The Art of Creative Surrender

Imagine a white canvas in front of you – and a vision in your mind of blues and greens and purples – so you begin to paint, carefully placing your brush on the canvas as you blend the colors – and suddenly, you knock a jar of brown paint onto your palette. What then?

Do you clean it up? Do you start again? Or do you wonder what the synchronicity of the spillage might be telling you? What wants to be noticed? What wants to be included?

When we allow ourselves to get attached to a specific outcome, we can rob ourselves of an opportunity to engage in miraculous creation – the kind that comes from creative surrender.

What happens when we let go – and just BE with our creative intentions without trying to control the outcome?

I’d like to gently move you toward an energy of creative surrender by sharing this poem by Reverend Safire Rose.

She Let Go

She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.
She let go of fear. She let go of the judgments.
She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.
She let go of the committee of indecision within her.
She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons. Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice. She didn’t read a book on how to let go.
She didn’t search the scriptures.
She just let go.

She let go of all of the memories that held her back.
She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.
She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.
She didn’t promise to let go.
She didn’t journal about it.
She didn’t write the projected date in her daytimer.
She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.
She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.
She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.
She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.
She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.
She didn’t call the prayer line.
She didn’t utter one word.
She just let go.

No one was around when it happened.
There was no applause or congratulations.
No one thanked her or praised her.
No one noticed a thing.
Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort. There was no struggle.
It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.
It was what it was, and it is just that.
In the space of letting go, she let it all be.
A small smile came over her face.
A light breeze blew through her.
And the sun and the moon shone forevermore.

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As you ponder the poem above, take some time to reflect on these questions.

• What could change for you – if you just let go?
• What big dream might actually be realized – if you just let go?
• What doors of opportunity might open – if you just let go?

Are you noticing any resistance in this space of letting go? If so, notice it and honor it – and ask curious questions about it. What is it trying to tell you?

Breathe deeply into creative surrender – and receive its wisdom.

And if you’d like the support of a creative wisdom guide – to help keep you on track and committed to your creative vision, consider joining me in my Creative Alchemy Studio – my version of a “creative think tank.”

Whatever project or vision you’ve been contemplating, bring it to our virtual creative studio – and let’s work together on moving it from concept to completion.