Today I am declaring Project Bankruptcy on all of my unfinished projects and ideas.
How many projects have you started in your life-time but never quite got around to finishing?
How many well-intended creative pursuits have you begun, only to relegate them into the halls of unfinished and forgotten projects, that one day you plan to get back to and finish, but never do?
Well, let me share with you, a startling little fact that I just uncovered "One Day" never ever arrives, and if it's not today, it's not going to magically arrive tomorrow.
It is well known, that creatively minded people have way more ideas than they have time to complete, and even worse, lots of those amazing, pink glittering ideas are just distractions from the reality of actually making decisions to do things that will get us over the line, you know like eating a cream cake is so divine, but making the cake and whipping the cream is such a drag and a waste of time.
How many unopened boxes of ideas do you have lying around? I lift the lid and see the beginnings of a brand-new journal, a half-written book, the draft of a potentially beautiful artwork, and some stitching on a scrap of denim, along with another box of purchased denim-like fabric "just in case I get around to it".
Our unfinished projects are filled with magical thinking, their intentions were honest and earnest at the beginning, but before the fullness of their beauty was realized something else came and drew our attention in another direction, and off we trotted down the path of a new adventure, a new stash of supplies, a new box of potential, and yesterday's ideas sat forgotten in the corner, until finally they were put away, safely into a box, and now they gather dust like all of our other amazing potential projects.
That is why today I draw a line in the sand and say goodbye to all of my well-intended intentions and let go of those potential projects and declare bankruptcy on the whole shebang. That means I am deciding NOT to finish all of those canvases (I will paint over them) I am NOT going to finish any of those half started projects, half-arsed ideas, magical thinking game changes, and if it seems too difficult to toss away, I will give it away to another vision weaver to bring to life, by donating it to the local op shop.
A few months ago (ok maybe it was 6!) I decided that the 10 thousand emails in my inbox were just a bit out of control, I drew a line and it has taken me 6 months to get it down below 300, if I had declared Email Bankruptcy I would have deleted 9,990 emails, and then replied to the 10 latest and given myself the gift of hundreds of hours of sifting and sorting through old emails.
Bankruptcy releases you from your obligation, whether it be financial, creative, or any other type of incomplete thing, but the best part of bankruptcy is that it also provides you with relief and it allows you to make a completely new and fresh start.
Letting go of something that could have been SOMETHING!, is very difficult, but the freedom that it gives you is worth more than the money it can buy.
Some things will be easy to let go of, others will gladly fly into the bin of "never look at me again" you will wonder why it is in a box in the first place! But above all of this, you must remember that any idea, of any value, is still inside of you, when you need it, when the time is right, there is will be, a little seed of potential inside of you waiting to be birthed.
Declaring bankruptcy on all of my unfinished projects will allow me to release all of the things that have been holding me back, it will declutter my home, and my heart, and it will free me to dream and believe in a future where everything that I need is already inside of me.
What do you need to declare bankruptcy on this Christmas in order to move forward? I would love to hear from you.
