Don't Abandon Ship: Trust the Process
One of my favorite creativity mantras (and one of the grounding principles of my work as a transformational creativity and grief coach) is "Trust the process."
©Susie Stonefield 2021 | The Person I Am
I would not be the person I am without the challenges I have faced.
What does that mean?
To me, in the creative arena, it means: The process will surely take you places you didn’t expect, but if you can stay with it (trust it) you will learn so much about yourself.
And, if you can stay with the discomfort that is sure to arise in the messiness of creativity, then you will be transformed.
And, especially when you are on the edge of despair, feeling that nothing will change or work out or become what it is meant to be … don’t lose hope.
The PROCESS is exactly what is supposed to be. And where you are in it is exactly where you need to be. And what happens during it is exactly what needs to be.
Now, what happens when you apply this to life?
Can you stay with the messiness, the discomfort, the unruly reality of it all? Can you hold that and feel that in fact that is exactly where you’re meant to be?
Think of a butterfly. She has to turn fully into goo inside the chrysalis to become the gorgeous being that is her final iteration. We know what happens with every caterpillar, but that journey is HARD. Imagine losing faith in the process along the way?
⇢ ⇢ ⇢ No butterfly!
These days when I’m waking at night worrying about the future, I soothe myself by saying:
What if this is exactly what needs to happen for the transformation?
What if I am doing exactly what I need to be doing to be part of that transformation?
By trusting the unfolding process I am finding my meaning
When I do this I feel more grounded. By trusting the unfolding process I am finding my meaning, my purpose. I’m finding my light, glittering in the darkness. And when I feel the strength of that light it grows stronger.
Sometimes I really need to be gentle with myself about it. Times are scary, no question. And the more I lean into the fear of the unknown the fainter my embers glow.
But if can keep coming back to trusting the process, I am strong.
