Friday, May 2, 2014

Eight of Wands - Confident Progress & Motivation

 
The release of creative energy is represented in the Eight of Wands. It signifies previous conflicts and struggles faced, riding the rough sea and storms of life. There is triumph in overcoming them, which renews our energy, giving a feeling of buoyancy, confidence and exhilaration. We are confident in progressing forward.

Having healthy conflict and struggle in our lives is often necessary to creativity. We may think at the time, there is something wrong with us, that we are alone in feeling this way regarding our creative struggle. We are not alone. This is common to many people in all walks of life, and in all aspects of life form time to time. We get hitched up on the rocks, tossed around on the waves; we can feel stuck and lost. There is a way through.

I can speak from my own experience as an artist that many, if not all artists, struggle with periods of not having any creative output for one reason or another. It can be troubling and worrisome, as this can give rise to a fear of not picking up a paint brush again, or whatever choice of medium or whatever our vocation.

The best solution I have found is to make an effort to do it anyway. Do something, anything creative to get imagination and motivation flowing again. I have learned we need to make our environment conducive to creativity, or do whatever we can to get us back into the creative stream and to gain our confidence. I have also learned we don't get motivated by waiting around for inspiration. We get motivated by action. This motivates and inspires us, we move forward, and suddenly feel a renewed energy.

 This is why I developed the habitual discipline of writing daily. When I can't seem to paint, I am still keeping that creative tap open and it helps to maintain the flow of my imagination. The discipline of daily writing also provides for me the restriction, and challenge needed to enjoy the progress of creative energy to keep moving forward.



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