Not So Quiet Quitting
The One Decision That Will Change Everything
There’s been a lot of talk
In post pandemic business news
About quiet quitting.
Workers who slip away
Even while staying.
No buy in.
Is how corporate America describes it.
A very businessy way of descibing commitment.
Buying.
In the creative community we don’t call it that.
Sometimes we call it writer’s block.
But it’s more than that.
People reach out to me
When they are in it.
And often not even realizing it.
They might say
They are in do-or-die moments
At end of their rope moments
Stuck.
And after I let them wind down
Telling me their story -
The story is important for us -
I often ask this question:
Is quitting an option.
And sometimes an immediate no.
Sometimes
Silence.
Then no.
I have never gotten a yes.
Or even a maybe.
Because it almost never is.
And yet.
Quitting is what has been in their minds.
And maybe even their hearts.
There’s the rebel spirit
In every creative/artist/writer
(Which word resonates most for you btw?)
And that rebel spirit says to the authoritative part of us
The part that is trying to muscle us
Into a project that might not be happening:
Never mind then!
I’ll just leave!
But when I ask if quitting is a real option
And it isn’t
I suggest this.
Take quitting off the table.
Take the decision
Of whether or not to quit
Off the table.
Stop flirting with quitting.
Take the fantasy of quitting
Off the table.
Free your creative energy.
Release your creative energy
From creating this possible future
Where you are not responsible
For the challenging work
Of living up to your creative gifts.
Just take quitting
Off the table.
Almost always I hear an immediate
Sigh of relief.
Excitement.
Fear.
Hope.
Relief.
All of it.
But shoulders drop.
There’s the sound of dropping the rock.
Ahh.
In some ways threatening to quit
Is creative suicidal ideation.
Quitting means killing the part of you
That you probably love best.
Despite how hard it can be
To live with
To love
To integrate
To satisfy
To provide for
To encourage
To lean into
To make space for
I could go on!!
That part of you.
So if you are having a difficult patch
Always look first to see
If you are threatening yourself with quitting.
And if you are
I’m guessing it’s not that quiet.
You’re not a cog in a wheel.
You’re a talented shaper of beauty and truth.
And even your flirtation with quitting
Is probably loud.
After you let go of
This possibility
Maybe I should quit
The conversation about what to do next?
It gets way more interesting.
Powerful.
Courageous.
And actually productive.
Infinitely yours…
xx B
I've encountered this many times in my career: the creative employee who is tormented by a possibility or path they may have some agency over entertaining. I thought this was *incredibly* well put:
"Release your creative energy
From creating this possible future
Where you are not responsible
For the challenging work
Of living up to your creative gifts."
Yes! I can feel how in my confusion to know how to start a new piece, or get back to a project, that time when I’m not IN IT, some part of me flirts with quitting and really muddies the water. When I acknowledge that of course I’m not quitting, things get clearer and all I then here is, “Well then let’s just get on with it.”