I wish someone had told me this a long time ago.
You are most creative when you’re not actually creating.
Wait what? LOL. Ok let me backup a bit.
In 2024, I made the executive decision that Dora Mae would be closed on Mondays. My True Self had realized a while back that I needed to build more REST into the rhythm of Dora Mae Jewelry. (I consider True Self my soul who expands beyond “thinking” and living by facts and often fear…and embodies her “knowing” so she can live by faith and freedom.)
I knew it wasn’tjust about avoiding burnout and exhaustion - although yes, that’s important too. I knew it was really aboutexpanding as a creative!
Togrow exponentially in my creative gifts, I needed torest exponentially!
The rhythm of rest is built into creation at every level of our universe! Dormant seasons aren’t useless or void of meaning. In fact, they are a vital step in preparation forthe bloom!
So, working 6 days a week was not only going tolead to burnout, it was also depriving me (and the clients I serve) of the fullness of my creative expression.
Enter Fear, Control, and Lack. Ohhello old friends! What message have you brought me today?
“You might miss out on customers if you aren’t open 6 days a week.”
“Retail can’t be profitable if you’re closed that much.”
“You wouldn’t want to disappoint or inconvenience anyone. It’s better to be available to meet everyone’s needs all the time. That’s how anyone is successful in business.”
“Well, just get ready to have 1/6th less income if you’re open 1/6th of the time.”
Ok boos, I hear you. Are you done?!
It can be as easy as inviting Love, Freedom, and Abundance to have their chance to speak too.
“It’s about yourextensive connection with your clients, not yourextensive availability.”
“Hustle culture breeds FORCE. Creation culture breeds FLOW.”
“Yourinner divine wisdom is the guiding light for this business, not theouter human validation.”
“Rest is a vital PART of your creative process…not a BREAK from it.
It’s an essential STEP…not a STOP.”
If you can close your eyes right now and visualize creativity, you might be able to discern that it’s actually rest that gives creativity its rhythm…its sense of “flow.” WIthout rest, it really is more “force.” When humans are inhealthy rhythm and we are tired…what do we do?? We REST.
And if that voice creeps in that equatesrest withlaziness,simply tell your EGO that while you appreciate its efforts to avoid failure, you are no longer accepting fear as a motivator. Gently release the ego from its duties, reminding it that creativity doesn’t flourish in control but in freedom. And yes, that includes freedom to fail!
It took me a while to heed my “knowing”and close on Mondays because I had to move beyond my ego’s fear and control. The ego is pretty brilliant at using logic and the “thinking mind” to overanalyze and paralyze. It can be quite a spiritual process to move beyond cognition into intuition! But with practice, that process picks up speed and “stuck” no longer needs to be a word that defines us!
There’s so much more I could show you about what happens to our creativity when wearen’t creating! But for now, let me end by saying REST is not only good for yourbody, it also signals to yoursoul that this is all a journey.
And since there really is noarrival, rest isn’t stopping you from“getting there.” It’s just helping you enjoy the journey a whole lot more! Rest is written into all the best journeys!
Rest says:
“We are already HERE. Life isright now. Life isn’t one day down the road when I’m better. When I’m more creative. When I’m more successful. When I’m more self-actualized.”
Rest says:
“I am satisfied in my soul in theholy Now.I am sinking my toes into the fertile soil ofHere.”
Rest is the most powerful way to embody your Already-ness and therefore one of the most powerful tools in your creative practice. Knowing this, we trust that the growth and expansion we have planned for Dora Mae will be deeply served by the extra day of rest. We will prioritize rest as a key tenet of our company culture and as an integral part of our whole team’s process!
Rest is that gentle whisper that calls you from “there” back to “here” - back to your Already-ness, to your deep knowing of your perfection and completion in this NOW moment.
Rest is the gentle yet powerful reminder that BEING is the energy that empowers your DOING. Most of us have that all turned around and backwards! But Rest knows what’s up.
New Dora Mae Studio Hours
Monday: REST
Tuesday: 10-5:30
Wednesday:10-5:30
Thursday: 10-5:30
Friday:10-5:30
Saturday:10-4pm
Sunday: REST
Creatively Yours,
Ansley Schrimsher
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