More Where That Came From

 “What holds us back isn’t grossly [undervaluing or] overvaluing our work…

… but tragically underestimating our innate, and ever-expanding capacity to produce more (and better) expressions of it.

A stealth, yet silently crippling form of what the modern personal growth crowd would call a ‘scarcity mindset’.”

- Ry Schwartz 

This quote rocked my world. It nailed me. It called me out on a fear that I hadn’t even admitted to myself... what if this is my best work and I sell it off and then I’m toast? 

When people asked me about my favorite work, the answer is almost always the same: whatever I had just finished.

My most recent work is always full of electricity for me. Give it a few days, weeks, years and I’ll begin to cringe at how I ever thought this was the best thing ever. And yet, I still had the fear that if I ‘undervalued’ it I would be missing out on making an income. 

This was born of an old paradigm from an old industry in which I cut my entrepreneurial teeth —photography. The conversation of copyright and usage always sent me into a panic. I must protect what I do! People steal! This work could live on and make me millions! I couldn’t see how it was crippling my ability to circulate the energy. I became stagnant. My creativity suffered. I was bitter and afraid. Sharing my work to be seen, recognized, and hired also suffered. 

The quote above is from a post titled “Liquidate Your Best Work” and I’ve moved into that mindset. It’s a call to trust that I am connected to the source of my creativity. It doesn’t come from me, it comes through me. And it’s an ever increasing resource. That feeling of a flow of abundance has become more important to me than the stifled, hoarding, fear of my earlier years of creation. 

Maybe it was a blessing... I wasn’t as good at my craft as I believed I was. I’ve moved on from the fear.  

Now my focus is on doing more, circulating more, and being ever better in the process. I am connected to a divine source of creation. I am a channel of beauty, creativity, and wonder. My main job isn’t to be the creator, it’s to be a clearer channel and allow more, bigger, and better things through me. 

Everytime I complete work I can honestly say, there’s more where that came from.  

And if you ask me what my favorite work is now? I’ll tell you it’s whatever is coming through next.  

Laura Olsen