APRIL 2025
You started with the best of intentions.
You had fresh energy, creative inspiration, the will and focus to pursue that dream, no matter what it required. You put in the time. You studied, you practiced, you learned. You worked hard.
But at some point, the inspiration started to fade. Your motivation waned. You faced a challenge, reached a plateau, hit a wall. Feelings of self-doubt, discomfort, and uncertainty began to take root.
Welcome to the messy middle.
Many people stop at this point. It’s too hard. It’s not what they thought it would be. They avoid it. But that’s a mistake.
Because learning, growth, and achievement don’t happen until you meet a challenge—and find your way through it. And that takes courage, persistence, and resilience.
And often, time. (Case in point: Rory McIlroy playing in 17 Masters tournaments before getting to wear the green jacket. ⛳)
Learning how to find your way through the messy middle is an essential part of the creative process.
Experienced artists will tell you that every painting goes through the “messy middle” phase—I talked about this on the podcast this week. It’s not something that improves with experience or knowledge.
Writer Anne Lamott talks about the process of discovering the story. The time it takes to really listen to the characters and watch them “move around doing and saying things and bumping into each other.” (source: Bird by Bird)
But I find we’re less likely to talk about the messy middle as musicians. We’re less likely to accept it as part of the process. Instead, we get in our heads about it. We question our decisions, our capabilities, our motivations. We ask why it’s happening.
Keith Sawyer, a creativity researcher and jazz pianist writes, “In the zigs and zags of the creative process, there will be many moments when you're not really sure where you're going or what the problem is. Accept that uncertainty, embrace its ambiguity and openness.” (source: Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity)
A blank space, unmarked and undefined, full of possibility and potential. Space to experiment and play and explore all the options.
Permission to be a beginner again. Questioning everything (in a good way).
“There will be many moments when you're not really sure where you're going or what the problem is.
Accept that uncertainty, embrace its ambiguity and openness.”
- Keith Sawyer, Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity
According to a research study from Yale, the brain works harder when things are shifting and changing and outcomes are difficult to predict. It turns out uncertainty cues the brain to learn.
We need to not know the outcome sometimes. To embrace the unknown. To dwell in a place where we can trust our creative instincts.
Trust yourself to keep working through the messy middle without questioning your abilities, commitment, or what you have to offer. Meet the moment fully present and fully yourself.
Here in the messy middle, the in-between, we are becoming.
Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
