Lately, my creative well has felt bone dry. This quarter was quite different from what I’d hoped for, and it led me to make some tough decisions. 

I decided to shut down Rethink Inspiration and Rethink Entrepreneur. For a while, it felt like I was battling an invisible current, and I just wasn’t winning. Spread a bit too thin. It’s all well and dandy when life doesn’t get in the way, but it constantly did.Then costs skyrocketted and that was the last straw.

Music was a little different. The melodies still flowed. I have lost count of how many songs I started, but the lyrics and singing have been a bit of a struggle. So I ended up putting out more instrumentals than full songs.

Then there was YouTube, which started to feel less like a creative outlet and more like a treadmill going nowhere. I kind of ran out of steam. My big time-suck was the editing. I switched to doing lives but it’s creatively less enjoyable for me. I needed to step off and hit pause. I’ll come back soon, but I’m not forcing myself anymore.

My creativity needs rekindling. The way I do that is by reflection, filling my life with experiences. Then the joy returns and I just share it. Practicing what I preached here:

So as I’ve been partying and reflecting, something I wrote about in my newsletter came back to me: the bamboo shoot analogy. I first heard it from Les Brown, and it’s a powerful way to think about creative work, or really, anything in life. 

For the first few years, a bamboo shoot grows entirely underground. Its roots are working hard, building a deep, unseen foundation. The dramatic, visible growth only comes after all that slow, difficult, unglamorous work.

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I see now that this past quarter, I stopped doing that unseen work. I wasn’t strengthening my roots, I was obsessed with the visible parts, the branches, the fruits.

My biggest breakthroughs this quarter might not be measured in views or releases, but in the internal work no one sees: the reflection, the self-examination, and the realignment with my core values. I’m learning that when I focus on that, the visible growth eventually takes care of itself.

But don’t worry, I’m not disappearing. I’m excited to let you know that Volume 2 and 3 of my short stories  are both written. I’m doing the finishing touches and assessing whether I can do it all by myself now. No middle men= no extra costs.

To match my creative output from last year, I aim to release them both this quarter.

Releasing Volume 1 and my mini autobiographical work within a month of each other last year was an achievement I was really proud of. 

I want to recapture that feeling.

Also, my shiny object syndrome is still alive and well, so you can be sure I’ll be experimenting in secret.

Case in point: I’m trying something new with music: mini-releases on social media. I’ll share some of the many songs I have partially done, and I’ll focus on finishing the ones that get the most love from you all. 

So keep an eye out!

Reflect, Redefine, Rise!

Agape 

Rudiano