012 What a Pocket of Silence can Teach You

I reflect on why I paused this creative project and how that quiet season helped me move forward with more clarity. I name the impostor voice, revisit what I’m building with Pockets, and share three practical takeaways for restarting without shame. 

• noticing creative seasons and the feeling of being in between 
• challenging scarcity thinking and impostor syndrome 
• listening to negative thoughts to find the real message 
• moving forward while staying forgiving about future pauses 
• treating creativity like an experiment and learning as I go 

Transcript

Welcome To Pockets

A Pause Versus A Break

Impostor Syndrome And Scarcity

Takeaway One: Fix The Workflow

Takeaway Two: Revisit Your Why

Takeaway Three: Restart Gently

Closing Thoughts And Sendoff

Richmond 0:01

They say the life comes in seasons. This creative project recently had its autumn or even winter phase, and now it's seeing the first signs of spring. If you're also feeling like you're in between seasons, don't fret. We're here to talk about it. Hi, you're listening to Pockets, a podcast about finding joy, meaning, and purpose in life's simplest moments. I'm Richmond Camero. Let's dive into today's journey. It's good to be back. And it's going to be a bit meta, because today I'll talk about how pausing a project is a helpful way to move forward. In a previous episode, I talked about taking creative breaks and dealing with resistance. So how does that differ from today's topic? Last time we tackled about how to deal with external factors, other things that you need to deal with before you get back to your project. But what if there are no external factors? There's no block to untangle. Your project's doing alright, it's out there, but there's something in you that's hesitating whether it's worth continuing. That's what happened to me. It made me think about this project and whether it was worth my energy. In our world full of noise, how can one voice be heard? Which is true in every art form if you think about it. There are a lot of books being published, songs written, and paintings painted. Why add more to the pile? Which is not the right way to think about it. It's the impostor talking, the one that says I have nothing to contribute. It's the idea of scarcity taking hold, saying that the world does not have enough space for everyone to thrive. It's a limiting belief that well limits. So I sat down with impostor, aka my own thoughts and asked him What do you have to say? Because even coming from negativity, there's a message in there somewhere. I listened and made space and it made me look at what I want to do with this project. I have three takeaways. First is that it allowed me to look at what I can improve in the process. Producing a podcast is hard. Any creative endeavor is hard and we only have so much energy to spend. I asked myself what I liked and I don't like to do in my workflow. I like writing the episodes themselves. The introspection that comes with it. I even like editing the audio and post-production. What I don't like is creating media to post in my socials. So I'm pulling back a bit in that front. As a creative entrepreneur, I know that promotion is important, but I have to build my body of work first. To first fulfill my why. Which brings me to my second point. The pause made me revisit my why. I created this podcast for me to find that small space to process what's happening in my life. And I also want to share those pockets to others. I still have some things to say and stories to tell. And I think it's important to document those. Sharing my journey as a creative would also allow people to see the work behind the name. I'm still in my journey but I firmly believe that success comes to those who persevere. And I want to show that. To show my journey as a writer and an artist for others to see. And now we move forward, which is my third point. As I'm here, you know that I've decided to reignite pockets. I still like thinking about these things and sharing my experiences. And I'm still interested in bringing out the best that I could from this project. I'm also moving forward with the knowledge that I might again find myself in this position of pause. What this recent experience taught me is to be forgiving. Creativity has its own season. What I've learned about writing books as a long-form art is that when a story wants to be told, it will make itself known again and again. Sometimes it's a whisper, sometimes a loud voice, and sometimes there is silence too. But even silence is a pocket. Of course, I have to do my part as the medium. When a project chose to stay in silence, I have to do my part to continue improving my craft. So I engage in other things, follow other muses until I feel it was time to return. In the grand scheme of things, this is a way for me to continue my cruise mindset. We don't need a perfect reason to try things, or in this case, try things again. If we view every action that we take in life as an experiment, then I know I'll learn something from this. That's it. Take care, friends. You've been with Pockets. Thank you so much for sharing this space with me. Now go embrace the moments, build your pockets of meaning, and keep curiosity a s your guide.