#48: Conquering Resistance: Embracing Change in Creativity

In this episode of 'The Jeweler's View,' host Courtney Gray, a seasoned metalsmith educator and creative business strategist, addresses the topic of resistance and how it affects artists and creators. Drawing on her 25 years of experience, Courtney explains how resistance manifests as procrastination, self-doubt, and perfectionism, often keeping creators from progressing. She shares personal anecdotes and client stories, emphasizing the importance of recognizing, understanding, and overcoming resistance. Courtney provides practical steps to manage resistance, including naming it, taking small actions, and sharing struggles within a community. She encourages listeners to start their creative endeavors without waiting for perfect conditions, highlighting that resistance is a sign of growth and progress. Courtney also promotes her Transform membership and invites listeners to join her supportive community to continue their creative journeys.

Transcript

Episode 48 – Conquering Resistance: Embracing Change in Creativity

[00:00:00] Welcome to The Jeweler's View. I'm Courtney Gray, metalsmith educator and creative business strategist. After 25 years in the jewelry industry, running one of the country's top metalsmithing schools, coaching artists, advising companies and organizations, and hosting interviews with some of the best in the craft.

I finally created the kind of support I wish I'd had from the start. This podcast is a part of that. Each week I share the lessons I had to learn the hard way so you can build a rhythm that supports your creative work, your values, and the life and business you actually want. Find tools, coaching and my transform course@courtneygrayarts.com and let's get to work. 

Courtney Gray: Hey there and welcome back to The Jewelers View. I'm Courtney Gray this month inside my Transform membership, which is a membership I've started for those [00:01:00] who've graduated from my six week course and wanna continue on with each other, stay accountable, build community, so one of the topics that came up this last session that we did together was resistance. And this is one of those topics that hits home for almost everyone in this industry. If you've ever walked by your studio, wanted to sit down at the bench and suddenly thought, I should probably clean the kitchen first.

Or organize my closet. It's been making me crazy. Or maybe it's just, I'm not really feeling this today. I'll do it later, or I don't even know what I'd make anyway. Well, then you've met resistance. Sometimes it shows up as procrastination. That voice that says, I'll do it later. I'll start once I have better photos, or maybe after this next show, and before you know, it later turns into never.

Then the self-talk kicks in, right? [00:02:00] Why can't I just get it together? What's wrong with me? That's the sting of resistance. It convinces us we're lazy when we're really just a little uncomfortable Today. I wanna unpack what resistance really is and why it shows up and how we can move through it with more grace and a little less judgment.

I personally have met resistance plenty of times, but it's not usually in the big dramatic moments because when I decide to do something big and major, I tend to go all in. Where it sneaks in for me is in the everyday stuff.

The quiet hesitation before doing the thing I already know that I need to do like sitting down to make rings or finish a project instead, I think maybe I'll clean my bench first, or I'll start tomorrow earlier when I'm fresh. That's resistance. It's not fear of failure, [00:03:00] it's avoidance, dressed up as responsibility,

i'll do this instead of that. Sometimes it even pretends to be productive. Sometimes it is productive, but in a different direction. You start sorting findings or polishing tools instead of finishing that one piece that's been halfway done for weeks. It feels useful at the time, but it's really just resistance disguised.

Resistance is not weakness. It's not laziness. It's a part of us that wants to keep us safe to avoid discomfort or potential failure, but by protecting us. It also keeps us from progress. One of my members described it perfectly this month.

She said she finally shipped out 13 pieces that had been sitting in her studio waiting to be photographed. She mentioned how good it felt to finally move them out of her space and out into the public. She's rebuilding her [00:04:00] website and digitizing her systems, which let's be real. Always takes longer than expected.

So she decided mornings would be for design, and afternoon would be for administrative tasks, and she added, I'm hanging a carving of Thor's head in my studio to keep the trolls away. Because I think one's been hanging out in here lately. I love that because those studio trolls, they're real.

Maybe you can relate the one that whispers you're behind, you're not ready. Who do you think you are to be doing this now at this age or whatever. She also shared that she's had a collection idea brewing for quite a while, maybe years, but she realized with gold prices so high. Now is not the time to go all in.

So she's pivoting, creating a smaller collection that still carries the same spirit that's resistance transformed. She [00:05:00] didn't wait for perfect conditions. She's moving anyway. And that movement, that's where the power lives. You'll know resistance by the disguise that it wears procrastination. You know what to do, but suddenly the kitchen floor has to be mopped first or whatever it is, or over preparing. Here's another one. You take one more class, read one more book or research, one more other designer, instead of applying what you already know. Self-doubt. You tell yourself you're not ready. Not skilled enough or not there yet. I'm just not there yet.

Perfectionism. You keep polishing or over polishing instead of sharing or shipping something out. For jewelers, it might look like avoiding. Photographing your work or putting off, setting your prices more clearly or telling yourself I'll [00:06:00] launch when I have more work, more pieces, and then never quite getting there.

It wears a lot of masks, but underneath it's the same thing. Resistance, trying to protect you from discomfort, which is we know is where growth happens. When you think about it, resistance is rarely about the task itself. It's about what the task represents, change, vulnerability, and visibility.

For me, it often hides in the moment between idea and execution. The second I start, whether that's sawing, metal, sketching a design or hitting record, it starts to lose its grip. It fades faster than I expect every single time. Just begin right. Let it dissolve. Stephen Pressfield wrote in the War of Art Resistance, will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work.[00:07:00]

And he's right, I think, but I don't think we have to treat it like a war. I don't like battling myself all the time. We don't need to fight ourselves. Resistance isn't the enemy. It's a signal. It's your body saying, this feels big, it's new, it's uncomfortable, and that's not bad. It means that the work matters most of the time.

Resistance ties back to comfort. We get attached to what feels familiar, our roles are routines, even our creative identity.

For artists that can sound like I've always made work this way, or this is what my customers expect from me or can afford. But the truth is, change is the only thing we can count on. Resisting it is like trying to hold back or beat back the tide. This can drain our energy and the tide still comes in anyway.

I love [00:08:00] this saying from Oprah. She said it best challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don't fight them. Just find a new way to stand. That's what resistance does. It knocks us off balance so we can learn a stronger stance. So how do you actually move through resistance when it hits?

Here's what's worked for me and for a lot of my clients. Number one name it. Say, this is resistance. Awareness takes away half of its edge. The second thing you can do is thank it. Remind yourself, this part of me is trying to keep me safe.

That softens judgment. Three, take a small step, just one. Not the whole mountain, just one stone. Send the email, price the piece. Sketch the idea. Just begin. Number [00:09:00] four is share it. Talk about it with someone who gets it. Email me after this episode. Let me know where it's showing up for you. I'd love to hear resistance shrinks in community.

Number five, reframe it. See resistance not as a stop sign, but as a guide. It points you towards the work that matters most. What have you been putting off? What have you been neglecting or avoiding? And remember this, it's more uncomfortable to sit inside and unfinished dream than it is to face temporary discomfort.

I'm gonna say it again. It's more uncomfortable to sit inside an unfinished dream than it is to face temporary discomfort. Everything's temporary. Don't forget, I see this play out and transform all the time. A lot of artists tell me they almost didn't join. They're [00:10:00] worried about timing or

time, commitment, cost, or just simply not being ready yet. Saying yes to yourself is the first move through resistance. It's not about a course, it's about deciding to stop waiting for the perfect moment later is now my friend. If you keep waiting for the right time, you're gonna be waiting six months from now, a year or maybe longer.

The sooner you begin, the faster you get to the vision you've been holding onto for so long. So if you've been thinking about taking a leap, not even just into transform, take this as your sign. Jump in. You don't have to have it all figured out to start. In fact, you just have to start. Then the clarity comes.

So here's your reflection this week. Where is resistance whispering to you right now, and what's one small thing you can do to move [00:11:00] through it today? Resistance is not proof you're failing. It's proof that you're growing Every small move shakes the ground beneath your dream. Next time we're gonna talk about what happens after you take that first step, how to trust yourself, loosen your grip a little bit, and find your flow.

Until then, if you're not getting the emails that go out with this every Tuesday, be sure you're on my email list. Go to my website, courtney gray arts.com and be sure to sign up and grab a freebie while you're there and check out Transform. It's starting soon. I'd love to have you in there. Let's shake the earth a little bit together.

Onward and upward my friend. 

 Thanks for listening to The Jeweler's View. If today's episode gave you something to think about, consider sending it to a friend or share it on social and tag me at Courtney Gray Arts. You'll find tools, [00:12:00] coaching resources, and the transform course@courtneygrayarts.com. And if no one's told you this lately, remember you're not behind.

You're becoming exactly the kind of maker your business needs and that kind of depth. It takes time. I'll be back next week, same time, same tough love, onward and upward. I.