When the Space You Craved Feels Terrifying
For a long time, I subscribed to the idea that there needed to be some fixing. I used to give people creative prompts, thinking that was the way through. But at some point, I realised I was participating in the very thing that distracts people and creates more noise. It makes you look outside yourself to source your creativity, making you think there is some magic formula you just haven't discovered yet.
Carl Jung famously wrote, "Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."
The truth is, only you will know what is right for you. So often, it can feel as if people try to squish you into a framework that does not actually help, and ends up reducing you instead. Real growth and change does not happen in a quick life hack. It happens in those vulnerable moments where you face the parts of yourself you might not like or accept.
There is nothing wrong with creative prompts—they have their place if it is something you truly choose and it makes you feel expanded. But if it becomes another stick to beat yourself up with, then there is something hiding in plain sight that needs to be addressed before you can engage freely. If you catch yourself feeling scattered or running back to busyness, there is nothing wrong with you, either. But if you find that it blocks you, stops you from living a fully expressed life, or holds you back from exploring a version of yourself you desire to know, then maybe there is something here worth exploring.
Sitting with the Quiet that is not so Quiet
Here’s a scenario that might sound familiar. You finally get the time to tend to yourself. Maybe you wanted to make something, move your body, or just sit down with a project you have been dreaming about.
And suddenly, there is a tightness in your chest and your mind goes blank, or perhaps you feel scattered. You have been waiting for this moment, yet you feel frozen. Something feels wrong.
We live locked into a churn of tasks, over-giving, and sending our energy outwards. The over-scheduled calendar exhausts you, but it gives you structure. It gives you deadlines and a clear wall to lean on.
When you finally step into that free space, all that openness feels terrifying. What if it is simply because there is no structure to hold you there?
This is not about turning your creativity into another task on a list. It is about catching yourself in that exact moment, pausing, and getting curious about what is actually happening beneath the urge to run away.
If this sounds familiar, here are three ways to explore it with a pen and paper:
1. Tune into your inner experience
When you catch yourself pacing, wiping down a clean bench, or reaching for your phone to fill the quiet, pause for just ten seconds and notice what is happening in your body.
What physical sensations are present right now? (e.g. tightness in the chest, shallow breathing, restless hands, a knot in the stomach)
What is your immediate urge in response to this sensation? Do you feel the urge to escape or fix things?
Do you notice this sensation showing up anywhere else in your life?
2. Look closely at your daydreams
When we are stuck in the drudgery and busyness of the day-to-day, we often check out by daydreaming about the things we would rather be doing. Our daydreams are rarely just random thoughts; they often hold clues about an unlived part of ourselves that is begging for space.
When you escape the busyness in your mind, where do you go?
What are you doing in that daydream, and how does it feel to be there?
What is that fantasy giving you that your current day-to-day life is missing?
3. Meet the person who shows up in the quiet
Instead of treating your inability to stay with the discomfort as a personal failure or proof that you are "lazy," meet yourself with curiosity.
Who is showing up right now that is worried about all this space?
What are they afraid will happen if you do not stay busy?
These are big questions. They don’t always require an immediate answer. Rather the intention is see how these questions land. Are they easy to answer? Do you feel overwhelmed or confused trying to answer them or do you feel resistant to answering them?
Rebuilding Trust Within
What is usually missing is not the answer, but the containment, the space, and someone who can skillfully guide you through it. It is a process of clearing out everything in the way so you can step into your inner world and rebuild trust in yourself.
If you are reading this, it is because your creative spark is important to you. You are seeking a richer, more meaningful life led by creativity, and who could blame you? Nobody teaches us how to do this, and it is so easy to get distracted by everyone else telling us how it should look.
You deserve that curiosity and consideration, not another simple solution for how to fit everything in. This is not about fixing anything. It is about pausing, moving slowly and carefully, and having the courage to look within and stay a little longer each time you visit your inner world.
If you are ready to explore at a deeper level…
In my 1:1 transpersonal art therapy practice, this is the work we do together. I work with people who are exhausted from overgiving, feeling disconnected from their creative spark, and finding themselves constantly stuck in patterns of busyness, overthinking, and self-blame.
If you feel like you’d like to be supported in exploring this, hop over to my Transpersonal Art Therapy & Counselling page to see my approach and book a free discovery call.
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