The Fertile Unknown

Creativity Engages Both the Intuitive Mind and the Rational Mind

Michelle James ©2023

NEW Workshop: Connecting with Your Creative Source

December 28, 2021 • 1:00-2:30 EST on Zoom
Register at http://www.creativeemergence.com/creativesource

 

Register Here Kick off a creative new start to your new year!   Hi all. I had a client ask me to do a workshop last weekend on Connecting with the Creative Source. It was such a joy, it inspired to offer a 90-minute version of it this month open to the public. I'll eventually turn this into a multi-session workshop but wanted to offer you a dive into it now as a way to start the new year off feeling more connected to this vibrant, generous, and unique part of yourself...and your full-on creative partner in your visions, goals, and whatever it is you feel called to create.   Over the past 20+ years I've centered my coaching around the Creative Source in our sessions as part of creating what's next - from ways of being and embodying to creating products, services, and workshops to whatever is calling to emerge. I would like to offer this part now to the public, and offering it a discounted introductory rate.    Once we have a trusting relationship with our creative source, we see options and choices we wouldn't have previously imagined; we see more openings when some doors close; we're more resilient in the face of adversity; we find inspiration and motivation more easily; and we can access creative flow states more often.   Working consciously with your inner creative source helps with: vision creating, problem solving, discerning, decision making, ideation, resolving seeming opposites, moving through resistances, expanding thinking and constructs, understanding others views...and feeling more alive, fertile, trusting, lightened up, and more empowered and confident in our own creativity, intuition, and sense of purpose. And, it's FUN!   Hope you can join us for this juicy dive into our creative selves on the 28th!    With love and hope, Michelle Register Here www.creativeemergence.com •  creativeemergencecoaching.com michelle@creativeemergence.com • 434-995-5077

Trusting Your Intuitive Voice for Deeper Creativity

 

We've been educated and socialized to perceive/think/create/act from the mainly rational mind - what we currently see, have been told by others, or consciously know. Yes, and...the intuitive mind allows us feel into, see into, and experience that which includes AND goes beyond what we currently know and have evidence for. It's essential for next-level visioning, imagining, creating, and building.

What if you took some space and time time to treat your intuition and creative imagination to some one-on-one attention? What if you indulge yourself in exploring with it?

 

It's always there, waiting to help you in your emergence. From every day decisions to clarity around your calling to creating in new ways, your intuition is a juicy part of of your Creative Self that is always on your side, working FOR you. We just have to learn how it shows up within us, and communicates to us, which is also unique to each of us. No one else knows exactly how your unique intuitive source voice talks, but if you take the time to listen, feel, and get to know it, you will find out.

 

PRACTICE INVITATION: Let yourself explore, experiment, and discover this amazing creative resource within you. Instead of using someone else’s technique (save them for another time), try seeing what emerges naturally in you. Let go of expectations of how it should show up, and see what really does show up. Pay attention while doing the practice as well in in other, unexpected moments. Like a flash of an insight or feeling or image seemingly put of nowhere.

Just intend it and be present to it…and see what you feel, notice, and what comes into your consciousness.

 

It's natural that other thoughts, voices, and fears may show up first in your consciousness...those are just the habitual thoughts, stories, and evaluations we all carry. Let them show up, but don't spend time engaging them for this exercise. Instead, stay open to the creative voice of your own intuitive source - impulses, feelings, words, images, shapes, colors, sounds, energies, insights, knowings, etc - however it show up for you. Be patient with yourself - this is not a one-time practice, but one that needs some practice.

Over time, you will learn its voice, and begin to trust it more than you trust anything else. Because it is always is for your aliveness and best interest. It's a great partner to trust. It is intimately connected to your unique creative flow, expression, emergence...and to what, why, and how you create.

Michelle James © 2021

FREE Somatic Expeditions virual event with 25 Somatic Practitioners - Oct. 6-10

I'm delighted to have been invited to be one of the guests in this Somatic Experience Event online. During this FREE five-day virtual event, I will join host Ahni Bonner and 24 others to delve into exciting and innovative applications centered in body-based awareness. The work is inspiring, purposeful, and fun and I’m excited to be part of it. Th world is changing, and more people are valuing and (re)connecting with their body's innate intelligence. What does that mean, and how does that look? Join this event to discover many ways people are embodying the answers those questions.

 

Somatic Expeditions is a series of conversations and practices with 25 somatic-awareness practitioners of various types. Journey through the body into expanded awareness to connect with what’s alive and create new possibilities! Connect to your body/mind for clarity that is vital, energizing, and transformative. October 6th-10th.

 

Click this link register for FREE:

Somatic Expeditions

Creating from Uncertainty: 11 Reminders

The more uncertain the outside world,
or my own  world, the more I attempt to
lean into certain ways of being and
working to help get me through. I'll
share some here as reminders, in case
they can be helpful to anyone
having a hard time with ongoing

uncertainty. Not all things work
for all people or situations, so take
whatever is useful and leave the rest.

1. Remain directed, present to your larger purpose (your own Why), even if it has to be expressed differently than it has been in the past. A strong Why is like a tree trunk - the center - and the branches are the various forms of its expression. Some will bear fruit.
2. Create from what's in front you right now, adapting as you go (like in an improv), allowing that you don't have all of the picture. When in doubt, do what is just in front of you, one step at a time until more clarity or information emerges.
3. Say ‘yes’ to, and act on, what feels most alive and vital day by day - and say ‘no’ to what does not - as you can - claiming your own healthy boundaries.
4. Pay attention to emerging patterns in your field, as well as outside of it, and adapt what you do to new information and advances as they emerge.
5. Accept the changes - constraints - that may not be so welcome, and don't spend a lot of time begrudging them. Instead, do what you can to create from within those constraints. Much novel creativity has emerged form unwelcome constraints.
6. Engage supportive people on or offline. Being able to share your creative ideas with a trusted friend or colleague reduces stress and enhances creativity. Having trusted people with whom to bounce ideas around can keep you going at times of self doubt. Or work with therapists, healers, coaches, bodyworkers, fitness trainers - whatever you need for your mental and physical well-being. You don't have to go it alone.
7. Practice the art of Reframing. Reframing how you perceive something, and how you hold it conceptually and energetically in your mind and body, can make a huge difference in how you move through it. I.e., Instead of seeing a constraint as a block, you can see it is an invitation to discover something new - that can reduce judgement and open new possibilities. Instead of seeing a situation as an either/or, you can hold it as a both/and - that can open new ways of engaging it. Instead of thinking there's the one right way or solution, you can assume there are multiple paths that work - and that can change how you approach it.
8. Use the time to get clarity about what you can get clear on and influence, and focus on working and designing more from there. It helps you feel more empowered when you have a sense of what you can influence in your world, and act on it.
9. Let the process be messy. Creativity is messy. Exploring and experimenting can be messy - ask any artist or scientist. Allowing time in the messiness of divergent space, indulging in the exploration time, can be a juicy time of discovery if you let it. Give yourself time and space to play with things that might not work out exactly as hoped, and play some more until you start to see new patterns emerging.
10. Create mini-aspirational stories to live into. It's helpful when we have a motivational story to aspire to. They serve as beacons to keep us in the direction of our passions, structured and expressed. In times of immense rapid change that story is likely to need edits. We can create smaller mini-stories, editing them in real time as we go to get more insights and ideas. Create the next chapter of your vision as you go, instead of going for the whole book.
11. Get in your body. I do this every day for my own sanity. Try adding body-centered practices that ground and energize you to your daily practices. When we are more fully in our bodies, and more flexible, we're more present and resourceful. For an abundance of ideas on that, check out the free online Somatic Expeditions event stating later this week - chock-ful of somatic practices to help you stay centered, vibrant, and creative in this wild world.

 

In times like these, I think in terms of “entry points” – what I know now and what is next. And then let that "next" inform the following "next." Emergence works uncertainty: we can know the direction, but not all of the details. They shift and change over time. The unexpected happens. Evolving technologies and social systems, and our own internal drives, inform and expand our vision along the way. There are ways of doing and being that can support that process to make it more live-able and generative for us.

 

The 11 ideas are what came to mind today as I wrote this. What other mindsets, reframes, and practices would be helpful to you? Start mindmapping them, or writing them out in your journal - whatever works for you - and see what else emerges.

 

Creative energy is the most transformative energy there is – it has the power to change all situations - history has shown us that. It's not always easy, but it is always possible. Your infinitely creative, resourceful Self has got this!

Michelle James©2021

Image credit: Dave Bayliss

NEW Creative Body Workshop! September 9th

NEW Creative Body Workshop on 9/9! 10-12 EST on Zoom.
https://www.creativeemergence.com/creativebody/

Many of us are sitting in Zoom calls, or at our desks, for much of the day. It can be energy draining, and we can lose touch with our creative flow. I take frequent "pattern breaks" to get in my body in energizing and enjoyable ways to be able to stay "on" with the work I do. When I take the time to move differently, it opens up my more of my creative energy, focus, and resourcefulness. I do body-centered practices every day to keep me present, engaged, and co-creating with my clients. It's been a life-saver for me doing all my work online these days, and I would love to share some of the practices for you to do yourselves or with those you coach or facilitate.

 

Your body is an amazing creative resource. It has it own creative intelligence. Using your body in ways aligned with this natural intelligence increases adaptability, creativity, and resilience. When you move and embody in new ways, new perspectives and thinking emerge. Breaking patterns of movement and opening to new ones create space for novel ideas and insights.

 

This highly interactive workshop integrates different interrelated body-centered modalities that work together toward a cohesive whole. The convergence of somatic philosophy and techniques with other creative practices help you experience a deepened awareness of, and connection to, your body intelligence and unique creative expression. We explore and experience using our bodies to overcome blocks to creativity, create new visions and solve problems, feel more empowered, generate feelings of aliveness, hopefulness, and more ease of movement, and more.

For more information or to register, go to: https://www.creativeemergence.com/creativebody/

My New Etsy Art Shop is Live!

I uploaded some of my mandala art to Etsy! I will do an official launch in the fall, and still have more to frame and upload. I will eventually offer prints and paintings, but right now it has the original drawings on there.

www.etsy.com/shop/CreativeEmergenceArt

All of the mandalas on the site now are the originals. They are hand drawn with Prismacolor colored pencils and put onto round black wood frames. 10" wide, and 1/2" thick. They have both hooks and two-sided tape on back for easy hanging.

Cultivating Creative Energy Using Your Body

It is hard to generate creative flow when you
are in a contractive state. While contraction
is part of any creative birth process,
staying in that place too long becomes an energy block - it prevents the creative energy from flowing more freely. Divergence in creative process needs the open energy of expansion. When we are in expansion energy state, we think, act, perceive, respond, and create differently than when we are in a contractive (more closed) energy state.

So how do we get into a creative energy state when those around us may not be not there? There are infinite ways to engage our creativity, thankfully, but I’ll talk about a couple that involve the body. My next public online workshop is The Creative Body workshop, where we will explore many ways to engage the body creatively. We don’t need to wait for others to change our internal states - we can start anytime.

Creative Ways to Get the Creative Juices Flowing Using Your Body

Here are a couple of the many ways I play with moving energy based on my own ways of creating, and what I need that day. Try the ones that resonate for you. And definitely try modifying these in real time - as you are doing them - to get into Discovery to make your own. You may need tweaks to get them to resonate for you. We’re never limited to anyone else’s way of doing anything. :-)

Dancing the Creative Alive Energy in

Movement. Loosen up your body. Have fun in your body. Play with the non-habitual. When I start moving my body differently, my entire mood and energy shifts. I do this before every session I facilitate, and most days in some form. One way to do this is play upbeat songs you love and dance around the room as you breath our tension and old energy. I like to play songs that are silly and fun to uplift my mood, so I literally have a playlist list called “Goofy Playlist.” These are songs that help me not take myself or anything so seriously so they help me move to a different energy state. They are not necessarily songs I listen to on a daily basis - though sometimes I do that. I just know that that when I am having more fun in my body, I feel more alive, expansive, and it is easier for me to be present and creative.

Moving Non-habitually Break Patterns

I also like to move in non habitual ways - trying new moves every time I dance - to be in that “Improv” discovery state, which always feels move alive( not to mention scientists show that creating new moves creates new neural pathways in our brain). I literally do this every day. Whether I am dancing or just sitting at my desk, I play around with all kind of ways to move my body non-habitually (new for me), whih help me feel more alive, present, and awake (especially when on long Zoom days) The key is to play with it, judgement free - let it be off-the-wall and nonsensical to you. It’s abbot breaking patterns in your body movements to help break patterns in your thinking. Do what you can form where you are. If you have some physical limitations, just start small with whatever you can move. (I am not a medical practitioner so please don’t do anything against the advice of one).

Letting the Energy Move your Body - Following and Inhabiting the Energy

The mind is an amazing resource. Even if we don’t feel something at a given time, we can shift our state by putting attention on it and calling it in. Intention leads to attention. Energy follows attention. So if we intend to feel an energy, we can call it in an engage with it, we can actually start to feel it move through us. This one may takes a few times to get used to because, like with meditation, it takes time sometimes to feel the energy, and woks best when we are not distracted. Some people can access this immediately, others practice to get the energies flowing. But if you do practice it, you will be able to state-change by calling in an energy.

For example, if you intend to feel more aliveness energy, you can call it in, and start bringing your sense to it. Ask, “What does aliveness look like? (You can draw it in the abstract or just imagine it) What does it sound like? What does feel like? What does it move like? And start moving form it. As you do it, you may hear the inner voices of judgement (about yourself or about the activity itself), but keep going. Let them be there, but keep bringing your attention to the energy and the full-on experience of it as best you can. Sometimes it takes a few times before you feel anything - other times you feel it right away. The invitation is to try it…to play with it until you feel it and embody the state change.

Create a Judgment-free Zone

Remember to suspend all judgement as you play with these. Be kind to the part of you that forgot what is was like to move and play freely in your body. And to go beyond my descriptions into discovering your own “yes-ands” to this as you go. When we allow our bodies to explore without judging them, they can take us to creative places and more vibrancy. Feel free to email me and let me know what you discover.

–––––––
We’ll do a deeper dive into these and many other ways of engaging your body to bringing in more creativity, aliveness, presence, and flow in my next Creative Body Workshop on September 9.  There we'll do a deeper exploratory dive into Somatic Intelligence and it's connection creative thinking, being, and moving...and using your body as a creative resource.  If you are interested to learn more, click here or contact me directly.

Michelle James ©2021

Using the Moment for Creative Insights

When we stay present In the moment, time
expands.  When we fill the moment by talking only about what we already know, or about what others have said, we bury the dynamic, creative aliveness of the moment with history. We have been socialized to fill the moment with history (what we've learned, what others have said said, what are accepted assumptions) - going out of time - instead of staying in time, where creativity emerges and flourishes.

The more we cultivate presence, the more we deepen our relationship with the moment, the more it provides - insights, ideas, creativity, solutions, aha's, guidance, peace of mind, an expanded framework, etc. I've learned this over the years through improv theater, meditation, being in nature, expressive arts, contemplation, etc. that when I engage in these practices, I live more connected to the moment and feel more access to creativity, meaning and motivation. When I get caught up in the daily grind without consciously giving myself the space to pause and engage presence, I lose that connection and feel the loss. Luckily, the moment is forgiving, and always here.

It's about clearing out the mental clutter so we can be present to what wants to emerge from our creative unconscious. Our creative unconscious always has more information and possibilities than anything we consciously know. The moment offers us more options, choices, and possibilities when we become fully open and present to it. It contains next-level possibilities that we don't always see from our habitual thinking lens. It's what allows something to seemingly emerge out of nothing. Presencing to the moment is a bridge to our creative unconscious that contains next-level answers, visions, and directions.

CREATIVE PRESENCE PRACTICE: Take a pause to breathe out anything that is on your mind (plans, worries, fears, to-do's, concerns - knowing you can come back to them after the practice) and breathe in the current moment. Really feel the moment expand as you breathe it in. Then bring your intention - whatever it is you want to envision, create, or solve (project, workshop, product, idea-generation, solution, situation, etc.), and be with it, expanding the feeling of the moment...and being present to what emerges. Like with any meditation or creative practice, it may take a few times before you get the clarity, but it will deliver if you stay present to it. Have paper on hand to write out or draw what emerges into your consciousness, so you don't lose the insight.

 

Michelle James ©2020

Valuing Intuition in the Creative Process

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift
and the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created a society that honors
the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

― Albert Einstein

We've been generally educated and socialized to see reality/create/act from only the rational mind - from only what we currently see or consciuosly know (and it times of challenge, when people contract, that becomes louder). But the intuitive mind allows us feel into/see into/have knowings into that which goes beyond what we currently know, have evidence for, or can be proven - in our own lives and in society.

 

The intuitive mind allows us to leave the confines of "space-time" and go into the world of our yet-untapped possibilities - our emerging-future selves - and bring the knowledge it carries back into the present. It allows us to access more and varied ways of knowing and imagining - from much more deeply in our creative unconscious - and it bypasses the conscious editor, who carries a lot of limited stories and assumptions about who we are, who others are, why we are here, what's ours to do, etc.

The intuitive "right brain" information we get is direct and immediate, and sometimes abstract (colors, feelings, shapes, a-has, awareness', knowings, glimpses, words, energies, sounds, surprising connections, etc) - and it's the job of that rational mind to unpack it - to mine its riches - for next-level information...and often transformation. The rational mind is supposed to carry out the insights of the intuitive mind, not block it, keep it down, discredit it, and treat is as "woo-woo" like is done on most of our current systems.

So if you get an idea or intuitive feeling out of "space-time" (something that does not fit into your current knowledge or information system, or may not make complete sense to your current self), don't be quick to discard it just because it's unfamiliar, incomplete, or disjointed. Honor it, and bring the rational mind on board to explore and engage it, and see what it has to tell you.

Creative Emergence is all about that future what's next showing itself into the present...where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and can not be predicted by what the rational mind knows alone, since there is no existing evidence yet for what the emerging future carries - outside of the hints from the intuitive mind. And connect them with the rational mind. That's the "Both-And" sweet spot of next-level creative thinking and being...and the sweet spot of cultivating our sacred calling in the world. For that, intuition is the sacred gift indeed. When we value it, we can experience the creatively unique ways it wants to engage with us.

Michelle James ©2020

Creativity for Staying Grounded in Uncertainty and the Unknown

In times of huge unknowns, with much we have no control over, one of the things that lightens the intensity is creatively focusing on the things we CAN control...like getting out in nature, creative arts and crafts, drawing, painting, moving our bodies to music we like, watching funny videos or comedy specials, meditating, journaling, cooking, playing games, online improv, designing business offerings, or anything we like doing that we're able to do that lightens us up. That will be different for everyone, but we do have agency and at least some things we can choose into and control in the midst of uncertainty.

While that may not change what's happening outside of us in the world, it can help shift our energy and internal state to feel more solid, grounded and centered within it, especially in periods of long-time unknowns. Instead of just waiting for the unknown to pass, we can use it to focusing on what we CAN control and create that is alive for us helps to better be with the things we can't control, or being with long time unknowns. We can change our energy and our way of being with it.

 

Michelle James ©2020

How to Think Creatively

Someone sent me this interview Massage
magazine did with me in 2016 on How to
Think Creatively. I hadn't posted it before
since it used only be available to
subscribers of their magazine, but is now public.

The full article is here: https://bit.ly/3o1yX7w

Main Ideas:

“We’re all born creative—it’s at the very core of who we are,” said Michelle James, CEO of the The Center for Creative Emergence. “We have been socialized and educated out of our natural creativity, so we tend to forget that.”

James, who serves as a creativity coach and catalyst for her clients, believes it is crucial for people to reconnect with their innate creative source, in order to live with greater balance and joy.

“The more access we have to our creativity, the more connections we make, the more opportunities we have,” she said. “At every level, working with creativity leads to a happier, more productive, thriving life.”

You Are Creative

According to creativity coach Marianne Mullen, one of the main blocks to living the creative life is a belief that only people with certain skills or special talents can be creative. Usually, this belief stems from a narrow definition of what it means to be creative.

“When you hear people say, ‘I’m not creative,’ they have been conditioned to limit their idea of creativity to something in the visual arts, such as painting or sculpting,” Mullen said. “Creativity and its expression are deeply personal—you need to define it for yourself.”

Beyond Polarities

Getting to know your existing mental landscape should help determine new directions for your thoughts, as you begin to cultivate creative thinking. Consider this process an inner exploration, where there is no right or wrong, only curiosity, observation and discovery.

“Part of not thinking creatively is the need for certainty, the need for certain outcomes,” James said. “To think habitually is to not explore, to not take any risks.

“To think creatively means you try on new ways of thinking and you modify as you go,” she continued. “It means you’re an explorer.”

Watch for Patterns

Remember to maintain that mindset of discovery, and avoid any pull you might feel to label unfamiliar thoughts as incorrect or unacceptable, simply because they’re new and different. The tendency to judge what we think as either right or wrong can cease creative thinking all too quickly.

“One of the blocks to creativity is what I call binary thinking—right and wrong, good and bad, pass and fail, black and white,” James said. “Most creative thinkers are comfortable thinking in shades of gray, which allows more to exist within them, even those thoughts that may seem contradictory.”

James calls this “paradoxical thinking” and she considers it central to the process of creative thought. Being able to hold the tension of two opposites—instead of dismissing one because it appears to conflict with the other—can allow for a third, more encompassing option.

“On one level, you might be holding two pieces of information that seem opposed to each other; for example, you need to make a living and you want to be creative,” James said. “Instead of thinking I have to choose X or Y, money or creative expression, acknowledge that it’s important to you to have both, and then assume that it’s possible.

“Creative thinking assumes there’s a third option that will allow both X and Y to exist—you just don’t know about it yet,” she continued. “Instead of choosing one or the other, look at how you might integrate the two, and allow yourself to explore that.”

As you go through the discovery process, nurturing new and creative thoughts, Mullen warns to watch out for your own inner resistance, which may stem from old thought patterns you’re looking to release.

“This would include feelings based on comparisons with others, judgments and that little voice telling you negative messages,” she said. “In order to break out from negative thinking patterns that do not support your creativity, you need to be conscious of what you say to yourself.”

On guard against any unnecessary resistance and equipped with a growing awareness of your own thoughts, you can begin to build and flex your creative muscles on a regular basis.

Dedicate Time

It may seem like one of those paradoxes, but developing a more creative mental landscape actually calls for a certain amount of structure and discipline, especially at the start. If you are committed to opening your mind to more creative ways of thinking, then consider setting aside time for creative practice.

“When you’re first beginning to cultivate your creativity, it needs time and space,” James said. “Schedule it in, and do it in a way that works for you—think of it as your creative practice time.”

For example, you might decide to devote 10 minutes each day to a different form of creative expression, from writing in a journal or drawing a picture to telling a story out loud or moving while you think.

“Make this a time when you explore creative ideas, feelings and beliefs,” Mullen said. “The point is, you are mindfully choosing to give your creativity time and space to play, explore, develop, grow and unfold.”

Question Assumptions

One powerful activity you can bring to this creative practice time is consciously questioning your own assumptions. Using various methods of creative expression, such as dance, writing, acting or painting, explore the beliefs that define your life.

“Assumptions run the gamut, from what success means and what my relationship is supposed to look like to what’s expected of me in the world and what it means to be happy,” James said. “Often, you find that something you accepted as a given actually came from someone else, whether it was parents, teachers or society—you discover it was learned, and once you discover that, you’re more free to shift your perspective.

“You can choose to keep the beliefs that resonate with you, and let go of the ones that are no longer working,” she added. “Then, you can bring in new beliefs that are more alive for you.”

Break Patterns

Another assignment to try during the time you set aside for creative expression is called pattern breaking. By doing tasks in ways you’ve never done them before, you may find that more creative thoughts begin to emerge.

“One way to do this is very simple: Write on unlined paper and use colors, because the right brain thinks in colors and images,” James said. “You’re even breaking patterns with the paper you’re writing on—with all my clients, we’re always writing on unlined paper.”

This creative act of pattern breaking can take place in so many ways. Turn on music you might not normally listen to and allow your body to move and dance freely, breaking your well-worn patterns of movement. Grab a sheet of paper and draw out, rather than dwell on, an issue that’s been bothering you.

“When you engage the brain in different ways, you have a chance at different insights,” James said. “When you begin to break patterns, you create new neural pathways and increase the connections in your brain.

“New connections allow more ideas, more aha moments, to emerge,” she added. “Again, when you begin to break patterns and think differently and non-habitually, remember to get comfortable with shades of gray, and let go of right or wrong.”

The goal of your creative practice time should be to try on as many different forms of creative expression as possible, using each method of expression to explore your own thoughts, assumptions, beliefs and patterns, as well as any pressing issue. If you stick to it, you should discover which kinds of creativity work best for you, or how you define creativity.

“Eventually, you’ll begin to find what feels really alive for you,” James said. “Don’t be limited by anyone else’s definition of creativity—what’s really alive for one person might not be for another.”

Article by Brandi Schlossberg, full-time journalist and part-time writer for MASSAGE Magazine

2 FREE Juicy Creative Aspirational Online Events in September!

Creativity, Frameworks, and New Possibilities: Two FREE Online Aspirational Events this Month Exploring a Generative "What's Next"

I'm delighted to be one of the speakers in both these online events focused on a more hopeful, positive, creative future! With the world as it is, we can all use some inspiration, hope, support, and aspirational explorations and visions of what can be possible - along with applicable practices you can start right away. We all contain the seeds of creative change we've been looking for to birth healthier new foundations...and we all need each other.   The Magnificent New Normal Speaker Series September 14 - October 24   How do we want to respond to the calling of our collective future? This series is an exploration in making generative, impactful choices for yourself and others.   With one interview/day for 40 days, this series offers daily infusions of hope, wisdom & opportunity to inspire transformation and propel civilization forward in this new, emerging reality. Forced out of familiar patterns, we have the chance to make creative new choices for moving forward. This series engages creative visions, principles, and hand-on practices for a generative, creative, hopeful post-pandemic civilization.   A diverse array of other speakers include Dr. Bruce Lipton, Matthew Fox, Lynne McTaggert, the singer Jewel, Lynne Twist, Alberto Villodo and many others, each coming from a different lens and framework. Magnificent New Normal FREE Registration     Creativity and Culture Online Conference September 19   This conference is designed to provide a creative space for stimulating conversations between academics, educators and entrepreneurs with a deep interest in developing a creative economy, and more creative, generative, prosperous future. This year's themes are Presence, Emergence and Impact.   Following the conference, there will be an opportunity to remain in contact with the speakers and other conference attendees through monthly online follow up sessions to continue creative conversations which may lead to collaborative projects and creative business opportunities.   An international group of other speakers include Frijof Capra, Terry Tillman, Talmud Bah, Susan Sharp, Paul Z Jackson, Siddarth Agarwal, and Linda Naiman among many others. Creative Culture FREE Registration

When You Facilitate Creative Process for a Group...and get Mixed Feedback

Anyone who takes creative risks as a facilitator
of creative process can relate to getting mixed feedback (not all glowing) at some points. It's part of the process of  experimenting with new things. A few thoughts on being with the places where reality did not match your hopes when facilitating:

1. It is part of the territory when bringing non-conventional - in the business sense - work to business world. People's resistance can some up if they have deep rooted pain in the past about play, dance, drawing, etc, and they may not know it is their defense mechanism to distance themselves form the original story within them. So they contract. Most of the time, there are ways to design to make it psychologically safe to move people through this, but not always for everyone.

2. You can see it as in iteration in your discovery process. You can and choose which feedback feels useful - that which you can legitimately learn from - and which to let go of. I found it useful to use feedback as an "offer" or gift to help me re-frame for the next time I do it - sometimes refining what I do, and sometimes refining how I word it, so I am clear on setting realistic expectations next time, based on the feedback. And sometimes I just accept it may not have not the best learning activity for that person or group and totally revise.

3. You are still in exploration mode, and as you go, you can refine your target audience as you start to notice the patterns of those who really gravitate to it. None of us are designed to meet the needs of all of us. Once you can accept that you - your style, personality, way of working, etc. - are not for everyone, it frees you to be more your unique self, and then attract those who appreciate your unique style and offerings.

4. Go back to those people who already are for you, and ask them if there was anything else that would have made it even better. People who are enthusiastic about your work are awesome at giving ideas for making git even better without the sting of the nay-sayers. They love to contribute in a generative way. You can even ask them if they felt there is anything you would add or change to the description.

5. If everything you do always works for everyone, with no resistance to anything, chances are they are not challenging the participants enough for a transformative experience. Most groups trying something new follow the bell curve - on one end those that easily drink it in, on the other, those that don't get or resist it, and in the "majority" are those who may bump up against, but move through, their edges. That's the Dynamic Tension of the creative process. Allowing people to have their real experience, not the one you hope they will have, is always a good thing for them...and trust they can integrate in ways you may not even imagine.

6. Finally, be gentle with yourself in the places your expectations for a group does not match the reality of what unfolds. That's part of the creative discovery process when trying new things. The fact you are "in the arena" trying new things, and not on the sidelines just playing it safe, allows you to learn and grow as you go...with awesome rewards!

Michelle James ©2020

The Creative Unknown: Turning Uncertainty into Discovery

Because it is central to my work, I’m constantly learning and reminded - and in awe of - how what we see as a ”miracle" on one level (i.e., fulfilled intentions in the most unexpected, completely unpredictable ways) is just about partnering the with unknown-yet-to-emerge as a generative, creative resource and letting that be our guide.

I experience it not as "blind faith" in the process but rather faith-from-experience in the natural order of how things are created and emerge...and letting go of outdated, socialized assumptions and ways of being that no longer serve. I'm always looking to more fully inhabit and embody the "emergence lens" (which can be a struggle at times as I bump up against my own inner assumptions that need to be transformed).

But one thing is for sure…is that you can’t discover what you already know - to stay in the discovery process means allowing yourself the spaciousness of being in the unknown. Right now, we are all in a huge unknown. We have a choice to use that for discovery. It is the nature of how things emerge that when you bring intention, heart, and purpose into the unknown, you make discoveries that are often surprising, and always life-giving.

One of the tenets of the creative emergence process is turning uncertainty into discovery. It means you don’t fill up the unknown with something familiar - or avoiding it, relying on others ideas, or numbing it - for security, but allow yourself space and time to discover what is calling to emerge from within your own creative yourself. And something is always calling to emerge if we are present…and listening. Sometimes that means using various whole-brain cultivation “tools” to access it - from drawing it to to journaling it to acting it out in the body and so much more! There are infinite ways to harvest the “fertile unknown” (I’ve seen literally thousands of variations over the past 25 years working with my clients). Different ways work for different people - because we each have out own unique creative style and language.

A place to start is just accepting that you are at the edge of what you know, and you are open to discovering what is there. Just that will start to reduce the fear of the unknown into something you do have choice over - which is engaging your discovery process. Then, stay open to impulses, insights, awareness, and dreams (they contain subconscious information that our conscious minds often do not see) that come to you. Instead of brushing something supposing off, start to connect with it in whatever way speaks to you…through images, words, energy, feelings, etc. - and you’ll deepen the insights.

Discovery turns the unknown for a dark, scary place into a rich, fertile landscape you get to explore. And with enough exploration, something new, clear, and life-giving will eventually emerge. Security comes not from being certain, or in control (which is impossible in volatile times), but from learning to experience the unknown as a creative ally - something that is generous, creative, and there for you. That "bond" strengthens over time as you practice navigating it.

If you’d like additional support in this process, or have questions on how to get started, contact me anytime for a FREE 30-minute discovery session.

Michelle James ©2020

NEW Program! Creating with Purpose: New Foundations for Creating and Producing What's Next in an Uncertain World

9-week Immersion Program! 

CREATING WITH PURPOSE:
New Foundations for

Creating and Producing
What's Next in an

Uncertain World Using

Whole-Brain,
Whole-Self Creativity

9-Week Immersion Deep-dive into Creating from the Inside-Out With Meaning, Purpose, and Heart for Tangible, Applicable Outcomes to Meet the Needs of Today's World - and Your Own!

Discover, Design, and Develop What’s Next in Your Work or Life 

Where Purpose, Creativity, Your Uniqueness, and Tangible Outcomes Meet

People with a strong sense of purpose find opportunities others miss. The internal sense of purpose and meaning anchors and grounds us to better weather the external storms. When we discover and feel connected to what is ours to do - what we are uniquely designed to offer - it acts like a compass in a volatile storm or uncertain fog. It then becomes not certainty that gives us security, but meaning. In these times, many people are feeling called to take positive action. This program focuses on strengthening your inner compass, being intentionally directed, and producing something tangible from it (even if you have no idea what that will be when we start).

New Foundations: Using Transformational Creative Principles, Frameworks, and Practices

In this workshop, we will explore and experience some of the foundations - constructs, frameworks, ways of being, and principles - that establish the conditions for purposeful creativity to emerge. We'll use creative whole-brain, whole-being-engagement approaches, and actualize our unique Inner Creator, to craft and carry out what we're called to create and contribute. This is not about just knowing it cognitively, but embodying the ways of thinking and being to draw it out into the world.

 

Use the Creative Resources within you to Create New Directions,
Offerings, Projects, Products, Services, Workshops, Programs,
or Thought Leadership in your Work, Cause, or Mission

Who is this for?

Entrepreneurs, leaders, educators, coaches, consultants, change-makers, healers, creators, pioneers, social transformers, and anyone who wants to contribute and create a more life-giving what's next for themselves and others. This is an intensive immersion program. It is for those who are truly committed to themselves and their process, and to showing up for each other in a safe, supportive space.

 

Why?

•  You want to purposefully create what's next in your work/mission
•  You were clear before, but now feel a little like a deer in the headlights
•  You have a sense about what you'd like to do, but need it further fleshed out

•  You want to do something that matters to you and serves others

•  You know what you want to do, but feel inner "blocks" or fears around it
•  You want to develop your signature process and offerings
•  You have a sense of purpose, but not sure how to move forward with it
•  You want to carry out your work/mission in a way that fits who YOU are

•  You want to bring more of your hopeful energy amidst the chaos
•  You want to actualize your unique creativity in your work/calling/mission
•  You want to find a peaceful inner creative sanctuary within you
•  You want to move beyond self-imposed limitations about what’s possible
•  You're seeking what is yours to do here, now, and in what's next
•  You want to move forward authentically and with confidence
•  You want to cultivate and apply your gifts, skills, talents and experiences toward something purposeful

How? The Exploration and Experience

It's so important to take care of and ground yourself - taking "your own oxygen" as you discover your ways to support and contribute to others to come from a centered place. This deep-dive program focuses on both your inner landscape (being) and your external expression (doing). It contains a balance of left and right brain activities, crafting and emerging, thinking and being, reflection and action, and structure and flow, and mind/body/heart/soul creativity. We’ll use the Creative Emergence Process with an integration of storytelling, improv, the arts, imagination, movement, body-centered practices, reflection tools, ritual, depth psychology/archetypes/mythology, systems thinking, and structured creative solution finding approaches. By working on releasing what no longer serves, creating new foundations, and expanding what is most generative, the external expression of our work changes.

Leave with:

The next evolution of your work or personal project, approach, product, service, process, offering, program, concept, or model; a sense of purposefulness and meaningful contribution; a self-designed structure for applying your unique gifts, skills, experiences and talents toward something that inspires you; and practices to use beyond the workshop setting to stay in your creative flow.

 

Includes:

• Five 3-hour virtual interactive workshops with the group, each building on the one before.
  (there are super engaging, creative, and interactive - not lecture format - we will take 2 short breaks)
• One 90-minute personal Creative Emergence coaching session
• A course materials and resources list (for various creative projects we'll do)

• Engaging whole-brain and somatic assignments and practices to do in between workshops
• Ongoing support throughout the program

• Bonus 2-hour Follow-up Integration Session

Schedule

When: 5 Fridays, over the course of 9 weeks – 1:00pm to 4:00pm EDT (10:00-1:00 PST). 8/28, 9/11, 10/2, 10/16, 10/30. Individual coaching sessions will be done in the break between the 2nd and 3rd workshops  If you have to miss a workshop, we'll do a personal Zoom call to catch you up. Bonus 2-hour Follow-up Integration session 3 weeks after the course is completed to further integrate the learnings. 

For the Program Structure, Registration, and more information go to:

http://www.creativeemergence.com/creatingwithpurpose.html

We Need More than Thinking-Only to Create a More Life-Giving World

When we are in uncertainty, we often first seek to go to the familiar...which is often the  left-brain dominant way of analyzing and making sense of things. I see that all the time in my work. This poster speaks to "Yes Anding" that with additional ways of knowing, intuiting, experiencing, feeling, and being to be able to solve problems, heal, make sense, and create a more generative habitable world.

It is not about the exclusion of critical thinking and analysis, it is about the INCLUSION of other ways of processing as well. Valuing rational-only thinking over feeling, the creative unconscious, and intuition keeps people disconnected. What about rational-AND thinking? We need our whole selves in order to be in connection. We need compassion. We need our creative imaginations. We need space to connect with our inner voice. We're not just talking heads, and emotions have a place in business and life because they contain passion, inspiration, and heart. Much meaningful was created with emotion in times of hardship. This is a reminder in these times, for those who resonate, to value all of your various ways knowing, processing and solution-finding.

Michelle James ©2020

Creative Emergence Image Series - Taking Form

Been getting back into drawing and panting lately after 6 years. In revisiting, I found some prismacolor drawings I made many years ago that I never posted. This one come from an Emergence series...it's called "Taking Form." It's healing to be back into painting, and helps me get more clarity about what's calling to emerge at this time.

I use an inside-out painting process w my coaching clients to help them access their unique creative source to paint concepts and use for transformation as well. Painting or drawing is one way you access otherwise unconscious thoughts, creative blocks, hopes, aspirations, and inner guidance. It also offers a sanctuary to feel your Creative Self within a chaotic world. Breaking patterns leads to new insights and ideas.


Michelle James ©2020

Creativity for Re-enchantment, Reconnection & Purposeful Direction in Tough Times

"In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person
complaining of  being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions: When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?" ~ Gabrielle Roth

Good wisdom in this time when so many in the world are disheartened, dispirited, or depressed. Getting back to our Creative Self - dancing, singing, artwork, theater, improv, storytelling, writing, journaling, meditating, movement, reflecting, imagining, writing, visioning, creating in any form - helps us navigate a world disrupted (and even a world not so disrupted). Just more urgent now. It is not about waiting until AFTER the fear, pain, and chaos ends, but rather using the creative practices to help us MOVE THROUGH it...within ourselves and with each other.

It is an often overlooked part of what the world needs to transform. Among other things, the lack of whole-brain, whole-person embodied creating - and the life-generating  "enchantment" it brings - in our everyday lives and workplaces leads to feeling disheartened and dis-empowered. This is not the time to contract away from our Creative Source energy in the face of a dispirited world...instead, it is an essential time to learn to CREATE from and with your Creative Self - in whatever ways you are uniquely called - to help change your experience AND the experience of the world.

There is no one right way to engage, create, or produce. There are multiple potentials and possibilities of what can be generated. And all types of creative expression can feel good and be generative. But there IS a way, or set of ways, for you that is uniquely yours - that is more alive and purposeful than others - that is embedded in your soul's purpose. I have seen this without exception in 20+ years of creative emergence coaching purpose-centered, heart-centered, soulful entrepreneurs.

In exploring the possibilities by trying out different forms of expression, without judgement or needing it to be perfect, you can access the uniqueness of your Creative Self. it is a discovery process. Your unique inner garden of creative delights does not look like anyone else's - and when authentically seeded and cultivated, will produce your one-of-a-kind juicy fruit that is also nourishing for the world. The more in trouble the world is, the more new healthy creative foundations are needed - seeded by each of us. It's so significant now to discover what is ours to do to contribute to a more humane, just, life-giving world.

It's not always easy, and takes some time, attention, focus, integrity, and self-awareness. But that's the sweet spot...where your unique creative aliveness meets the needs of the world...as it is, where it is, to naturally create a more generative, alive, healthy what's next. We all need that now. This sweet spot, once cultivated, serves ourselves, others, and the whole. That's embedded in its nature. Don't give up. Your Creative Self awaits your engagement, and it offers a possibility for re-enchantment, re-connection, and purposeful direction - especially now.

Michelle James ©2020

Whole-Brain Creative Practice: Abstract to Concrete

Abstract to concrete. This is a painting I did on a large mirror a few years ago. The focus was goals for the new year. I first painted the painting (abstract “right brain”) then starting writing out the goals (concrete “left brain”) that came to me. The goals were different, expanded, and more alive after I did the painting than they had been before in my mind. And, ironically, more clear and realistic.

When you access the visual part of your brain, you access more intuitive information less inhibited by your conscious everyday assessing editor (we all have one). By going not the visual first, then the verbal, draw upon a different part of your brain and consciousness, and get more information about what you are seeking to understand or create.

PRACTICE: You can do it with anything. Just think about what you want to create or understand, get present and "hold the question" for a few minutes, then start painting. Then afterward, look at the painting and extract out information by talking out loud about what you see (even to yourself). In doing that, you are engaging more of your brain (left and right brains interaction), and that means greater access to information. What you get will be different - slightly or dramatically - than if you try it with sitting down with your everything thinking and doing it. Try it and see. First do it before the painting. Then see what else comes to you after the painting.

This is one of the whole brain practices I do with my coaching clients around their business and life aspirations...and entering the unknown to get information about the emerging known. the process can also work for moving out of fear, contraction, or feeling frozen, as many are feeling right now.

Michelle James ©2020

Taking Back our Creative Power

Taking back our creative power starts with owning the choices we make…not waiting for other people’s choices or situations to give us permission to move forward…and not using other people or situations as an excuse to not follow our own inner call. It means following our aliveness, not our fears - moving through the fears as they emerge…taking time to discover what’s ours to create…and then cultivating it over time, like a garden - watering what we want to grow, and weeding out what’s no longer healthy…using our time and energy toward what we want and feel called to create.

Now is always the right time to begin - from exactly who and where you are. Many people use their creative energy toward fixing a problem to get back to the static status quo…choosing what feels comfortable and known to what feels most alive and engaged the unknown. In creative emergence immersion, we focus on moving beyond our familiar static status quo to create our dynamic life-giving what’s next. It’s messier, and sometimes less comfortable, because it means bushwhacking through the jungle of our own unknown - our yet-to-be-cultivated creative territory. But it’s alive, and vibrant, and offers the unique creative life expression that only you can give.

In that, there are explorations to be had, insights and ideas to incubate, creativity to cultivate, priorities to align with, choices to make, and boundaries to set. Sometimes its easy, sometimes not. Sometimes its fun, sometimes not. At times there is natural resistance in the process. But it is alive, it is uniquely yours, it’s full-on engaging, and it serves the greater good in some way. That’s organically built in to holistically generative work.

Taking back our deeply sourced creative power is a choice we can make at any time without even knowing how to do it. The HOW unfolds over time as we engage the creative process. #creativecultivation #creativeemergencecoaching

Facilitating Creative Process: Preparing Yourself before the Workshop

Athletes warm up.Improv/theater/dance/performance groups warm up. Warm-ups clear your head and get you out of habitual thinking, bring you into the present - where you can access more novel thinking, be more responcive and adaptive, and get people more genuinely connected. The time spent warming up is made up exponentially by the effectiveness of the subsequent creative process you can facilitate, and increase the chances of something new and different emerging within you and your participants.

For those of us that facilitate creative process for others there is much we can do to shift our energy to be able to meet what emerges in that person or group with the presence and creative openness of Beginner Mind. Some people use inward-focused prep rituals like meditating, centering, breathing, creative visualization, intention setting, centering music to get centered and grounded. Others do more outward-focused prep rituals like dancing, moving non-habitually, wild music, vocal/ theater/improv type activities to get energized and expansive. (I like doing a bit of both - inward first, then outward). Playing around with different ones, familiar and unfamiliar, help us expand our own creativity as we support others in cultivating theirs. Our own energy makes a difference for those we facilitate.


Michelle James©2020

Beyond Problems with Creative Aliveness

At the core Creative Emergence is about Aliveness. It is about feeling alive, tapping into our creative selves to do and be what is most alive in us, and to use creativity to access that aliveness. When we are fully alive, we are all creative. When we feel blocked or stuck, we can use our creativity to generate more aliveness. Creativity and aliveness and interchangeable.

Rather than focus on problem solving with our minds, if we shift the focus to creating what is alive from our hearts, and the problem will shift because how we hold and see the problem will shift. When we put more energy into what is alive, then what is wrong has a chance to move. It may or may not be solved, but how we hold and see it can be different, and that opens us up to being with it differently than we have in our past.

©Michelle James 2019

 

The Transformative Power of Applied Improvisation

Improvisational theater changed my life. I truly believe it should be taught in every school - from elementary to higher education. The transformation I have experienced in my life and work, as well as seeing it with countless others over the years, is huge. It helped me reach a new level of freedom, comfort, and ease with facilitating (and navigating the resistance that emerges when introducing non-conventional creative approaches), and helped me changed my relationship with mistakes.

Instead of fearing mistakes - and sometimes freezing to act because that fear was so great - I learned to more often experience them as discoveries, iterations toward what will eventually work, and invitations to create something new. And I have seen powerful changes in groups - from government to for corporate to non-profit to arts-based - where they leave changed inside of themselves, and within their team interactions when they re-ignite the creative spirit already within and between them. Improvising and the tenants of improv (principles of engagement) are inherent in us - it's what was there before we got socialized, educated, judged, or traumatized out of our natural improvisational, yes-anding, exploratory natures and into pass-fail, right/wrong binary thinking. We actually have nature on our side when we improvise - and when we apply the improvisation principles and practices to our work.

Improv theater and Applied Improv (when the goal is not only performance but applications to other areas of life and work) gets us out of our evaluation-first minds and into the presence, spaciousness, and creativity (divergence) of the moment, where more options and choices open us (before we get into convergence). Because we're trained out of our playful exploratory natures, and the ways our workplaces are set up - away from the part of ourselves that trusts the unknown, likes discovery, feels free in not having everything planned out, and can hear and trust the inner voice - many of us have forgotten we are improvisational by nature...or we have limited it to only small siloed sections of our lives.

If you have a chance, give your Creative Self the gift of taking an improv class in your city. Not only is it fun (if at times uncomfortable for some at first), it can change how you move through the world. If you lead others, it can change the quality of creative output you get out of your teams. There is an Applied Improvisation Network facebook group if the topic of of interest - https://www.facebook.com/groups/appliedimprov - where there are a lot of generous people exchanging ideas and offering support.                                                                                                                                                                           

Michelle James ©2019

Applied Improv: Integration of the Contraries

Michelle James ©2019

New Ways of Being for Creative New Results

In the quest for new results, I think we have to go directly inward into new ways of being. My take - although not necessarily linear - I see it more as interdependent and interactive:

Not to mention being more whole in ourselves!

We have all heard the saying, "Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting new results" but it rarely addresses that in order to do new things, a new internal patterning or shift is required. In order to achieve an internal shift, we can engage in news ways of being (which allows new ways of thinking to naturally emerge). Creativity, improv, storytelling, the expressive arts, meditation, deep reflection, non-habitual movement, and any kind of pattern breaking techniques are great ways to begin to engage new ways of being. 

Michelle James ©2019

10 Core Assumptions for a Creative Workplace

Michelle James ©2019

If Work was Only More Whole Brain (song)

Michelle James @2019

Creative Mindsets at Work

Michelle James@2019

Facilitating Creative Process: Being with the Awkward Silence

Inevitably, when facilitating creative process;
introducing participants to a new activity, process
or framework; or asking them a question they
don't readily know the answer you get a
deer-in-the-headlights look, often accompanied
by a palpable silence.

This silence can feel awkward for facilitators. It did for me when I first started facilitating, and I used to do anything to fill it - re-explaining or over-explaining what I just said, asking them questions, asking for their questions, interjecting comments, or anything else to try to reduce the uncomfortableness in the room - theirs and mine. Until I got that this is part of the emergence process when introducing people to something new and unfamiliar for them. I learned over the years to love the pauses, and see them as fertile and alive, and an indication of creative up-leveling.

They are processing in the silence. They are taking it in. They are experiencing the dissonance and discomfort (for some) that comes with learning something new, making new connections, or taking a perceived  - or real - psychological risk within a group. They are thinking, reflecting, and being with whatever you just asked. It's new so not readily available to their conscious awareness. The more experience I got, the more inner work I did, and the more I learned about the brain and its natural meaning-making system, the more I came to love these palpable "pregnant" moments of potential, before something emerged.

Here are some reflections on holding the space and be with the silence while facilitating creative process:

1. Give them the time to take it in and be with it. Hold the space. If they ask questions for clarity of your instructions or your question, clarify. Then go back to holding the space without intervening or trying to fill it. Hold the space for someone to eventually say something, or start the process.

2. Hold the space with positive intention. Have faith in them and their creativity - even if they don't. If you hold the intention that they will absolutely be able to do come up with what they need, you impact the energy in the room differently - with an inner authority - than if you are filled with doubts about whether they can do or get it. Or if they'll like what you're doing. The facilitator is there to be the strong container-holder for the participants, not the other way around. If you hold it with peace and ease in your heart, they will feel it, and it will open them up and put them more at ease.

3. Let it take however long it really takes. (Not how long you think it should take.) Whether they feel ready, or just feel uncomfortable in the silence, someone will eventually start the process. Every time. Then others will follow. That is creative process, and the "group field" at work. Jumping in too soon breaks the dynamic tension that is often needed in the creative process for something new to emerge.

4. Do your inner work to hold space with your full presence. That might include your own pre-workshop rituals to get yourself centered, or energized, or whatever you need to be able to hold space with presence. Being present mean showing up as the facilitator full-on to whatever shows up in your session, and standing in that presence for the group as they navigate their doubts or fears.

5. Delight in and support whatever does finally emerge. If it needs re-direction, or modified instructions, do it then...but build on and support what is happening - that will bring out more from the group. They're already are infinitely creative - you're just helping them remember that, and part of that is giving them the space to pause as they generate from within.

Take what resonates and leave the rest. :-)

Michelle James ©2019
Image from: https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/22654108/deer-in-headlights

Look for more on this topic and others in my upcoming book, Pattern Breaks: A Facilitator's Guide for Cultivating Creativity