Creating vs. Being

Celebrating the past, flowing with the present & trusting what comes next

The balance of making things happen while going with the flow is tricky. This transition from summer to fall has been more of the latter — befriending the flow of the mundane. Recently, I’ve been focused on the day to day: supporting my mother’s recovery, editing documents and manuals, commuting, parenting, baking (without much success), and all the little things that make life move. September was for the basic tools that keep me present. It was a time for tasks. Finding moments for creating seemed impossible.

A part of me longs to hold it all — a big new project, an exciting adventure to look forward to, alongside the beautifully mundane moments of life. But this in-between season has been repetitive: to-do lists, last year’s plans unfolding, parenting and caregiving, time in the forest each day, and not enough space for inspiration. It’s not quite restful, yet not manic. It’s just life. This phase hasn’t been for actively creating.

As a small business owner, the pressure to constantly make things happen is always bubbling beneath the surface. When one retreat, workshop, or training ends, the next is already up and selling. Every few months, I’m researching new locations, projects, and ways to grow my business. I love it entirely. And I’m learning to love the lulls too.

Because my creative juices thrive when I’m rested. I’m better as an entrepreneur, guide, mother, and human when I surrender to the mundane. Hustling through quieter times can block aligned action and creativity — and lead to burnout.

Last month, I continued what I set out to do in October of 2024 (because change takes time) — I succumbed yet again to a slow, liminal and boring phase instead of pushing and burning out. Rather than creating outwardly, I was inwardly creating a new mindset — trusting that the “in between” is part of balance. I’ve been quietly manifesting ease in my body and mind. I’m still allowing myself to be in this phase. I’m learning to let ideas and future plans come to light organically. I’m imagining an upcoming period of creation that is playful and aligned with my learnings right now. But this stage comes first.

An interesting lightbulb moment sparked when boredom and fear came online last month — a practice I often teach others to divert from the doom of an unknown future. The light started to flicker one dark September morning during breathwork and mantras to soothe my inner planner. It dawned on me — why aren’t I looking back? Research shows we are wired with a negativity bias, always on the lookout for problems and ways to ensure safety. But what if I looked back, with a mindfulness lens, to celebrate how far I’ve come?

When manifesting the next step feels like gazing into a void with no direction or timeline — why not look back and honour how past manifestations and creations have brought me here? When my inner manager berates me during idle times, why not give her the task of loving every past success?

My intuition already knows that ‘being’ is a powerful place to rebuild and recalibrate. Letting fears about the future take over doesn’t make innovation magically appear. Lessons about letting go and allowing creation to take the time it needs are all around us, if we only open our eyes. Nature models this beautifully as seasons come and go. In the Northern Hemisphere, the output of summer has slowed, but we’re not yet in winter’s darkness.

We’re at a tipping point — on the threshold of something new that doesn’t yet need to be known. In fact, it can’t be, if we ignore processing the past and resting into the present. In truth, none of this can be perfectly balanced.

I’m sure that right when I start to feel settled in this season of tending to small tasks and appreciating bigger feats, a new inner ping will guide me toward what’s next. Honouring the in-between and the unknowns isn’t something to learn from a TikTok video. It’s a conscious, moment-by-moment choice to tell my brain she’s safe without a plan, that the little things at home need attention, and that what I choose now informs the next season.

Not creating is not what I was taught about success — but I’m doing it anyway.

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Tools for the in between (how to flow without forcing):

• Check in with your body. Notice tension, ease or restlessness — your body often knows what your mind hasn’t caught yet. Hand on heart, take a breath, shake it off, drop into child’s pose.