Every Sunday members of Nina Hart’s Writing Playhouse gather up smack in the middle of the afternoon to devote one glorious hour to our writing. At the beginning of each month, she invites us writers to share any intentions we have for our writing lives for the weeks ahead, if we have intentions. June has asked me to use those Sunday hours to close writing pieces in the WIP (works in progress) pile. I’ve noticed that I’ve been holding back from ANY new intentional writing outside of my morning pages practice because I feel like I should only feed creative energy into what I’ve already started. Sometimes my loyalty gets me stuck.
Everything has a cycle, and all things must come to an end. This includes creative work. Letting go is a proper ending. “The End” is a proper ending. “Bye for now” is a proper ending. “I feel complete” is a proper ending (thanks, Alysa Escobar). Those open projects are consuming a supply of energy all the time simply because they are unfinished work.
Having piles of unfinished business is haunting. It fuels restlessness, and it divides my energy, leaks it even.
I’ve spent most of my life weighed down by the story that I am a person who has a hard time finishing things or seeing them through to the end. That story is on the table in front of me now inviting me to adopt a new story. What would it feel like to evaluate these projects and let go of those that have fulfilled their purpose and give attention to those that have more to say?
I have a stack. I’ll have a date with each one this week, and I will give it my full open undivided attention even if for only 2 minutes. I’ll ask what this project needs from me, and if it feels right, I’ll say a proper goodbye to those that ask for my permission to be laid to rest, and I’ll create a queue for the ones who have more to say. Sometimes a creative project gives me what I need in the moment, and my ego jumps in with grandiose ideas about what it could be even if that’s not what feels right. Some days/weeks/months I’m more inclined to listen for the truth than others.
Where is this landing for you today? What stories stir inside you about finishing? About the type of person you are if you don’t follow the prescription as it is written? How would it feel to revisit and re-evaluate your unfinished work? What if all it is asking you for is your permission to be done? Drop a line in the comments, send me a private email or book a curiosity call if it feels right.
I, too, am in the business of Unfinished Business, destined to be a ghost after I depart from this earthly vessel haunting all my incomplete creative ventures. This blog was exactly what I needed to hear in order for my troubled soul to find peace. Maybe the completed project isn’t the goal. Maybe it’s the play, maybe it’s the participation, maybe it’s the practice, the learning experience, the adventure of trying something new that I needed to take away from my creative endeavors.
This is definitely something I can relate to. Im guessing that “My perfectionist” problem plays a roll in it because if I want to do something and cant continue working on it til its finished, I have a problem starting it in the first place. However, there has been many things in my life I have started that never got finished and have somehow gotten lost in the chaos of the life I have lived so Ive had no choice but to say “Goodbye!” Fortunately, life isnt as crazy and chaotic as it used to be for me and I do still have a few unfinished projects. Some I can deal with giving myself permission to let go of or say Goodbye to but one imparticular project I started that I am bound to finish is a project I started for you a couple of years ago and will not be satisfied until it is in your possession. 😊