Seasons of Rest (& The Creative Spiral)
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Do you have Seasons of Rest in your life?
When I look back on this year, I feel like I’ve had the pedal to the metal all year. I’ve gone from seasons of research to seasons of creation to seasons of….travel. Can that be a season? Because this Fall has felt like a season of travel.
In the span of 3 weeks, I went on three trips. I’ve taken four cross-country flights. And it’s been amazing and feels so free, but as a natural introvert and innate homebody, it’s been a lot. I also come back looking forward to my bed. To my sweatpants. To sleep in. To days with no plans.
So, when thinking about what I wanted the theme to be in my membership this fall, I thought of what I needed. I thought of how I want this quarter—Q4–and this holiday season to be about something different: rest.
I was planning things out; I was creating content. I was thinking about what I wanted to teach and what I needed to be reminded of. And I thought of Amy Simpkins. I had Amy on my old podcast years ago. She talked about the Creative Spiral, her work pivoting from an engineer to a business consultant, and she gifted me a copy of her book Spiral.
I found myself rereading, reviewing, and realizing that this was the reminder many needed.
Whether you’re a hustling business owner or a corporate climber, nobody tells us to slow down in our lives. Business owners go from hustle season to hustle season, often not even slowing down when they have the capacity to. I had a client recently, a realtor, who was in a slow season and didn’t know what to do with herself. Corporate climbers? They’re constantly thinking about their KPIs, rushing to the next review and the next bonus.
There’s never rest. There’s never a slowdown.
But, what if I told you that resting is a part of the creative spiral? That it’s a part of innovation, product and business development, and personal development?
Well, it is.
According to Amy Simpkins and her book Spiral, the Creative Spiral has 4 phases. Today, I’m going to break down the theme of those phases and how to know you’re in which phase.
01. Introspection.
First, we have introspection. As Amy describes it, this is the savasana of the creative spiral. It’s where we start, and it’s where we end. This stage is about stepping back, resting, retreating, and resetting. It’s about preparing. It’s about reviewing, reflecting, etc., so that you can integrate what you’ve learned. It’s about turning inward.
If this phase were a personality type, it would be an introvert. The yin phase of the yin-yang symmetry.
This phase is about being, not doing. It’s about sitting still, listening, and letting the answers come to you.
If Introspection were a phase, it would be winter. Think about farmers planting seeds, which have to germinate under groups before they can poke through and sprout. Think of bears hibernating and hunkering down.
This is introspection. And I’ll bet it’s been a long time since you allowed yourself to be in this season in your life.
How do you know you’re in the introspection phase? Your motivation is slowing down or even grinding toa halt. You might want to sleep more. You might find you need more rest or operating at a lower energy level. You might be asking more big-picture questions. You might be more motivated to look at things more in an open-ended way and less at the details of execution.
Now, what’s important to know is that this might not feel easy, especially if you’re any of the personalities I talked about in the last blog/podcast—the perfectionist, the high-achiever, the people-pleaser. You might resist it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need it.
Make the necessary space to turn inward and find what you need and what feels good.
02. Inspiration.
The second phase of the spiral is the inspiration phase. This is the brainstorm phase. This is the time to come up with something new that hasn’t existed before. Now, this phase might mentally feel different from the introspection phase, and it is, but it’s still a being not doing phase. It’s still introverted.
This is a phase that, if you spend time doing, you’re doing on paper. The doing is happening in your brain and in your heart.
When you think of the inspiration phase, think of spring. Spring is when things come back to life. When the seeds that are planted start to poke through the earth. It’s when the bears come out of hibernation.
This phase is about potential. Possibility. And setting yourself up for the possibilities to come.
How do you know you’re in this phase? Because you’re staying up at night as the ideas keep coming. You’re constantly having hits of inspiration. You might feel distracted and scatterbrained. You might be dreaming really big. You see potential everywhere. But, you might also feel frustration or fear because the change might feel scary. It might feel like there’s a lot of upheaval in your life. Or instability.
I feel like what we often do is rush through this phase. We accelerate ahead to the doing, the implementing, the taking action. We don’t bask in the exciting possibilities that may come. I’m guilty of this, too, if I’m being honest.
So, if you do feel like this is the season you’re in, don’t accelerate through it. Bask in it.
03. Implementation
See! There are phases in the cycle! But, did you notice that we don’t start implementing and doing until phase 3? I know. Mind-blowing!!
But, this is the phase of detail. This is the troubleshooting phase. This is the trying and making things work. This is the taking apart and putting together. This is when all the ideas and possibilities of Phase 2 come together.
This stage is the stage that most high-achievers relish, and, admittedly, it’s the stage that most of us stay in too long. This is the phase where we get work done when we dig in. This is the stage where we grind. It might be totally boring, or it might be completely joyful.
The implementation stage is like summer. It’s about freedom, plans, and extraversion. It’s about being outside about warmth. This is where we create things and put them out in the world. There’s a sense of buss, allure, and charisma to the summertime, implementation stage.
How do you know you’re in this phase? You’re motivated to sit down and make things happen. You’ve had enough talk. You’re ready to put your hands on something. You’re ready to dive in. This phase is about riding the wave of motivation. You may also be frustrated with the level of focus this phase requires. Sometimes, we don’t like to have tunnel vision because we feel like we’re neglecting something else. But focus is what you need, and it’s important to recognize that.
04. Investigation
The 4th and final stage before the cycle starts again is the investigation. This stage is still extroverted. It’s still about doing. It’s still action-oriented. But, now, it’s about putting things together and engaging with the world. Now, it’s about listening for feedback. You’re putting things out into the world and seeing how the world responds, collecting data on how things are going. This is about determining if the effort you’ve been pouring your soul into is effective or not.
The investigation stage is like autumn. It’s harvest time. It’s about reaping the fruits of your labor. This is where the emotional and mental energy of the first three stages comes together. This isn’t about getting caught up in results. It’s looking to see that there is progress toward your fully fleshed-out idea.
How do you know you’re in this phase? Are you connected to the outside world? Are you putting your work in front of people, allowing yourself to be visible and receive feedback? Then, you’re in the investigation phase. If you’re co-creating with others, if you’re engaging in the community for the benefit of yourself and of that community, you’re in the investigation phase.
That’s it! That’s the Creative Spiral!
The biggest reason I wanted to share this with you is for you to know that rest IS and HAS TO BE a part of the process. Moments of introversion, pause, and reflection HAVE TO HAPPEN. Otherwise, you’re missing crucial ingredients and crucial information to help your creative spiral function at its best.
So, don’t skip introversion. Don’t skip inspiration. Don’t spend all your time on implementation. You need all four stages! You NEED to create seasons of rest!
