Fighting the Control Freak in You? Get Creative with Her Instead!

Ever have one of those days that you think will go one way but the day has an entirely different plan for you? A day where although you’ve organized the watusi out of something, things still go wrong, you become overwhelmed, and you spin out of control? Well, I’ve had many a day like that! On those days, I pull this exercise out of my back pocket and I want to share it with you.

I call it, getting creative with my control monster and I invite you to try this right now AND pull it out of your back pocket the next time you feel like your inner control-a-holic rears its head.

Create. Create something, anything. Write a poem, draw a picture, design something digitally, write a song. Create. Just create. And immediately after creating it, destroy it. If it’s on your computer, delete it. If it’s a song, let go of the recording. If it’s on a piece of paper, burn it (safely!) Just let it go.

You might be thinking, “This lady can’t be serious! What’s the point if it’s just going to be destroyed?” Or, “Heck no, that’s my art!” But this is a practice that keeps the control monster in check by practicing the art of letting go.

Let me first say that I am a strong believer in control – in the sense of being prepared and organized. It’s the control monster that can be dangerous. The control monster is the side of us that tries to dictate how everything around us should be done and when things don’t go according to that plan, everything falls apart, including us. It’s our relationship with the need to control our environments that stifles us, overwhelms us and spins us off kilter.

So this exercise in creating something and then destroying it can help you in two ways:

1. Everyone knows practice makes perfect, so do this exercise often. You’ll be cultivating your self-awareness by actively participating in the process of letting go. Over time you’ll get better at it, and one day – on one of those days where everything is going wrong – you’ll just let it go and move gingerly along.

2. It’s also a way to let your creativity flourish. This exercise is a practice in process oriented thinking rather than goal oriented thinking. Now, I could go on and on about that for days, down beautiful tangents of language, perspective and collaboration, but that’s a topic for another day! Basically, by creating and letting it go, it reminds us that our creativity is boundless, there’s more where that came from and our creativity will never run out.

So here’s to you, for taking the time out of your busy schedule for a little self love, and to your control monster – for being a teacher and a creative inspiration.

Much Love,

Andrea

P.S. For a little more self love, take the time to watusi – cause dancing is another perfect way to practice letting go.