trying vs. thinking vs. doing

Thinking about something and actually DOING something? Extremely different.

May 15, 2025

Hello my sweet potatoes, can I be honest for a sec? I do not sell a final product. I do not guarantee an outcome if you invest XYZ amount of money or download my free pdf.

That's because I made DYE for us. All of us.

I think in our sweet lil bb brains when we have *SHINY NEW IDEA SYNDROME*

“omg we should start a podcast”

“mmm my morning pages would make a great non-fiction liz gilbert style eat pray love companion voice of a generation novel”

“should i…. quit my job and teach yoga to farmers?”

We get caught up in a flurry of dopamine hits, to get high on NEW THING.

And listen up, that is not a list to name and shame. I am you. You are me. We are one together. My slurry of cognitive dopamine deficiency (autism, lol) means I 💖 new idea syndrome. I am your classic buy all of the cake ingredients, plop them on the counter, and walk away (or most famously in July of 2020… buy candle making supplies wholesale..?).

But me and my closet full of half baked creative endeavors lived to tell the tale, and it’s not some free PDF or online course or morning pages (although s/o julia cameron) or matcha lattes or the oura ring or or or or or. It’s literally just, thinking about it.

So let’s break down ~the creative process~ a little here and give our brains a break, some time, and space to marinate, and maybe find our unique path for our unique brain space along the way, yah feel?

I think at this point in the new idea, we can go one of two ways:

HYPERFOCUS ON THE HOW (IE whats the best candle wax for my candle company I just started now at 2am, let’s *cracks knuckles over keyboard* research!)

FLING YOURSELF OFF THE EDGE INTO ACTION WITH NO REAL PLAN (IE panic buy a bunch of candle making supplies in fear that I am gonna lose steam/interest in this thing)

But what if there is a secret third option….?

In Defense of thinking about it

The first step to any project is thinking about it. Having the idea, going for a walk, getting a coffee, smoking a joint, looking at the fire, touching a tree thinking about who might want this thing or what this project might look like, or how you wanna hold it in your hands, or who you want at the party, etc etc.

And I think this is a really beautiful trusting way to stay with my ideas. Like “hey what if i take this idea out for a date first”. Kind hot, right?

I think this is often a thing that we feel silly about doing, a thing that we skip over or make us feel little, but if we intentionally plot in time into our project plan and think about what we want to happen in this book, think about all of the people that wanna hold it, what kind of clients we wanna work with? What it is that I even wanna write about? This thinking becomes an intentional part of our creative process.

The opportunity to stay with ourselves, our ideas, and not self abandon.

Writing “write a book” on my to-do list is a fucked up thing to do to myself. But “go for a walk and think about the plot arch” is 1. A thing I can write down (and subsequently check off giving the brain a mucho needed dopamine hit) 2. Far more reasonable 3. ACTUALLY MOVES THE NEEDLE

Freeze states

Ok let’s back up the “thinking about” even more. It’s a tricky thing, thinking about it. We can overanalyze and get hung up on find ye old perfect podcasting mic, an 11/10 sly defense mechanism that I can promise you keeps your brain locked in idea jail.

This type of thinking about it (hyper vigilant over research) can make us feel like we're doing something, when what we’ve done is spin out wheels in the mud flooding the engine and then wondering why we’re 1. Stuck 2. Tired 3. Not inspired by our ideas anymore.

*stands on soap box* I have a potentially hot take here. You’re not afraid of failing, you’re afraid of trying. We love to say we are trying when actually we aren’t actually trying at all (again, I do not count myself out of this). We say we are afraid to fail, afraid of being cringe, afraid of what our boss’s girlfriend’s daughter thinks of us.

We think if we say, “I tried!” or “I am trying!”, no one will know. No one will know we aren’t actually trying.

I don’t think that fear ever goes away, BUT what I do think is we get good at feeling those feels. (see above going for a walk and thinking about it). The goal isn’t turning into robots who don’t feel the feels of trying. Trying is a commitment, a practice, an everyday commitment to our “what if…” ideas and ultimately, yourself.

When we get hung up in “perfect path forward”, we distract ourselves from our own creative process. Our own uncovering. Our own inner knowing. Knowing the tools that help us create a thing is valuable, but I am always gonna argue the "best marker" to draw with, is gonna be the one one closest to you.

Because waffling over the BEST MORE PERFECT WAY distracts from what we are actually trying to do.

The HOW! The WHAT! is irrelevant if we don't know WHY!

Move beyond the freeze state into F L O W 🌊

Ok, easier said than done I KNOW BUT HEAR ME OUT FOR LIKE TWO SECS! What if one of the questions on the walk, before the planning, gathering, researching, etc etc is “ “What’s the MESSY DIY version of this?”

This is the “trick” I offer my brain. What’s the non-perfect way to start? What’s the DIY syllabus?

If we set out to start something new and unknown with the ONLY GOAL of showing up + doing, what shifts? In some ways this is a scarier call to action, right? It’s scarier to show up and dive in without any “how to get to x result” questions.

Hey baby, I get it. Going messy DIY alone is scary. If we turn down the heat of expectation, what's left? Just our shivering bodies and a blank canvas? No thanks. The DYE solution? Do not go messy alone, go messy together.

ok but like what if you just, TRIED?

Let’s DIY, but together! DIYing the idea with OTHER ARTISTS is how we take the leap, jumping into the unknown.

MESSY DIY QUEST BEGINS

If you want to do something you’ve never done before, Messy DIY Quest is the place because we are in the business of flexing the starting muscle, but in the comfort and community of other artists trying. Bravery! Confidence! Slay!

In conclusion! HOW YOU DO SOMETHING DOESN’T MATTER. But WHY? Anchoring into WHY is gonna be what you return to when you’re ready to chuck your loom out the window cause you’re sick of weaving.

If we’re hung up on:

“perfect loom for making a weaving of my great grandmothers childhood home”

when we really actually mean

“I want to feel closer to my ancestors”

Our commitment to trying then becomes a field of technicolor possibility! Instead of white knuckling your way through your supplies closest, or writing down a list of goals, what if you committed to 5 days of trying messy? Trying DIY? Trying together.

MESYY DIY QUEST, trying on purpose! A free.99 9 day email course to take the first steps to making the thing, together 🥰