The creative process is in different stages, and one of the most important one is to let go of control. It sounds easy but it’s not. Most of us are taught to have control of everything, to know where we are going and to know every step on the way.

We are also trying to go around bumps in the road, or trying to avoid bumps in the road. But we can’t avoid obstacles in life, and we can’t avoid obstacles in the creative process as well. So what to do when we can’t go further? We want to go in a specific direction, we want a certain result, but we can’t. In the creative process as in life it’s very important to face the obstacles and instead of going around it, pretending it’s not there, look it straight in the eyes.

Not to fight it, not to get angry, but to accept it. Just accept the fact that you are stuck. Say to yourself “it’s okay to be where I’am at right now”. Accept that your mind is not in control. Accept the way the creative process is guiding you. Trust the process. Let go of your ideas and perceptions. Allow yourself to be in the mittle of chaos, and flow with the chaos. What are you afraid of? Be open to new possibilities. Play with all the possibilities you see, and don’t get fixed too soon, on one specific direction. Allow yourself to not knowing, and feel how exciting it is. Feel how your whole body is buuzzing with joy and excitment. Why not just play around? try something new? Do something wild and totally unexpected? If you always work in small sizes, why not try a bigger scale? Here is a list of suggestions of what you can do to start playing.

• Change location. Make art outdoor if you are always sitting at a disk.

• Use other colors, if you normally use light colors go for dark ones.

• Just cut it all up, and put it togheter in a new way.

• Make an object out of the paper.

• Write down all your feelings concerning with your artwork.

• Do nothing.

• Make another piece with your left hand, or the hand you are not normally using.

• Let your child, or another person draw or paint on it.

• spil out a cup of coffee on it.

• celebrate the mistakes.

It’s the same when you are traveling and you are arriving to a new and unknown place, in the start everything is fresh and new, and you get so many new impressions. You have to stay present to really get it all, and to navigate in the new enviroument.  You can’t do what you are used to do, you can’t navigate on autopilot. But that’s nice right? That’s a really good place to be at.

Try to look at your obstacles in the creative process the same way. See it as something exciting, that it’s an adventure which takes you to new exciting places and situations, where you meet new people and get a lot of challenges, as well as joy. How boring life would be if we just knew the outcome of all things. What is an obstacle anyway ? it’s just a fixed perception about what we think we want.

 So next time you are stuck, see it as a challenge open yourself up to new possibilities, and be excited to go into the unknown with your eyes wide open.