The Essence of You

I’ve been thinking lately about my creative process. I once had someone tell me, “You are a creative life force”, and I’ve only recently come to understand the meaning of those words. I have always compartmentalized creativity when in reality, creativity and your creative process make up the entire essence of you. Not something you “do” but something you “are”. This may seem like common knowledge or even cliche, but do most of us clearly know what our own unique creative process is? I’ve come to see that my creative process not only applies to how I arrange a bouquet or how I structure my business, but it applies to every aspect of my life. How I dress, how I decorate my home, how I nourish relationships, and how I organize and make sense of my unique human experience.

I would describe my creative process as organized messiness to begin with. Similar to laying out puzzle pieces on the table then slowly, and sometimes quickly, putting pieces together. The analogy is, yet again, somewhat cliche, and yet so perfectly describes the emotional journey. When designing a bouquet for a bride, sometimes the ingredients come together in such an airy way as to be effortless, and other times I’m holding so tightly that my hands are sweating and the design becomes full of so much tension that I need to release the entire thing, sleep on it, and come back to it in the morning.

Our unique process comes with different levels of risk tolerance too. I am comfortable to throw the card table up in the air while others will spend a lifetime avoiding such disruption, hellbent on perfection from the start. Perhaps that is related to our fears and insecurities or rebellious nature. Some play it safe while others tend towards recklessness. To truly understand your unique approach to life is to truly know yourself and to make peace with your process, knowing there is no right or wrong way. This takes failure (many of them) and triumph (you only need a few) to understand where your magic lies. Your unique magic lies in your unique process. There is no rule book for you and there is surely no right or wrong way to experience life.