From Creative Chaos to Authentic Flow:
How to Build a Creative Process That Reflects Your Natural Rhythms
Most artists and creatives aren't afraid of structure (necessarily), but we ARE (maybe? sometimes?) afraid of the wrong kinds of structure...
After leaving my corporate career, I spent MAAANY years resisting and rebelling against rigid productivity systems that felt like trying to force the ocean-of-myself and my MANY, PLETHORA of IDEASEEDS into a teeny, tiny li’l box.
Then, came the shame era of “nOt feEliNg diSciplinEd eNough”, which was just another layer of creative resistance. And something else I could use as an excuse for not making my creative dreams real.
Whew. Pretty exhausting really, for me to remain so RIGID in my rebellion against processes and systems and frameworks for so long.
Through my own messy, recursive, creative journey, I discovered this: we don’t need to change who we are to create consistently. Or to be creative, period.
We just need better creative processes, practices, and systems that reflect who we REALLY are and our natural rhythms and patterns.
For me, that shift in thinking changed everything. Not only around my creative output, but certainly, around my personal relationship with my creative process and my creative identity, itself...
Let’s Start With Your Natural Rhythms
Your creativity has its own seasons and its own tide patterns.
Instead of fighting against them, what if you tried mapping them?
For one week, I invite you to experiment with tracking your energy flow using three simple labels: foggy, focused, or flowing.
Notice when your ideas come more easily, when your mind feels clear, and when your mind (or body) might be hollerin’ for you to quit hustlin’ so much.
This isn’t about optimization, it IS about learning to recognize the patterns in your unique processes.
Your creative rhythm is INNATE. You just need to learn how to speak its language.
Choose Containers That Call to You (and Your Ideas)
Let’s forget productivity guilt and put aside our (and others’) expectations and ALL the “shoulds” in the world...
You don’t need seven journals, a new planner, or ten productivity apps.
You just need one, small, sacred, creative SPACE and a tiny bit of dedicated TIME where your ideas can feel at home and have some space to to roam...
Maybe it looks like:
- A voice memo ritual on your morning walks.
- A well-worn notebook you carry with you everywhere.
- A digital space you actually return to (Notes app on your phone? Milanote boards in always-open tab? A dedicated A.I. tool?)
- Weekly letters you write (to yourself, your muse, or your audience?)
The key question isn’t “What might be most efficient/easy?” but “WHERE do my ideas actually WANT to show-up, live within, or grow from?”
Create Rituals That Feel Special or Sacred
This is where we can transform our creative structures into creative ceremonies.
Ask yourself:
- What helps me show-up fully in my dedicated creative space/time?
- What helps me to ground and focus before I begin capturing an idea or creating something new?
- How can I close each creative session with presence and a feeling of peace or satisfaction, even if what I made feels silly, messy, or incomplete?
These micro-rituals become creative portals and bridges between our everyday self and our creative self. They’re like signals to our nervous systems that say: “you’re safe to explore and play here, and your ideas matter”.
Honor Your Unique Creative Identity
Are you someone who dreams in wide, sweeping visions?
Or someone who discovers meaning in the smallest details?
Do you like to see the whole map, or will you make your way, one step at a time?
Let your creative systems mirror your natural pace and shape.
If you’re a big-picture thinker:
Try a 3-part creative process and sort your ideas into categories, like:
→ NEW Sparks (raw ideas)
→ STILL Developing (ideas in progress)
→ GOOD to GO (complete enough to start sharing, selling, or releasing)
If you tend toward creative perfectionism (LIKE MEEE):
Try focusing on messy-first formats, like:
→ Voice notes
→ Ugly sketches
→ Stream-of-consciousness drafts
If you need time for reflection or to build momentum (or maybe just want some accountability):
Include regular creative check-ins with yourself (or with someone who understands your unique creative rhythm).
Make Space for Integration
Most creative processes or systems focus only on doing the thing.
Making the art. Building the business. Designing the website. Recording the message. Writing the memoir...
But sustainable creativity also needs time and space for reflection, not just for production.
Try this 15-minute weekly (?) creative check-in:
- What felt MOST alive (and FUN! or light!) in my creative practice this week/day/moment?
- What felt forced or heavy?
- What parts of my process feel like they are ready to shift or change?
This turns your creative process into a living relationship, not just another “rigid ol’ framework” you‘ll never use...
Some Deeper Truths
Having a sustainable creative process or system isn’t JUST about enabling yourself to finish things and GROW your ideaseeds into mature IDEATREES...
It’s about creating sustainable conditions where your full self can come through and show-up and be seen over and over, again and again.
It’s about giving yourself a consistent TIME and SPACE where your inner world can help shape your outer work.
Where your creative identity and your creative ideas can meet in practice.
When our creative systems are working FOR us, reflecting who we really are, and not who we think we should be, things (and projects!) finally start to shift. Once we can stop fighting with our creative blocks, we can start collaborating with our inner-artist-selves.
It’s okay to start small and let your creative systems, practices, and processes evolve as you do.
Your unique creativity is already inside you. It just needs a few dedicated containers that give your ideaseeds some time and space space to grow.
If this speaks to you...
You might find resonance in the Creative Identity Compass — a free resource I made to help you navigate your own creative path.
Or join us in the Wild Creating Community, where we’re building lives that honor both soul and structure, together.