By 
Many of us have trouble letting our creativity just spill out. We tie ourselves in knots, worrying that our purges won’t measure up. Well, sorry for asking, but … living up to what? We are often desperate for our visions to perfectly materialize on the page, on the canvas, or in the office. If you don’t know yet, let me tell you a secret. There is no fixed standard. Creativity, yours and mine, is in a perpetual state of expansion. Kind of like the universe, according to Steven Hawking.
Any good art consultant will remind you that the only real competition is with ourselves, as Martha Graham said. What matters is that we continue to lean to our own advantage. That advantage will be unique and like no one else’s. Most masterpieces are achieved through long periods, requiring a lot of trial and error. Its creators spend a lot of time in their “laboratories”, producing with a mixture of stumbling and brilliance.
Like most other significant aspects of life, failure is an inherent part of creative growth in an artistic career. The failures of the artistic career generate solutions and wisdom. In studies of artists and creative growth, the most unifying element found among all artists was the ability to continue to recreate. Artists execute a form and then reshape it. They are recreated, over and over again, until the original inspiration has developed to fruition. Those who actualize themselves as artists and are successful in their artistic careers all have this skill in common. This is the only consistent linking factor. No demographic or sociological factor (family history, genetics, habits, personality, or ethnicity) links all artists.
This conclusion is a useful guide, not only for professional artists, but for anyone committed to creative growth. It indicates that we are not meant to focus so much on quick end results. We are destined to be present in a creative process, to make many mistakes, to evaluate, review and change. This means letting go of perfectionism and, at the same time, sticking to standards. As an artist career consultant, many clients I meet believe they don’t deserve a learning curve. They demand of themselves to pour out perfection in miraculous explosions. Not only is it an unrealistic expectation, it is actually the antithesis of growing creativity itself. The next time you’re reluctant to “spill” into messy experimentation, try looking at spilling as the roadmap to creative genius. The next time you get discouraged or notice that you have incredibly high standards for your artistic career, try reading this snapshot on creative growth again.
Creative growth is a standard of checks and balances. Fine arts and quality journalism in a free society provide checks and balances on state power. Likewise, the process of creative growth provides checks and balances to our inner life. Our creations provide us with mirrors to look at. In a way they are similar to dreams, because they contain fragments of our truth. Who and what we are, what we think, how we feel, are reflected there. What we see can comfort and inspire us. It can also baffle us. Seeing who we are more clearly is totally good, no matter what we see. Because it provides opportunities. Opportunity to appreciate the things we like about ourselves and take advantage of them. Opportunity to reveal our blind spots and broaden our awareness. Opportunity to listen to our problematic attitudes and change what is possible to change.
Creative growth offers many valuable gifts for ourselves and others. As we create and recreate our projects, we recreate ourselves at the same time. Don’t underestimate the “inch for inch”. Yes, the Roman cliché alive and well, nothing good is built in a day. It’s a centimeter-by-centimeter thing. Every written sentence, every frame, every query made, every gallery visited, every web search carried out, every phone call sent, every conference attended, every movie seen, every brushstroke made, every aesthetic conversation held, every part of the donation of research, each creativity coaching session – (and the list goes on) – will bring us one inch closer to a realization and an outcome that we will ultimately call finished. Every inch counts. No inch should be discounted, even when you feel it was a step backward, because steps back provide more clarity. Every time you yawn as you move another tiny inch, try to stay in the moment with that inch, honoring it for the essential link in the chain that it is.
Very soon you will notice that your inches are developing into a unique creation. Moral of the story of this artist and consultant? Enjoy your inches.