Lion Hunt

In a world full of “experts” and algorithms, there seems to be no shortage of boxes to tick and “best practices” for almost every aspect of our lives these days. Between all the available workshops, classes and seminars, the well-meant guidance, the copious (and sometimes misleading) before and afters, the countless articles and podcasts, the follow-along programs and the DIY tips and tricks, there is an abundance of information. A siren call for productivity.

Perhaps it’s due to it being January, the top of a new calendar year and the top of a new quarter when many people push to reorganize and reorder their lives to “finally get that thing done,” or maybe it’s something else. Either way, I’ve been feeling this acutely lately. This powerful sense of a collective pedal-to-the-metal in service of some goal, whether professional or personal. And while there is nothing wrong with that in some seasons, in this particular moment of my life, I realize that mentality and way of being does not serve me at all. In fact, it’s been a detractor. A shiny object.

This isn’t to say I don’t get things done, I do. But following someone else’s path does not honor my own. As an intuitive creative, so much of what goes into bringing art to life (for me) is actually not something easily distilled into a step-by-step formula. Sure, just like with anyone, there is the showing up – to the page, the mic, the stage. There is the putting in the time – honing skills, composting and integrating material. And there is the doing the work – physically, mentally and energetically. But for me, and for many others, these aspects are often concurrent and non-linear.

There was a time when I made myself wrong about that. As though my work was somehow less-then or I wasn’t a “real artist” because I didn’t follow some beat-sheet or prescription or formula. Because my process looked different than what is readily considered the norm and actually involves a significant amount of blank space instead of full-throttle doing. Thankfully those days are long behind me. I now know that while there are certainly basic building blocks everyone needs to understand in order to create effectively, there is no one right way to do anything. One person’s process is not another’s. We each get to discover and refine our own best practices for creativity. And that process isn’t linear either, it involves quite a bit of trial and error with many mistakes and lessons along the way.

I’m often reminded of a line from the early childhood story-rhyme about going on a lion hunt. If you’re not familiar with the tale, it’s an experiential story where the listeners become the travelers, or hunters, and act out the story with the storyteller. Throughout the experience the travelers repeatedly remind themselves what they are doing – they’re going on a lion hunt – and why they are not afraid – often they have some kind of silly-but-useful tool with them and always, their friends are by their side.

As the story progresses, the travelers come across all kinds of obstacles, tall grass, thick mud, dark woods, etc. When each obstacle is reached, the travelers recognize there is only one way forward and voice it aloud – “Can’t go over it. Can’t go under it. Have to go through it.” – then the participants in the story act out going through whatever obstacle before continuing on (through more obstacles) until they finally reach a cave and encounter the lion. This is particularly fun to do with children as they’re often exceptionally gleeful and creative in the ways they choose to confront each obstacle. No matter how they choose to face them, the travelers all “go through” to get to the other side and continue their “hunt.”

It’s the same for finding our way to our own best practices for creativity. While we can try outsourcing by adopting other people’s methods and ideologies, ultimately to find our own way we must have our own experiences, facing the obstacles as they come, and making our own way through them. This doesn’t have to be a slog. It can be gleeful and fun if we let it. And just like in the lion hunt story, we too can have friends alongside us on the journey, and we can take delight in the process.

It’s in the process where the power lies after all, the magic. The gold.

Here’s to sifting through, or letting go of, all the extraneous voices and algorithmic advice in favor of what actually serves us in our own lives and creative processes right now. To recognizing the journey is the gem as we discover what works and what doesn’t and form our own best practices. And to making our way through with as much delight as possible.