A good friend always giggles when I tell her I'm feeling 'fertile.' I use it to describe a time of extraordinary creative flow - when the channeling just won't quit. I can't find another name for it!

And while I relish in those times of creative flow, sometimes I have to pay a price for them.

I've noticed that an intense period of creative flow can sometimes lead me into a dark place.

In the 'Connect with Your Fears' chapter of my book, 'Ten Ways to Thrive as a Creative Artist,' I discuss the connections between fear and creativity, and how freely expressing ourselves can leave us feeling vulnerable that our basic needs won't be met.

Maybe it's because it's SO different from how we normally travel through life (scared and inhibited). Or maybe it calls up a fear of success, the one that Marianne Williamson speaks so eloquently about in her famous passage that includes, 'It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.'

I came up with a map of my journey - from creative flow, through to misery and back to creative flow again, with many stops in-between.

You can see this map on my website:
http://www.genuinecoaching.com/dark-side.pdf

There are two very distinct itineraries we can follow when we're in 'misery land.' When we land there on a stopover, knowing our time there will be brief, it can be a predecessor to a period of great personal and creative growth and development. Our creative fire lights up and all of a sudden we're coming up with solutions we'd never imagined.

And because of that, I'm extremely grateful for my short trips to 'misery land.' Misery has truly been the only route to change for me. I know that it's not until I've felt enough pain (or fear of pain) where I am, that I become willing to make a change and go somewhere new.

On the other hand, when we get to 'misery land' and start making ourselves really comfortable - fluffing the pillows and checking out the menus at the local restaurants, that's when we're in trouble.

That's when we're wallowing, focusing on the negative or using self-pitying messages as an excuse to stay stuck. We may still eventually move on to 'creative problem solving' town, but by then we might be feeling too defeated and deflated to do our best thinking.

So, is it possible to avoid 'misery land' altogether? I'm afraid the answer is no, not 100% of the time. But what I came up with as I sat and reflected was a list of 'travel essentials' - qualities that are strongly represented in my life when my creative process is free flowing and joyful.

These qualities are:

Strength
Gratitude
Focus
God
Belief
Truth
Fun
Faith
Self-love

In the diagram I drew myself, there was a heart surrounding them. Feel free to print your flowchart out and make that change.

'Now, wait a minute, Linda,' you might be asking, 'I thought I was supposed to be working on the Ten Ways to Thrive as a Creative Artist?' Yes, absolutely! Those are actions, and performing those actions as outlined in the book will help you to develop the 'travel essentials' I've listed here.

So, how about it? Have you and your creativity had enough of 'misery land'? Are you ready to pack up these 'travel essentials' and hit this new road with me?