Avoid This Creativity Kryptonite

If you’ve been a parent for any length of time, you already know it takes loads of creativity.

It also takes loads of creativity to go after your big dreams whether that be to start your own business, help your kids on some big project (or homeschool or road-school them), travel the world (or whatever it is you love to do), and redefine family togetherness when we need to.

We have to think on our feet,

figure out how to calm a crying baby,

put dinner on the table,

help a struggling teenager,

and perform some algebra magic for the hundredth time - sometimes all in the same day.

That's why we have to avoid the creativity kryptonite that threatens to take away our mojo every single day.

Which reminds me of a little story. . .

A few weeks ago, I was supposed to be sending you the first-ever VIDEO togetherness tip (a goal of mine for a really long time) - and it was going to be SO inspiring.

I had a new camera.

I’d figured out how to work it (sort of).

I’d even overcome my fear of looking weird on the screen (also sort of), taken a class to help me get all the elements just right, and spent hours and hours practicing, testing, adjusting the lighting, recording, running into problems, and re-recording.

Then it happened - the perfect take. 

And another perfect take just for good measure. (You know, just in case something went wrong with the first one.)

I was so excited.

I shut down the camera, headed into the kitchen to help with dinner, and left myself a couple of hours to edit and publish after my shower.

When I started reviewing it, though, I realized my mistake - my microphone unexpectedly blipped out at the end of both of those perfect takes.

It was a wipeout - and there was no time to make a new one.

I’d spent all week and all of my togetherness tip writing creativity on this one video, and I couldn’t pull it off in time for our Friday morning email.

Total bummer.

As you can probably guess, I wasn’t a happy camper.

But there was no way to make it happen without giving myself a migraine, so I stopped trying, took a deep breath, admitted my defeat, threw a pillow or two across the room (or maybe a temper tantrum - who can remember?), and picked up a book to read instead.

When I came to these words, I laughed out loud:

”Here’s something you can never hear enough: We all wipe out.”

And there’s more:

”But here’s the key: a fall is never final unless you stay on the ground.”

All of a sudden, I knew I had something valuable to share with you.

I also knew I wasn’t alone.

We all mess up sometimes -
as friends,
as humans,
and certainly as parents.

But none of us has to stay there.

I could have kept this story to myself and given you one of the gazillion togetherness tips I have saved on my computer and just put the video out later and let you be surprised by it, but I have to believe someone really needs to hear this “we all wipe out” message today. (If it’s not you, maybe you know someone? Or maybe it’s one of your family members or kiddos?)

Our creativity can survive as long as we keep getting back up again and again.

The kryptonite comes when we decide it’s just too hard.

When we start comparing our efforts with those of others.

When we let the “I’m not good enough” and “This is never going to work” thoughts jump on us and hold us down.

When we start looking at our first efforts right alongside someone else’s 5th or 10th or 20th effort.

And I almost did that - I almost let the creativity kryptonite of comparison hold me back from putting my video out there.

Just like I almost let it hold me back from starting my own business,

publishing my first book,

creating my first online course,

or even starting the Togetherness Redefined platform at all.

Thankfully, I have quite a few mama friends who remind me how important it is to keep going - a lot.

We are rising again - trying again.

As many times as it takes.

On the big stuff and the small stuff, too.

We are not staying on the ground no matter what it is we’re trying.

The book where I found those two quotes above is called Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo. (If you’ve done a program with me, you know I love it so much.)

And yes, I did eventually put out that video - and it is pretty great if I do say so myself. (Watch it here - I hope you’ll agree.)

And I even found away to turn my wipeout into some encouragement for you. (I truly hope you remember this funny little togetherness tip the next time you hit a rough patch with whatever you’re working on right now, too - whether it’s as small as a video or minor parenting fail, or as big as a life change decision.)

So I would say, that’s a pretty successful way to avoid creativity kryptonite.

You and me, we won’t be staying on the ground.

We know we wipe out some times, but we also know the only ones getting stronger and going after their big family dreams are the ones getting back up again and again as many times as it takes.

That’s what we’re doing - getting back up again, leaning into our families again, and trying again - no matter what.

In parenting.

In life.

In everything we do.

Have you ever wiped out and learned the value of getting back up again? 

Come chat with me about it in the email group. Reading your responses makes my day.