The Waiting Place from Dr. Seuss’ The Places You’ll Go
You may have noticed that there hasn’t been much on the blog over the last couple of weeks. At least, it’s my conceit that you’re wondering. You may not be wondering at all. Indulge me anyway.
If you know me, or you have read the blog post Are You Compelled to Create, you’ll know that I am the kind of artist & performer who suffers if he has a story that doesn’t come out. I’ve been buried, for the last couple of weeks, dealing with an especially difficult piece of work that is taking shape.
To be perfectly candid, there has been a fair amount of sitting on the couch, watching Battlestar Galactica and trying to find the strength to create this story that has been forming in my mind and heart for years. My soul knew it was time, but my mind wasn’t quite ready yet. I’ve been sitting in conflict and frustration. My wife has been sitting there with me (thanks, honey).
I had been feeling especially guilty about my stuck-ness. I have to give Laura Simms some props for the pep talk she gave me.
I have been lucky enough to find Lynn & Lawrence at Portland Story Theater to help me with this process. I have done a couple of short shows with them in the past and now we are teaming up together to develop a longer show. You can see a much shorter, older, version here in this video:
My Unique Ability
One of my good friends and mentors, Jason Van Orden, turned me on to a book called Unique Ability some time ago. It’s all about understanding yourself enough that you know what you are good at, and then structuring your life so that you spend the majority of the time on what you are good at, what excites you. I hadn’t taken it very seriously, but over the last few weeks as I have been going through this internal process of getting my story together, I have taken a more serious look at the book, and have begun an in-depth study.
I share this for those of you who are stuck. Those of you who can’t figure out what you want to do, who you want to be, or how you are going to get there. I hear you. We’ve all been there. Luckily for me, I’ve only been in the Waiting Place for a couple of weeks. If you’ve been in the Waiting Place for longer, however, it can absolute torture.
Everyone gets destuckified in different ways. There’s no panacea – but you can get destuckified if you want.
My goal with studying the Unique Ability book, and along with it, Strengths Finder 2.0, is to get better at living the Abundant Artist lifestyle. I have enjoyed, immensely, teaching other artists how to use the Web to live the life that they want. It’s immensely rewarding to get emails each day thanking me for the explanations and help that I offer. As I level up my life, I can help others do the same.
You’ll notice in today’s post a lot of links to other blogs and websites that I frequent. These people are my influences, my tribe. They’re the people that I look to for inspiration and guidance, as well as just to have a great time. Gathering a tribe is important. It’s another thing that gets you out of the Waiting Place.
So what about you? What gets you out of the waiting place? Share resources & links in the comments.
Hey Cory! Welcome to livefyre ! TK here from the livefyre community team, and if you ever have any questions feel free to @ me or any of the team on twitter, or email support at livefyre dot com 🙂
I had a serious problem working out what I wanted to do between college and university, originally applying for medicine having come from a science background and feeling it was a solid career choice where I could benefit the community, I aimed high, got two interviews, flunked them and messed up my exams as a result. I took a year out to ‘wait’ as you say, took on some work, met some great people and realised that I really wanted to write: so I’m now studying linguistics, scientific enough for me to get my kick, and arty enough for me to explore concepts other than facts and figures (though that’s still what things come back to!). Looking to get into journalism, where I hope I can again give something back (as much as you can in the private sector).
Hope to see you blogging frequently! Best of luck 🙂
Great post Cory, I know the feeling all too well! Really enjoyed the video too, made me laugh and almost cry! Good luck with your project, looking forward to hearing updates about your progress! 🙂
wow, cory, i think this post is the one that has resonated with me the most. thank you for sharing and thank you for the optimism and constructive advice and resources. i totally identify with this, and in some ways feel like i’ve been in the waiting place since i moved to portland, and it has been weighing on me more heavily than usual lately.
Thanks for sharing what you’ve been dealing with. I’m an artist and I keep a copy of this quote handy for times I don’t “feel” like doing something or I’m waiting to be inspired:
We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action. – Frank Tibolt
I find it to be true – if I wait to be inspired to paint, I might be waiting a long time- but as soon as I start painting I am engaged again.
@patfiorello That’s a great quote Pat. I have found, in the last few weeks especially, that it’s easy to get caught up in doing for the sake of doing. Sometimes inspiration requires a clearing of the mental clutter.
Thank you for this post! I have shared the link to the post on my Facebook page. I think it is especially pertinent at this time in my career. The part about figuring out what I am really the best at, what is my strength, etc. and how I need to really concentrate on the part that is my passion. How can I make that part of the way I proceed in the future.
And the part about “gathering my tribe”… I need to take a look at those closest to me and determine which are really part of my tribe and who might be detrimental to me.
Very good article. it is good to know , i am not the only. It is ok to be in that place, but only for a short time.i recently wrote a blog post about Inspiration http://lenanavarroart.com/blog/