Do you feel frustrated or guilty because you haven’t made time for your creativity? Have you been hustling to get your creative biz off the ground only to get burnt out? Unfortunately, many of us don’t realize that the creative process, just like our natural world, has seasons. Because of our hustle culture, we have been taught to override not only our body’s wisdom but also the wisdom of the creative process. The truth is creativity doesn’t always hustle. Some seasons involve results, but most of the process is about rest, exploration, and play. Once you understand the innate rituals of the creative process, you will find more flow, ease, natural motivation, fun, and yes, even productivity in each season.

Winter

Finding Inspiration

The dark season of winter is when new ideas begin. It starts with an inspiration. This new inspiration usually comes when we are in a contemplative or restful state. This is why an idea might spark for you when you’re in the shower. Your brain goes into a slower brainwave state that is conducive to new ideas coming in. Winter is meant for nurturing the seed of a creative idea and getting curious about it, for going deeper and exploring who you are and what wants to come through you next. Let go of your logical mind and let intuition guide you.

Think about your project as a seed. Winter is not a time to harvest. It’s a time to nurture and invites you to save your energy. Can you imagine if your seed decided to bloom during winter? It would be too weak to survive. It’s the same with your creative projects. Don’t get too eager to produce the end product before it’s time. Spend enough time germinating the seed (your creative project) so that it will be powerful, full, and juicy when it’s ready to be harvested.

It’s normal to feel unmotivated, confused, frustrated, or like nothing is ‘happening’ in your creative winter season. This is a clue that your intuition is asking you to go deeper. You will always want to grow and expand in your life and art, but this winter feeling shows that you aren’t satisfied with what you’ve been doing. I encourage you to nurture this seed through lots of exploration.

What wants to bloom next from you? What are you excited about?

Ways to Create Rituals in Winter:

Invite new ideas by getting into a flow state. That can look like reading or going on long walks. Let your mind wander and observe what’s around you.

Be open to inspiration. Slow down and observe by going to a museum or listening to new music. Carry something to jot down the inspiration that comes.

Do things that tap into your intuition, like free writing or intuitive drawing.

Spring

Let Go of Assumptions

Spring is exciting! It’s about hope of a new beginning. Now is the time to slowly come out of the nurturing winter season and into exploration. Be easeful about it. What ideas have you generated in your winter season of inspiration? Begin exploring inspiration with action. Take a chance to explore new materials and find new combinations of ideas. Stay open and go slow. You don’t want to miss the creative possibilities coming to you. Although learning new things can take a lot of cognitive brain power, try to keep the logical mind at bay during this season and tap into your intuition.

Anytime we begin something new, the inner critic (ie. our brain just trying to keep us safe) will tell us why we can’t do it. It will create thoughts like, “No one will buy that art because _____,” or tell us that, “You should do something more practical like ____.”

That spring sprout has to break through that tough winter seed. Hold fast to your intuition guiding you to break out of the old beliefs and create something new. Your creative expression is becoming a unique creation. Foster its growth by believing in it and nurturing it.

Ways to Create Rituals in Spring:

Explore based on your inspiration! Take a class to learn new skills or explore materials and ideas independently.

Write down the assumptions your brain is telling you about why you can’t create what you want to. Are those assumptions really true?

Find a role model who has done something similar and read about their history. What blocks came up for them, and how did they get past them?

Summer

Open Up to Possibilities

Summer is all about play and action! Your creation is taking shape, and you are beginning to see what it looks like in full bloom. Once you have explored and let go of old beliefs, you will be free to create from your uniqueness! So many possibilities are now available to you because you are motivated by what really lights you up.

Open up by connecting with creatives who are further along than you or hire a coach who can offer advice. What other forms can your art take? What unique place could your art be shown? If you don’t have gallery representation, can you rent a space and show it there? How can you get the word out about what you want to share?

Now is also the time to begin combing and editing all of your creative ideas. For the first time in the process, you can begin to bring in your logical mind to help! What combinations of ideas and products make the most sense to get your intention across? What is most meaningful to you? Narrowing down our options opens us up to more possibilities. This can look like reducing your materials or using specific materials to create a cohesive collection.

Ways to Create Rituals in Summer:

Create a unique group or mastermind where you share your work and get feedback.

Connect with a creative coach to open up to stronger possibilities.

Narrow down your work to focus on an outcome you really want.

Fall

Work It!

Fall is the time for producing. This is what we’ve been working so hard for. All the nurturing, exploration, play, and critique have led up to your final product. Take what you’ve imagined, nurtured, and refined and share it with the world. This can look like gifting your art or sharing it in a gallery space. You may want to sell the work to collectors or put it in a book.

When we get to this point, fear can kick in and keep us from finishing, sharing, or selling out work. Do you have a lot of projects half finished? Are you having trouble taking those big steps towards your creative future? If so, you may be stuck in the season of Summer, having fun exploring but not able to do the more difficult harvesting work of Fall. Fear, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, or procrastination can keep us from sharing the gift of our creative expression.

You may not want to share your work with the world—it could be for your own fulfillment. Though, I’ve found most creatives desire to share their expression. When harvesting, the farmer grows crops for their family or to sell. In the same way, your unique creative expression has the ability to feed the soul of other people when put into the world.

Ways to Create Rituals in the Fall:

What fears keep you from finishing or sharing your work? Do some inner work and talk to a friend or coach to move through these.

What steps is your intuition asking you to take in order to share your work? Take a small step toward that goal?

Be proud of bringing your unique creation into this world! Find a way to have a harvest celebration to reward yourself for all the work you’ve put into your goal.

Your creativity is a unique gift. It can be a big responsibility to take care of the seed of a project and grow it to its potential. But, seeing the creative process as a ritual that can take you through the seasons of this growth can help you to enjoy the process so much more. Stay in “Open Mode” and let go of expectations.

Esther Loopstra is a mixed media artist, writer, creative mentor, and speaker who helps conscious creatives build an art biz that aligns with their soul. She began her career as an illustrator before shifting her focus to fine art and has now taught art for over ten years at Kent State University and Cornish College of the Arts. She co-hosts the Flow into Authenticity podcast and offers one-on-one coaching sessions and specialized workshops around helping folks find their unique, authentic expression.

This article features her signature FLOW method of creativity. You can find out more about this method and her offerings by going to her website estherloopstra.com, Instagram: @estherloopstraart, FlowintoAuthenticity podcast or her YouTube channel.

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Ritual 11 | Digital

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Winter Issue 11

This season’s issue tells the story of local Seattle creatives Jennifer Hui, Alison Stigora, and Ash Haglund. With editorial articles by Sharina Black and David Benedict, Ritual Theme article by Sharina Black, and Creative Partner Featured Articles on Assembly Seattle and by local creative coach Esther Loopstra.

10% of this issue’s Zine sales goes directly back to the Featured Creatives within. Thank you for your support of Seattle’s ever growing creative community.