Some might wonder why I go so deep into emotional processing. The biggest reason was always to counter endless tendencies of avoidance. I saw (early on) that I could not get any creative work done if I was clogged up emotionally.
My goal with emotional processing wasn’t to dissolve all negative feelings forever—that’s unrealistic. Rather, my goal was to increase my creative output. There are many benefits to emotional processing. For instance, it allowed me to be more comfortable with uncomfortable emotions. It helped me to resolve long-standing anxiety issues. Things like this. But these things were never my main goal. My main goal had to do with creative output.
Creative Output
When we stop avoiding and actually sit down to work, we produce more. As simple as that. When we stop avoiding, we increase creative output because we’re showing up consistently.
It’s extremely hard to create when we are in emotional turmoil. I know there are some who might claim that emotional turmoil is fuel for art. This is only true if the turmoil is integrated. If it’s not integrated, we can stay stuck for years and not get anything done. We can’t create when we’re in turmoil. Emotional work comes first.
Many things that prevent us from producing creative works have their roots in negative emotions like fear or repressed anger. We avoid doing creative work because we avoid negative emotions.
So What’s the Solution?
It’s better to first integrate the turmoil before getting to the craft. This might not always be possible, but it is important to know that the process isn’t linear. Rather, it’s a sort of feedback loop that goes like this: when you find yourself calm and collected, create; when you find yourself stuck, do a meditation.
Meditation is just one option for emotional work—but it is a very effective one for this particular scenario because you can do it while sitting quietly at a desk.
Here’s a link to Tara Brach’s RAIN meditation. I used RAIN countless times while writing difficult scenes in Chasing the Sun. This post goes into that experience.
The Why Matters
Because emotional processing is so difficult, one needs a deeper aim, a deeper why. Mine was creativity. I’ve gone very deep into emotional processing, but at the centre of that was my love for writing and creativity.
The why matters. If we are motivated by getting away from something, then our resolve might be fickle. But if we are motivated by a love of craft or creativity, then we have an unshakable foundation.