The Creative Process… Journey

Molly writes...

I have this photo I took of a project pack tile I was working on a few years ago. The photo was taken mid-process, but for some reason, I loved where the tile was in this moment. I loved seeing some of the tile looking finished and other parts roughed out. The snapshot made me feel content and spoke to the process of making the piece. I could see the potential. It made me think about the creative process and about processes in general. It made me ponder how important our process is and how important our journey is, regardless of where it takes us.

I am sure you all have heard it before, from Emerson to Aerosmith, that our life's meaning is found more in the journeys we take rather than the destinations we reach... such wise sentiments indeed! And so logical when you think about it...

It is, of course, on the journey where everything happens. It is where we get stronger, where we grow, where we discover, learn, laugh, and experience it all. However, along with all the glory a journey can bring, it can be challenging, boring, discouraging, long, and altogether overwhelming. Some journeys may leave us questioning how or if we will move forward.

Throughout this glorious life, we take countless journeys toward countless destinations. Some we choose, some choose us. And although our very wise scholars remind us to focus on the journey, to embrace where we are, and to value the time spent, it is so hard not to acknowledge our obsession with goals and end results. In fact, we are bombarded with it from a young age. If you think about it, we as a species tend to focus on the destinations. We occupy ourselves with the checking of boxes, awards received, goals achieved, resumes, milestones, and so on. We are more fascinated with quantity, badges, certificates, and anything we can put a label on, rather than on the actual process and experience that got us there.

I think about this a lot with the Zentangle Method and with art in general. Here, too, it is quite easy to get caught up in the result. The result, like many destinations, can be distracting because in art, the results can be beautiful, rewarding, and fulfilling. It is only natural to want to rush through or, even worse, quit because the process is messy or uncomfortable and the destination feels impossible.

So how do we separate these experiences and gain perspective on the importance of the process and still value the destination? And even more importantly... how do we find the courage and strength to hang in there and keep going? 

I am not sure there is a formula, but we can start by looking at things one stroke at a time. We can put an intention out there to trust ourselves and the process. That trust comes along with the understanding that a creative journey, like other journeys in life, can be messy, hard, and not what we expected. We can remind ourselves that all those moments are temporary and we are constantly moving into new moments, perhaps moments that feel more attainable. If we shift our focus a bit, we can see that there is value in the messy parts and the hard parts, too. Success is different for all of us, so let’s embrace and celebrate whatever achievements we are conquering. We can focus on the small victories and the baby steps. Perhaps it is stopping to marvel and appreciate little things along the way. Or maybe it is in reflection and recognizing change and growth. Or maybe it is just pausing and feeling whatever it is you are feeling in that moment, knowing that all of it is temporary.

We can move through the hard parts and awkward stages just as we move through joy, laughter, and awe. We can recognize beauty along the way and take it with us as fuel for the next step. We can make mistakes, and instead of seeing them as roadblocks, we can use them as guides. We can choose how we react regardless of the way the journey takes us. We can work in layers in our art and in our life... trusting that the layers build upon each other. We can take our time on this path that is uniquely ours because it is not a race. We can get lost and find ourselves and maybe get lost again, and there is value in that. We can lean on each other in our process. Lend a hand, give a compliment, a hug, a high five. We can celebrate one another through the hard parts and in our successes.

And as we learn to embrace the journey and all its unknowns... and we learn to focus on each stroke, each moment, each layer... the more opportunities and joy we will find along the way.

So yes, there you have it, when you really think about it, the magic is indeed in the journey. The destination is merely a lovely stop at one end of the process. And once you are there, in that moment, you see, in all its glory, that it only has any value because of all that came before it. And just like all the other fleeting moments along the way, the destination, too, is fleeting. Then, before you know it, you are on a new path… a new journey.

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” - Ernest Hemingway