immediately (all puns intended).
This last month, I’m seeing the depth of this quote even more.
It’s not just about writing. It applies to any form of creativity.
If the Muse comes to me and beckons to be expressed into a fusion pasta dish, a mixed media painting with acrylic and crayon, a makeshift toy for the cats made of leaves and flowers – then I follow her lead.
I don’t argue and say, well I want you to express yourself into an exquisite poem right now.
In following her lead where she’s taking me right now, I’m making space for her to express herself into an exquisite poem at another undefined time in the future. That will happen, for sure. I know that.
When I honor the 3 principles that I’ve just shared with you above – 1. Stop fighting your creative flow, go with it 2. Know that creativity is non-linear 3. When the Muse comes to your bedside, follow her lead:
Creation happens effortlessly for me.
This post that I’d been wanting to write for at least a week finally flows through me, effortlessly. Ideas for my second book came in a flash and within two days I already had 70% of it done.
Meanwhile, I feel creatively satisfied and physically nourished from all the good foods I’ve made. And my partner is even more in love with me 
.
Are you sitting on a book, a writing project, or a creative project that needs some fanning of the embers to rekindle or ignite the flame?
I’ve worked with several heart-centered, conscious souls over the last few years to bring their soul expressions through in the form of books or writing projects, and I can help you. My approach is very much about honoring your soul’s whispers, creative blueprint, and joyful natural expressions.
If you’re considering receiving support for writing the book of your soul and taking it all the way to completion, reach out to me at hello (at) soulofthesun.art and we’ll see how I can help you get your book written in the most soul-aligned way.
