When a project reaches a stage of difficulty, as it inevitably will, no matter how swimmingly it’s been going so far, it’s important to remember the process.

The process is psychological: it’s how you work through a problem, how you appraise it. Sometimes the process is agonising, and you feel you’re fighting against it. Other times, the process is a dream — it almost feels as though your work is creating itself, that the process takes over and does it for you. It’s happened to me plenty of times!

But whether you’re chipping away at a problem or sailing leisurely through it, the process is still there. It’s your constant, the reassuring familiarity that reminds you that whether it’s good or it’s bad, it’s still there. It was there the last time you struggled and it’ll be there the next time too. It’s your path, follow it.

Some of the best work I’ve ever made came from projects that were close to being abandoned, as I hated my way through the process to fall in love with it later. What the romantic notions of creativity often leave out is that much of the time it’s an endurance test, and the best artists are the ones with the most stamina.

But even when you’re on that 24th mile and you feel like you’re flagging, remember the road is still there to be run. That’s the process. You’re gonna be fine.

Have a bloody lovely day.

Photo by Diego Gutierrez on Unsplash