It’s really easy for me to bubble with ideas, start projects, show up for them while they are fresh in my mind and have multiple things going on at the same time…

If you have been following me for a while you might have noticed this too. I announce a book project but then it takes a lot of time and you don’t hear of it anymore.

BUT that’s not the whole truth. Those worthy of really going through with will happen. They age well in my drawer and will pop up in divine timing as a finished projects too.

And how sweet does it feel when you DO get something done and finished.

At the moment I’m celebrating finishing up the first edition of my book The Four Phases of Creativity. I sent it to print two days ago, on Thursday.

Here’s what I learnt and want to remember for my future projects:

It’s an Intensive Push

Finishing what you started is an intensive push that takes more time than you thought (but if you had thought about it in advance you would have chickened out…) and because it’s so intensive it can feel like you held your breath through it. The moment I uploaded the files to the printer company, I exhaled a big sigh of relief. It felt amazing!

It’s something to Celebrate!

I did it! This is big! This is something to celebrate!
I already made plans with my friend that we’re going to celebrate together when the books arrive and we get to hold them in our hands. I’m not someone who throws big parties, or does celebrating in any traditional ways, so it has been a journey to find out what kind of celebration feels the best for me. I’m still exploring, but one thing I know for sure, it’ll feel sweet to have my friend cherish the book with me.

It requires all your attention (for a while)

This morning I woke up with a full story plot for something I hadn’t thought about writing and drawing about. So instead of reading the news on my phone, I jumped out of bed to sketch and write down the story. The storyline then deepened when I took my dog out, and realized that my creativity was flowing freely!
I didn’t notice it before this story popped out that indeed this long intensive period had had its toll on new projects. I had held back on receiving new ideas. And that’s important for the project you want to finish, even crucial, but ahhh how welcome this flow of new ideas feels too! Now I get to choose which one to go for next.

Before Hopping on the Next Project…

 Schedule in some rest.

When you finish what you started, the next step is to let yourself breathe.
Then before you know it…

 A new project calls for you!

This doodle was one of the inspirations for my book – You’ll find it redrawn in the book!

There are a few copies left,
if you want to get the book from this first printing.