The Four Necessities for Creative Completion

Did you ever abandon a treehouse as a child?

I abandoned about three or four. The neighborhood kids and I gave it a go a few times. Starting off we were so determined. But after a few weeks, planks were left hanging from low branches. Nails jutted out of random places in the bark. And nothing ever came of the treehouse. It didn’t even earn the name tree shack.

We often have the best intentions with our creative work but something comes along and hinders us from finishing. Lack of energy, distractions, stress, doubt . . . all kinds of excuses land on the branches of our best intentions. But when we quit, we miss out on the rewards that only come from following through.

I’ve experienced this with numerous projects through the years. A mosaic that resembled broken pieces of a plate (well, that’s what a mosaic is). A shed I dreamed of fixing up from top to bottom. Nothing got fixed but the middle. Finally, other than the dozen I’ve completed, I’ve given life to a handful of other novels that died by the halfway point.

If there’s something we are truly passionate about finishing, how do we go about staying the course?

Let’s think back to treehouse building days as I give you . . .

 

The Four Necessities for Completion

The Right Tools

You can’t build an entire treehouse with a hammer and a few nails. It’s essential to research what you’ll need. And even who you may have to ask for help. It takes a courageous person to admit that sometimes you can’t go it alone. I know my career in publishing has been drastically enhanced because of the fellow authors who’ve prodded me along.

A Stick with It Commitment

If you go into a project halfhearted, you’ll likely come out of the project that way. Prematurely. Tell yourself there is no alternative. This will get done. Get used to funneling positive messages through your brain. I’m always blown away to witness the powerful effects of mental fortitude.

Goals & Game Plan to Do the Work

Write down your goals. That way you can go back to it and see your progress. Base floor up by May. Walls by June. Complete by July. Get even more specific. Then dash out notes how you intend to meet those goals. Base floor up by May—buy tools, work two hours five days a week, ask tall neighbor for help securing boards, etc.

Then put on your Nike T-shirt and get out there.

Determination to Fight off Obstacles

You should expect obstacles going into any project. Know there will be times when you’ll purchase the wrong paint, the windows won’t fit, the paint might strip off, or the characters just won’t talk. Expect internal obstacles as well. What was I thinking building a treehouse? I have no idea what I’m doing. It’s too big of an undertaking . . .

Shut them down. As soon as the doubts creep in, smother them. Don’t give them a voice.

And as far as the more tangible obstacles, view them as a way to exercise creativity and patience while in the midst of a project. Some of the best inventions have come from unexpected circumstances. Take Penicillin, X-Rays, and fireworks for example.

 So, there you have it. Why didn’t you finish your treehouse as a kid? Do you have a grown-up equivalent of that treehouse?

Changing How We React to Obstacles

I want to cultivate the tenacity of a well-known delicate-winged creature. I’m talking butterflies and I’m talking migration.

This isn’t some post about wanderlust or an insatiable desire to pack my things and hightail it to the Florida Keys because my nose runs every time I step outside. No, I’m referring to what it takes to push through when the winds kick up and food becomes sparse. Gusty gales and times of hunger come for all of us, though they’re disguised differently. A rush of wind knocks us flat on our faces when we lose a job or a loved one. Hunger pangs are triggered in times of loneliness or whenever our vision grows cloudy. 

This is why I admire the Monarch’s innate ability to survive—their propensity to endure.

Monarchs are known for powering through a myriad of obstacles, including seasonal snow cover, adverse weather conditions like strong winds and extreme heat, sandstorms, unsuitable habitat, hostile landscapes, and lack of food sources to name just a few.

In case you’re nodding and saying to yourself, “Sure, Wendy, we all want to grow stronger in this area,” let me give you a few more things to think about.

Migrating butterflies adjust. They adjust to their circumstances—to their surroundings.

And yet remarkably, they stay on course. They refuse to allow obstacles to become deterrents. Despite the fact that no single individual makes the round trip, (meaning each flight is entirely new for them) Monarchs handle change with incredible finesse. It’s as though they anticipate complications, quickly acknowledging them, then regardless of what tries to alter their flight, Monarchs fly on.

As I did a little research I read that the Monarch’s flight pattern is not affected by the wind.

Which brings me to these two verses…

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching…” Ephesians 4:14

“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6

I’d love for my faith and my commitment to trust to mimic these resilient, beautiful creatures. Certain. Not dismissive of or ignorant to obstacles on my path, but sure and steady despite them.

Has something in nature ever reminded you of who you want to be?

*I also read Monarchs have milkweed in their bodies which is poisonous to most predators looking for a lovely-winged meal. But their wings say back off. Predators spot their wings and receive a ‘don’t mess with me attitude’ in any altitude. Wonder if having the Word in us and “flying” in its strength is like being swollen full of milkweed in the eyes of our enemy? May our wings show it.

**received butterfly info. here & photo by stock.XCHNG