When the Hell Yes Starts to Change

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There’s something to be said for recognizing when your actions stop being a “hell yes” and start becoming an “ahh right, I have to do that because I said I’d do that.”

It’s a rough state to navigate because there’s also something to be said for making sure things get done.

Inspiration isn’t something that can be sustained for extended periods of time. Inspiration strikes, you take action, and then you implement ways to take continued action off that inspiration.

But at some point, it’s worth noticing whether you’re still carrying that inspiration and joy forward or whether you’re doing something simply because you said you would.

And that doesn’t mean that the second something stops feeling like a hell yes, you drop it and move on to the next shiny thing either.

Sometimes it may be less about whether you continue and more about whether the way you’re approaching it needs to change.

And I don’t think there’s necessarily some perfect balance to find.

It’s a more layered process than that. Sometimes it may be a little skewed in one direction or the other, and what that looks like isn’t necessarily going to stay the same.

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I think part of figuring that out is giving yourself enough space to recognize whether something is actually a hell yes or whether it’s something else.

And sometimes that space is rest.

But it doesn’t always necessarily mean slowing down and doing nothing.

For some people, doing nothing may not even be in the question.

Maybe it’s shifting your focus to something else that will inspire you in different ways.

Giving your brain time to explore other interests can spark further creativity. And when something does spark inspiration, you can create from there.

Rest, space, shifting focus—whatever that looks like for you—doesn’t have to be separate from creating.

It can be part of what allows inspiration to come.

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And when inspiration does strike, write it down.

Whether that’s on your phone or with a pen and paper, just write it down.

Even if you don’t have the time to follow up on it right then and there, put it somewhere you’re likely to see it again. Maybe that’s a journal you keep with you specifically for ideas.

You don’t have to immediately drop everything and create every time an idea lands, though sometimes that is exactly what you may want to do.

Writing it down gives you something to come back to when you have the time to create and are feeling inspired and motivated.

It gives you a way to harness the inspiration when it strikes without requiring inspiration to work according to your schedule.

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And I think that’s especially important given the way things work nowadays with algorithms.

There’s already so much pressure to keep creating, keep sharing, keep putting something out there.

We cannot sustainably create at breakneck speeds simply to feed the beast.

If you’re constantly creating simply because something outside of you is telling you that you need to keep producing, when are you giving yourself the space for something else to catch your attention?

When are you allowing for other interests, experiences, and novelties that might spark further creativity?

Consistency matters. If you want what you’re sharing to reach the people it’s meant to reach, you do have to actually share it.

But that doesn’t mean we need to treat ourselves like machines in order to do it.

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For me, at least right now, I think one of the ways I know whether something is still something I want to continue is by paying attention to what happens when I’m actually doing it.

I don’t necessarily have to be excited about starting every single time.

Something can become a routine that I’m used to.

But once I get started, do I still find myself eventually getting lost in it?

Do I still find myself saying, “Oh no way, look at how much time has gone by. I didn’t even realize it.”

Or am I pulling at every last straw I have just to get it done?

And honestly, I don’t think you want to wait until you get to that second place to start paying attention.

You want to start noticing where you’re at while you’re creating.

If it starts to get tedious and your obligations allow, maybe that’s the time to think about slowing down—before you get to the point where you need to take a long, extended break from it.

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Because sometimes the things we love can become something that just isn’t for us any longer.

And that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s something you’ll never go back to.

I stopped writing for over 15 years only to start back up again.

Sometimes it may just be time to explore a different avenue or a different medium to create from.

Stepping away doesn’t have to mean you’ve stopped loving something.

And continuing doesn’t have to mean doing it at the same pace forever.

And if by chance you think creating is only done through writing, drawing, painting, or music, there is far more to each of those mediums than you may think.

But creating isn’t limited to those things either.

Cooking is creating. Gardening is creating. Grooming or doing makeup is creating.

Creating can mean bringing an experience, an emotion, a tangible object, or something visual into being.

And if you think all creations need to be shared, that’s not necessarily true either. I’m writing from my perspective, but apply it to your life in whatever way fits.

Sometimes you might need to rest. Sometimes you might need to slow down. Sometimes you might need to shift your attention somewhere else and see what sparks your interest.

And sometimes you might start doing the thing and look up hours later wondering where the hell the time went.

For me, part of creating is learning to notice the difference.

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