Transformation

“Transformation is a complete uprooting before becoming” -Victoria Erickson

When doing what we love, we all want to ‘do’ our best and ‘be’ our best. It’s a natural part of being a creative, to grow, to reach our creative potential. To move from where we are now to where we want to be.

The process of transformation – moving from one state of being to another, takes work. First we must uproot the limiting thoughts that keep us anchored in our limited self before we can grow, this work is often uncomfortable – meeting ourselves where we are at is not for the faint hearted.

How many of us stand in our own way? How many of us are judging ourselves and being our own worst critic? Maybe the voice of fear is crippling forward movement or perhaps you are not doing something because you’re afraid of being judged by others – holding your creative self back from reaching your potential.

Nature has so much to teach us about the process of transformation.

A snake sheds its skin to enable it to grow, also to rid itself of any parasites that may have embedded themselves in its skin and hinder future good health.

As the process begins the snake looks for a hard object to rub up against to start the process of separation. This process can take up-to two weeks, more often than not a snake will not feed, focussing only on shedding its skin. It’s eyes cloud over as the new skin forms, temporarily impairing its vision and the snake may go into hiding. The snake knows it must sheds its skin whole, as any patches of leftover skin will create problems later on.

It is a tense and uncomfortable process, yet the snake must go through this process in order to grow. It must shed its old skin to enable new growth, it must lose its vision before it regains sight. It must lose its appetite before it increases its consumption, it must trust its own process of evolution.

As we go through our own process of creative evolution, we too must shed our own skin. We will consciously or unconsciously seek out the rocks and hard places to rub up against to begin the process of separation from those limitations that form our own restrictive skin that holds us back.

As we go through that process it can become increasingly uncomfortable, there will be times when we want to hide away and protect ourselves, fearing the vulnerability, we will shut down and retreat, we may lose our appetite for what we love, we may feel totally lost as we can not see further than the discomfort of where we are. And yet, like the snake, we must learn to trust in the process, to sit with the uncomfortableness and shed that skin in its entirety.

And it’s not just about letting go, as we come out on the other-side of our transformation it is only then we are able to see how far we’ve come, appreciate the beauty in what we’ve left behind, appreciate the old skin for what it was, as part of our creative path, repurpose that skin, learn from the shedding, create from the process and find the vision and appetite for life to move forwards.

As you go through your own creative evolution ask your Self :

What am I holding on to?
What am I choosing to let go of?
What am I saying yes to?
What am I saying no more to?
Where am I stuck?
What can I repurpose?
Who am I no longer willing to be?
Who am I becoming?