Daughter of Zion, Trust Your Process
I am a visual person. If I can't picture it, I find it hard to implement it.
I have to first picture what I want to do in my mind and then brainstorm ways of doing it (steps) before actually doing it.
This sometimes leads to procrastination (most times), and to avoid this, I have begun adapting a more disciplined lifestyle by creating daily to-do lists and setting up calendar reminders to keep me focused on achieving a particular task.
Trying to first picture every aspect of a required task takes up a lot of time, but it allows me the opportunity to work through every aspect from conceptualization to execution. Once I am able to do that accurately, implementation comes quickly. This is my creative process.
However, there are some people who aren’t like that. They don’t take time to visualize or brainstorm tasks, they simply dive head first into it and figure everything out on the way. People like that will call people like me slow. It will be difficult to understand why one has to first mull over a piece of information before actually doing something about it. It could almost be mistaken for laziness.
Almost.
Because sometimes, your "slow pace" or inactive state doesn’t necessarily mean that you are lazy.
Unless you deliberately shirk off and shy away from work, just because you take time to execute projects, doesn’t mean you’re not working as hard as others who seem to be churning out masterpieces every other day. Your process just happens differently.
I’m going to use an example from two well known female writers, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Nnedi Okorafor to illustrate. This illustration is solely based on my interpretation and inference as an avid fan and follower of their work and not an authoritative description of their work process.
While Nnedi has over a dozen published books to her name (she recently announced publishing the 18th), CNA has about one quarter of that. Yet, both women are highly celebrated and distinguished literary icons.
This isn’t because of the number of books they have published but the quality of work they both have to their name. They are both writers, but in different genres and by extension with different approaches to the creative process. These women have understood their writing process and spend their time focused on it.
Nnedi writes africanfuturism and is able to churn out book after book because her creative process requires her to keep her mind constantly moving and building worlds.
CNA on the other hand spent years researching Half of a Yellow Sun and is a more contemporary, modern-day writer. They both write fiction but from two different perspectives and ultimately with two different approaches.
They are both phenomenal writers but with different creative processes which still eventually results in similar outcomes; an outstanding piece of literature.
If CNA looked at Nnedi and decided to ignore her creative process in order to publish a book in quick succession like Nnedi does, it probably wouldn’t be as good as if she had stuck to her personal process before publishing.
So Daughter of Zion, trust your process. You are on a unique path.
We are all humans, but born very different. Don't get carried away with the many things everyone else is doing and get pressured to release work that isn't ready.
Discover what your personal process is and use it to hone in on your craft, gift or skill. If you haven’t figured out what you are good at yet, don’t let the recent social media hype push you to start "creating content" for an audience.
Having a hobby is great because it keeps your mind active and busy (because idleness is really just a webinar invite to the devil), but don't get pressured into having to build a brand around your hobby.
If it is something you enjoy doing, it is good to share it with others.
Sharing about the things we enjoy doing helps inspire others to do more things they enjoy themselves.
But do not take ownership of becoming an influencer on it especially if you are not ready for the attendant responsibilities that come with having people look up to you on things outside of your area of influence.
For now, dear daughter, protect your space. Protect your mind space, protect your creative space and stay true to the unique path that has been set for you.
Everything good will come to you. Stay steadfast, do the work, be true to yourself and your process and it will come.
And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding open your heart to understand your purpose and remain steadfast to your process.
