I’ve always been somewhat of a perfectionist, especially in my younger days. I’ve never really been one to just do things for the sake of doing them. There’s always had to be some rhyme or reason behind it, or it wasn’t worth doing. As it turns out this really isn’t a great way to live. It can easily lead to burnout and a general sense of lack and incompleteness.

I had something very interesting happen within the last hour. I was reading my intention to generate income that I wrote about on my post how to think and grow rich. I then sat down and started surfing the web. I was drawn for whatever reason to Steve Pavlina’s site (can you tell I’m a fan? ), then to a particular article he wrote about that I’ve never seen before called how I write.

Turns out that this led to a revelation that will probably influence my creative process quite a bit. Is this intention manifestation? I think it’s likely!

I began reading and was awestruck by the sheer authenticity of his writing style. He writes primarily in the moment and from the heart. He really doesn’t even plan out what he’s going to write in advance. What’s even more interesting is how he describes himself as simply witnessing his writing flow out of him from a state of no-mind. This is something Eckhart Tolle says is crucial to any creative output. He says that it is impossible to create anything other than conditioned patterns if your mind is buzzing a hundred miles an hour, and only from the state of stillness of the mind can true creativity come about. I tend to agree on this and would add that it just plain isn’t fun to have your mind constantly running while trying to be creative.

Too much organization

As I mentioned, I used to be quite a perfectionist. I recently went through my computer, which has documents from as far back as ten years ago. As an aside I recommend everyone save any creative work they do, even if it’s just a few notepad files. You can glean volumes of information about where you used to be versus where you are now.

I found a lot of interesting things out about myself as I went through the information. For example, I used to have lists for everything. Everything. At one point I apparently began a notepad file on my computer that had lists of poems I’d read. I don’t know why I would even want such a thing. What good would it do? I probably similarly had some other text file with a list of poems I wanted to read, probably from the same genre or author so I could say I was well-versed in some particular category of things. More like well-versed in completing meaningless tasks. How odd.

Luckily I’ve gotten better over the years. Going back and deleting a lot of that stuff was particularly satisfying. It was like saying goodbye to an old inefficient operating system that gave me lots of trouble. Ironically, like saying goodbye to Windows ME. I hope you laughed at that one, because it was pretty funny.

Unfortunately, with the start of the site it seems like I’ve gone a little bit back to my old ways. With my writing, it’s like for awhile there I was more obsessed with covering points and getting it right than actually enjoying the process. When I feel like that it really becomes a drag to sit down and write. And if I’m not having fun writing then why would anyone have fun reading?

It’s another energy thing. It’s like the energy behind your words and actions are transferred to the people witnessing them. This even happens over text. If your words come from an energy field of frustration and impatience, no one is going to want to stay around and vibe with that. On the other hand, if your words come from a playful desire to share knowledge and love, people are going to pick up on it and won’t be able to get enough!

This is true for any creative endeavor. I’ve played guitar for several years, and I’ve found that monotonous practicing to a metronome is one of the most unsatisfying things someone could ever do. I should know, I did it for years in the name of technique and discipline. While I may have gotten some self discipline out of it, and some pretty nice technique, I lost a lot of time I could have spent just enjoying being a musician and creating music.

Realigning Yourself With The Present

If you ever find yourself doing anything for some external reward in the future, it’s likely your priorities are out of order. True inspiration comes from the present moment, from being swept up in whatever you’re doing. If you aren’t enjoying yourself in any activity then you’re probably out of alignment with this principle. When I slip and do this, I tend to feel a general sense of “wrongness” or “ickyness” about whatever I’m doing. It’s like some part of me is rejecting what’s going on.

When I’m completely in the now it doesn’t happen. I truly enjoy myself and what I’m doing. I was in that state as I wrote this article. After reading it I think it connects a lot more emotionally than some of my previous articles, and is more entertaining to read too. And writing it was a breeze! Remember, if you aren’t enjoying it, no one else is either.

Oh, by the way, I also deleted my list of ideas for articles I had. I just wasn’t inspired about them anymore.

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