Just showing up

“the more willing I was to hang out in the unknown and show up with a clean slate, an empty bucket, and a blank piece of paper, the more likely it was that something fresh and new would come through me and out into the world. ” Michael Neill

Remarkable to realise sometimes, but just turning up and being there can be the first battle. We really do need to make that commitment. If we aren’t even turning up then there is no way the opportunities will materialise.

A clean slate

So often, we want to be have everything worked out before we make the first big leap. We are uncertain or fearful about making ourselves vulnerable when we don’t have a clear idea of what something looks like and a full project plan worked out. It is often when we have so much still to work out that we create something really exciting. That is when there is more space for other people to truly contribute their part to the thing that we are building together. A clean slate can mean that we enter into something with a completely open mind, ready to listen to the ideas of others and build together. That is true collaboration, real co-creation.

The most amazing things come  about when we trust others to do their part to complete the project.

A blank piece of paper

Then, when we work alone, it is often the things that we create from nothing that are the most remarkable. It helps sometimes to have some external structure to get started, but some of the best pieces of writing I have produced have begun with absolutely nothing. Just turning up at the page and beginning to write (or type) is enough to show the mind that we trust the process of creativity. Thinking straight to the page this way can create material that we didn’t know was in us.