Finding the balance between ‘doing’ and ‘being’: the path to intuitive creativity

My comfort zone was my ‘doing’ side. Understanding how to balance my life between ‘doing’ and ‘being’ took me a really, really long time. What I mean about ‘being’ is the opposite of doing: no action, no thinking and focus on just being present and feeling.

I had spent my whole life in action. What’s next? What more can I do? I did not know how to relax, as I had chosen a job where I thrived on the hunt for the next challenge. Let’s get more, do more, until I’d had enough. First there was Covid pandemic. It stopped the fast speed train of my life and forced me to ponder: ‘Am I happy?’ Then I put a full stop to my ‘always looking to do more’ mindset. I stopped working to embrace a new life, yet to be created…. And to understand where I was coming from, work was all I knew. My life was planned and regulated with list of tasks to do, and career plan for my next year. It was safe and easy. But the real truth: I was not happy.

So from one extreme to another… How did I get there? First, it starts with a good detox of the ‘Do, Do, Do’ Rhythm.

PART 1, STEP 1: My 'SLOW DOWN' Mantra

It began with my firm intention to slow down. A year before leaving the corporate world, I started learning to decelerate. Coming from an active nature, this was no small feat. ‘Slow down’ became my daily mantra.

Gradually I taught myself to do a bit less every day. It started from not being in a rush from the moment I woke up until I went to bed. Starting my day at a more leisurely pace, introducing time for yoga and meditation before the frenetic world. I set my own work pace, not letting emails or unexpected events jeopardize my 'slower' pace. Surprisingly, I became more productive by slowing down, freeing more time for myself.

In slowing down, I found time.

PART 2, STEP 2: Stepping out of the system to FEEL TRUE JOY

The second phase of the detox involved stepping out of the system, out of the overdoing/ performance-driven/ overproductive/ ‘always wanting more’ system,  and reconnecting deeply with feelings. Liberated from the system's constraints, I began a profound reconnection with myself. What does that mean? Simply put, it involved rediscovering my own emotions, understanding genuine joy, and what it truly feels like. Progressively and timidly, I started following that warmth in my chest, sometimes manifesting as an inner voice (read Blog Post: the Voice of Love), my form of intuition.

PART 3, STEP 3: Overcoming GUILT and SHAME

While I timidly based my actions on my intuition, I quickly slipped back into my comfort zone —the overdoing zone. Why? Massive ‘Guilt’, the Guilt of not being productive. I was dreading the question: "What did you do today"?” The cultural detox proved more challenging than expected. I set challenges for myself: do nothing for one day (okay ticked), do nothing for 1 week (euh, not Okay, NOT TICKED)!

So it took me time. When I looked back, I would make some progress in the deceleration every 3 months. Eventually I started adjusting to the new rhythm and appreciating the quality over the quantity of actions. Yet a year after leaving the corporate job, I came to an observation that I could not fully relax. I had still a block. And behind that block there was shame—shame of 'not doing.'

So how did I heal that shame?

One day, during an inner child meditation when I felt sad about not being able to relax, a subconscious thought surfaced: I had formed the belief that 'people would love me for what I do.' Once rid of this subconscious belief, I replaced it with an empowering one: 'People would love me for what I am.' I rewired my mind, integrating new beliefs about who I am: 'I am graceful, I am joyful, I am loving.'

PART 4, STEP 4: Trust my intuition and let go of fear to embrace fully intuitive creativity

While I started to follow more my heart, I had to face another challenge: overcome fear. As if the process was not challenging enough, every intuitive action felt like the hardest thing for me to do, requiring me to overcome my biggest fear…. I would easily revert to a stagnant situation or find comfort in more logical actions. So I had to learn how to trust my intuition and find the determination to overcome my fear. There was only way: ACTION! Just do it!

This is how I met Creativity. Slowing down, learning how to be, relax, and feel opened the door to inspiration. I became more aware of my inner guidance as of the next step to create a more fulfilling life. Then I took the courage to act on my heart’s voice. I launched a personal transformation blog, I created and began teaching a self-development program. And more recently, I opened my heart even bigger to a part of myself I had never encountered before: my ‘poet’ face. For three months, I wrote poems every morning after meditation, which gave birth to my first published book: “Le livre des poèmes imparfaits: Etre humain’ (French Edition only available).

In slowing down, I met intuitive creativity.

Learning ‘the being state’ woke up the artist in me, that we all are. 

Your turn now. Are your ‘doing’ and ‘being’ states balanced? Do you need to slow down? What would be your first small step to embrace ‘the being state’? Aren’t you eager to unveil the artist in you?