Ok, I will be the first to admit, I have very little patience and just want things down now and to be perfect on the first try. I know many women resonate with this and it’s challenging in a world that is all about instant gratification. It’s in our faces everyday and as women we easily put ourselves down thinking we aren’t good enough or have what it takes. This applies to our “perfect” home.
Unfortunately, this impatience has cost me, specifically, with my creative energies. I love to be creative and I think I could be really good if I was more patient and stuck with one project long enough. But that’s not the case, instead I pick up all kinds of projects – sewing, painting, jewelry making, etc. and I wind up not completing anything! I get frustrated easily, give up too soon and criticize myself before I even finish.
Expressing our creative energies is extremely important as women. You may not be aware but in the chakra system your second chakra is about your creativity energies, money and relationships. It’s located in the lower abdomen to navel area. Its energetic connection within the physical body is the sexual organs, large intestine, lower vertebrae, pelvis, hip area, appendix and bladder. When this chakra is out of balance you may experience issues with money and relationships. Illnesses may occur like chronic lower back pain, Sciatica, OB/GYN problems or issues with the urinary tract.
Your home also has an area that holds the creative energies. According to the Feng Shui Bagua, the creativity gau is located in the middle right area of your home from the front door. This area reflects our ability to express our creativity, have children, work with children or have people working for you. The element for this area is metal and the colors are gray, silver and white.
As you can see in Feng Shui creativity is extremely important in our homes and our bodies.
Let me share with you a personal story of my creative pursuit. I’ve tried for years to figure out my creative craft, but nothing sparked enough to break me through the “terror barrier,” until this past spring.
One day my good friend Tamara asked me to help create a piece of artwork for her office. We discussed the ideas she had and started to explore how we could create them.
We headed over to my favorite store A.I. Friedman and started shopping for tools. We had so much fun laying out different patterns of paper and bouncing ideas off one another. We brought everything home and started to create our masterpiece. After we finished it that night I drove home in awe! That was the first time I can remember having so much fun with a creative project and without any hesitation or fears of perfectionism. Tamara and I just had fun without competition or perfectionism. We just wanted to create something great together. And we did! Once it was done, we even decided to keep going and creative more pieces around it to complete the overall look. But the most important thing is that we kicked off a project and got it done!
Here is the first piece we created. We are still adding pieces to go around this main piece.
Here is the second piece we created.
This project kicked me into gear and the next day, I decided I was going to paint my kitchen chairs something I’ve want to do for a long time but each time I thought about it a fog came over me and it felt heavy. This time I was energized and determined to do it. So, I asked my dad for advice on how to paint the chairs but my goal was to do this by myself. I was inspired by some red leather chairs from Target that were paired with this cool country table. I didn’t realize how expensive chairs could be so I decided to repaint the nice farm chairs I already have. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out the way I was hoping.
Here is the chair!
I only did one chair and I let it sit in my home for one week in hopes the color would grow on me and it didn’t (I often give this advice to my clients, try it out for a couple of days as you may change your mind).
So, I decided to ask my dad again who suggested spray painting them. So, I sanded down the chairs and spray painted them. He also offered another suggestion to make cushions for the chairs instead of rattan. I can’t tell you how long I shopped for chair cushions and nothing, nothing was to my liking.
My dad is very talented and has made my family many furniture pieces, so even though I wanted to do this project myself, I asked him for more help. It ended up that my task was only picking out the colors and fabric while my Dad did the rest. My plan was to get it all done in one day but that’s not how my dad works and this is where I could feel the universe giving me the lesson of letting go and having patience! I was disappointed I couldn’t help out more. So, I accepted the lesson – if I wanted it to be beautiful I was willing to wait.
While my Dad worked on the chairs, I shopped for fabric for cushions, which I got at the first store at a great price!
My patience paid off and I am in awe of the how beautiful my new dining set is! I would never had put this together in my mind. I will admit I was annoyed that I didn’t do this several years ago and wonder why it took so long, but I need to be patient with my own creative energies. I’ve learned it’s not about doing it all by yourself and that there are people who want to help you, not compete with you. When I can sit back and allow people to contribute their own creative energies along with mine, I see that beautiful things can be made!
Here’s the kitchen table my dad made and the chairs we painted and added cushions.
And this is what I’ve been doing for my clients, helping them step out into their creative energies and putting away the perfectionism or competition in getting something done.
I share this story with you because I know you are reading this and it resonates with you, where are you holding your creative energies back? Are you aware that you’ve been doing this for a long time? Where is it impacting your finances, career, and relationships? Leave a comment below. I read and respond to each one.
Now go and let the creative juices flow!
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