Why Use a Creativity Coach?

Ever wonder what underlies that creative block you just encountered? What do you do when you find yourself staring at the blank page again, the empty canvas or the silent instrument, after the third cup of coffee, wishing that you hadn’t really stopped smoking. Smoking would be so convenient now to take your mind off the deadline, self-imposed or not. Creative blocks or ruts, are all about the anxiety, that limiting, agitated feeling that nags and prevents relaxing into the narrative. It is the fear that you really are a fraud and don’t deserve to have an exhibition. Who would want to see your work anyway?

The professional creative knows that this anxiety is part of the process and, after years of practice, learns how to bob and weave around the resistance until it is time to go for the knockout. The knockout is never easy, no matter how many times the illusive opponent is out for the count. And then how about the newly creative soul, who encounters, for the first time, every last statement every teacher said about getting a real job; Or who has the haunting sensation that this is all a waste of time, this art making? How does one make meaning out of art making when you can’t quit criticizing yourself? How does one move past that block of resistance into the flow?

That’s where finding the right Creativity Coach comes in. We often cannot see the forest for the trees when it comes to our own issues, but someone trained in recognizing those anxieties and gently helping you work through them, is invaluable. Every great athlete has been coached through their limitations and fears, and supported in their dreams, so why not artists? From newly developing to professional, the same theoretical and practical creative issues need to be faced. Does being an artist presuppose that one must create alone to be authentic? Does the nature of art making in its lack of concrete, measurable goals, rule out fear of failure?

Creativity Coaches can help you in all phases of the art making process, from inception to product. They will advise you in skill building and time lining. They will mentor your search for the deeper piece of yourself that will transform your story or enable you to shoot from a different perspective. Most of all, they will enable you to acknowledge your adversities and fears and convert them into the creative energy that fuels your artistic process. They will be that teacher who cheers you into exquisite self-expression.

Where can you find this mentor? Just Google Creativity Coaching Association and you will find numerous certified coaches, who will help initiate the change necessary to move those stubborn artifacts of resistance to develop your best artistic self or uncover your artistic soul.