A Four-Part Series

This is part 2 of a Four-Part series. Written from the quiet comfort on a plane ride to Spain. I used to time to reflect on the four dimensions of Creative Flourishing, each poem exploring a different stage of the creative process.

Add Link to Part 1 – The Chaos

Part 2/4

The Well: When Creativity Feels Overwhelming

Contrary to the chaos, there is darker place. The moments when the rush fades, and what’s left is the weight of exhaustion, doubt and stillness. This is The Well—the place where creativity feels distant, where motivation wanes, and where the hardest thing to do is to keep believing in yourself.

This poem was written from that space—the place of waiting, wondering, and hoping that clarity will return. If you’ve ever felt disconnected from your creativity, you’re not alone. But even in the stillness, something is brewing.

This is The Well .

In I go
I surrender at last
I lean
I fall
I can’t bear to stand at all

I’ll sit 
I’ll lie
I’ll hide
I’ll swallow my pride
I’ll wait for the end of this hideous ride

Because it will end
Right?
That’s what people say
The darkness
The apathy
It will all go away 

The dark clouds staring back at me
Asking me 
Expecting me
Or expecting something from me
Like it’s on me 
To turn this around
To fight my way out

And pretend that I’m proud
Proud of who?
Of what?
Of me
Like this
What am I doing?

I wait
I wonder 
And hope
That the thunder 
Will soon stop shaking
Stop shaking 
Stop shaking

I’m still
I’m still
I’m still hoping that there’s some good that will come
From the darkness that’s crowning
My face that is glum

Up goes my thumb
I’m okay
I’m fine
I’m doing well
I’m in the well
I’m doing okay
I’m lying okay
I’m angry
I’m sad
I’m lonely
I’m mad

I’m so disconnected
So desperate
I protect it
By hiding away
I’m not out to play
At least not today

It feels so far away
That creative way
I know so well
I can be
I think
I doubt

I hope
I wish
I spoke with more conviction 

With truth
With passion that would loosen
The grip on my mind
The shadow I find
So close to being blind
From the future I know deep down 

It’s waiting
I’m waiting
And wondering

Will I be found?

Reflections on The Well

This was a harder poem to write.

Stillness can feel heavy and hopeless. Like waiting in the dark for something to pull you back up. But this space—this pause—is where something deeper is forming, at least that what I’ve experienced and this is what I choose to believe. Creativity isn’t gone; it’s gathering strength, we’re evolving into a version of us is ready to go again.

It’s in the waiting, in the questioning, in the slow return of belief.

If you find yourself here, know this:

🌑 The well isn’t the end, only a passage.
💭 Doubt doesn’t mean failure; it means transformation is underway.
🌱 Even in stillness, something is growing.

The next one? Movement. A messy, tangled step forward.

[Read Part 3: The Muddle →] (Insert Link Here)