The Blob Stage: What Growth Really Looks Like

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐛 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰?
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

I walked into a recent workshop with good energy. Ten minutes later, I was staring at what looked like chickenpox on silk, very frustrated.

I'm not an artist.
I signed up for a fan painting class because someone said it would be relaxing. Go figure.

I skipped the template. I didn't pick the colors everyone else was using. I started with my favorites and no plan. I then added polka dots, my current obsession.

It felt promising right up until the paint hit the silk and ran. Dots turned into blobs. Blobs turned into a mess.

Instead of starting over, I kept adding. More color. More layers.
That's when the dots started connecting. The colors started working together. By the end, I had something that looked like a peacock feather.

Here's what the "ah-ha" moment was: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.

The mess is what the start and middle look like ... especially when you've put down the template, and you're making something that's actually yours.

Don't mistake unfinished for wrong.
That's one of the lessons I write about in my book, Audacity, coming this October.

Tell me - what's in your blob stage right now? I'd love to hear it.