So, I finished the project I’ve been working on for the last …oh, months! Yay! Well, you’d think it’d be ‘yay’…but actually it’s “yay! I’m finished…except for these last few bits. Bugger”.
That’s the thing that pisses me off about being finished…you’re never quite finished. I mean, there’s an end point you work towards – the book is complete, the transcription/workbook is complete, the project is ‘done’. But that’s not the end.
There’s editing and formatting and file loading and sharing and telling people and all manner of faff-tastic tasks that just rub the gloss of the joy of ‘finishing’.
So you complete 67,772 words of transcription and workbook, you feel a moment of bliss and sweet relief. And then you realise you now have 55 pdf’s to load to the course page and you’ve got to tell the world all about it (well, you don’t have to, but that was the point of doing the damn project in the first place).
And you deflate like a popped balloon. Because after racing for that glorious finish line for ages, getting there becomes a big fat letdown! The light at the end of the tunnel was just some git bringing you more work!
I first experienced this in a big way when I ‘finished’ my book. There was still so much left to do that I don’t feel like I ever celebrated finishing it properly! I finished the final draft…and then there was a to do list of 1000 items waiting for me to edit and format and load and promote…so when I did ‘finish’, I was too exhausted to celebrate!
If you experience this “I’m finished, oh, shit, no…there’s more to do” when you complete a project, here’s a few tips:
1. Celebrate anyway. Make the effort to celebrate this big milestone, before you strike out for the next one. Pause, raise a glass, notice how far you’ve come and celebrate that wonderful progress.
2. Take a break, have a rest. You can (especially if, like me, you have 4000 creative projects lined up!) be on the endless treadmill of creation – rushing from project to project with nary a moment to pause and breathe. Milestones are perfect signposts to pause and just take an hour, a day, a week off from your creation. Recharge your batteries for the next phase.
3. Find people who know what “finished but not really finished” is like! Find other creative souls who understand that even when you’ve ‘finished’ 5 times, there’s probably another phase to go through!
Creative living isn’t supposed to be a trudge up a mountain without cease. It’s supposed to be joyful, fun, the joy of birthing something magnificent into the world. So even if you’re ‘finished, but not really finished’, enjoy those wonderful landmarks. Don’t be so hard on yourself – let yourself enjoy the lookout point halfway up the mountain, not just the summit.
This was a note to myself…hope it hits the spot for you too!
