Creating your work is a lot like slacklining

When I first started slacklining, I was surprised by how quickly it became one of my favourite recreational activities. Before I ever attempted it myself, I would watch others practicing and it seemed either too boring or too acrobatic for me. I learned it is neither of those things.

I felt similarly about creating. I used to think it was an activity that was just “not for me”. It seemed to belong to those who were more artistic or more gifted than I considered myself. Little did I know that I would become obsessed with it, too.

After years now of practicing both, I see a lot of parallels between slacklining and creating. The primary commonality is that they both require consistent effort and long-term dedication – much longer than most of us would like – to gain any sense of mastery.

One of the biggest misperceptions I hear from others about their own creative process is that they think that everyone else is bopping along, creating their work with ease and grace while they themselves are stumbling. However, it is my experience that all creators are making their journey in the same way – one tenuous step at a time.

One of my biggest takeaways from slacklining was learning how to have patience. It required repeated daily practice over a period of weeks just to be able to stand on the line and balance on one foot. This was all before I was ever able to attempt my first step. In my creative process, I still struggle with patience. I am often wanting to be much further ahead in my journey than I am and for the “results” to happen more quickly. However, both activities have taught me that it is the unfolding of the process itself that actually carries the joy rather than my arrival at any destination.

What slacklining can teach us about the creative process

While they are two very different activities, slacklining and creating have many similarities in their process. These are some of the lessons I have learned that have helped me with both:

It’s okay to flail

When you are on a slackline, not only is it okay to flail your arms about, it’s actually necessary for counterbalance so that you can maintain relative stillness in the lower part of your body. The same is true for creating your work. Not often will you be steady and assured. Most days, there will be a lot of flailing. Take comfort in knowing this is part of the process. You don’t need to maintain the appearance that you are always composed and perfect.

Find a focal point

Life has many distractions that can pull us in many different directions. On a slackline, it is helpful to have a focal point ahead and to maintain a soft gaze in its direction. If you concentrate too hard, however, you will become overly rigid and you won’t be able to feel the subtle motions of the line. The same is true for creating in that if you don’t find a point of focus, peripheral distractions will tear you away from your process never allowing you to make any progress. You also want to concentrate on moving toward your desired destination without fixating on it too fastidiously.

Trust your feet to take you

When one first starts slacklining, the habit is to stare at your feet to ensure that you find the line. With a little experience, you learn to sense where the line is beneath you and know that your feet will land without you having to watch every single step. Creating is also a journey of building trust with ourselves. In the beginning, we may “fall off” at times, but eventually we gain confidence that we are on the right track without having to micromanage every little step.

Go with the momentum of the movement

In slacklining, the initial tendency is to want to coerce the line to stop swaying beneath your feet. However, that is never going to happen. It is called a “dynamic” line for a reason. The trick to maintaining your balance is to actually go with the movement, not fight against it. In creating, sometimes our work moves in a direction we didn’t anticipate and we react by trying to force it to stay static. Even if it feels counterintuitive, we must go with the direction our work wants to shift and resist the urge to oppose its movement.

Get out of your head and be in your body

One of the greatest satisfactions in slacklining is when you drop into a flow state and become “one with the line”. The ability to release all attention from thought and just be in your body is the real key to success in slacklining. The same holds true for creating. We achieve flow when we go beyond the mind and become one with the energy that moves through us and guides our real-world actions. This peaceful state of connection within is what most of us crave and the value that both activities can provide.

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I am drawn to both of these activities for the reasons I outline above. It is irresistible to want to realize that sense of presence and aliveness within, however, it is less common that I would prefer. More often, I feel clumsy and I overthink things causing me to falter. The key to making forward progress in both slacklining and creating is simply to get back to it without developing too much story about any of the wobbles and falls. So long as you stay committed to your evolutionary process, you will feel inspired and every incremental bit of progress made becomes a huge accomplishment worth celebrating.