On a precipice...

Teetering on the creative edge.

Aug 27, 2023

Tonight I’m heading to the airport and off on another adventure… back to Mama Bali!

You may remember I spent quite a bit of time there in 2022 and absolutely feel in love with the place (which isn’t hard to do).

But this time around, I’ve got a week of dedicated space and time to work on my creative practice (that’s what I now choose to call my ‘business’), as well as almost two weeks with my bestie from New York (shout out to Strips!).

So today’s Creative Urge is dedicated to those moments we find ourselves on the precipice of change – toes on the edge of the valley, peering into the abyss, not knowing what’s coming next.

Saying NO to say YES

A few weeks ago I left my part-time day job (#ICYMI).

It wasn’t an easy decision to make, especially considering I believe wholeheartedly in their mission and the platform they’re crafting.

But it wasn’t mine.

I began feeling the most creative parts of myself close down to everything else I had previously been going after, and opening up to build someone else’s dream.

Side note, I’ll forever be in awe of startup founders… and because of that, I yearned to give THAT level of dedication, time and energy to my own creative work.

But by saying yes to that role, I was saying no to myself. Initially, I thought I could manage both, but as time went on, all it did was dilute my creativity and exhaust my spirit.

Obviously it’s not as simple as that, but for the sake of time (and attention span) I made the choice to go ALL IN on my dreams. It scared the absolute DAYLIGHT out of me, but I’ve been in this situation enough to know that that’s a good sign.

I consulted my hive mind of favourite people to sense-check whether or not I was just burnt out or being a baby – and the results came back as a resounding GO FOR IT.

I also took a beat to think about the best and worst case scenarios…

Worst case scenario: I fuck it up, lose money and have to get a job.
Best case scenario: It all works out and I keep going.

So I said yes: Yes to taking the risk, yes to prioritising my creativity and yes to the unknown.

LESSON: You don’t need to trust that it will all work out… but you do need to trust in your ability to be resourceful and figure it out as you go

I was chatting to a friend in the DMs the other day who reminded me of something profound.

She said she’s now so tapped into her intuition that she knows when she needs to hunker down and be still, and when she needs to go out and explore.

I used to know that SO intimately that it wasn’t even a second thought – when I needed to stay, I stayed, and when I needed to go, I sure did go!

I think the pandemic robbed us of our most valuable resource: INTUITION.

When you’re told you can’t follow your desire to wander and explore for so long, it gets suppressed. And what get’s suppressed gets pushed so far down that it can take years for it to be released.

So here we are.

And here I am, on the precipice of another adventure, after consistently sitting face to face with the darkest parts of myself for more than a year, ready to soak up new sights, sounds, tastes and ideas.

If you’re on the precipice too, here’s 5 things that might help…

Create a safety net: Whatever that looks like for you. It might be a person, a certain amount of money or even time. They say leap and the net will appear, but sometimes that’s too overwhelming. Create your own net and leap with certainty.
Accept that you can’t go back: We’re constantly evolving. What is ‘known’ to you now is not going to catapult you forward, it will only hold you back. But what is ‘unknown’ to you holds the key to unlocking your most creative work yet.
Walking your own path can be lonely: Separating from the tribe is scary, but if your intuition is nudging you in a different direction to those around you, honour it. Who knows who will follow you off the beaten track!
Be afraid – be very, very afraid: It’s total BS that you can get rid of fear entirely. It’s a powerful fuel that, once embraced, gives you access to superhuman levels of energy and confidence. So feel it, BE IT… and watch how it transforms you.
Movement is medicine: I always think about the human body right before I’m about to make a decision that I know will change the course of my life. What happens to the body when blood stops moving? It dies. Motion is like medicine, whether that’s a walk, a workout, travel or journaling.

Lastly, take YOUR time

Change isn’t easy and you’re not on anyone else’s clock.

Trust that you’ll know when you need to (or get someone else to) give that final push to get you moving.

There’s far, far more ahead of you dear one than lies behind you, so let’s lean into the unknown and tip over the precipice together!

Creatively yours,

Dr Maz xo

PS: I’m hosting another round of The Expression Sessions this Friday 1 September at 9:30am online via Zoom. It’s you, it’s me and 75 glorious minutes dedicated to starting a conversation with yourself. Learn more about it here.