Create. Destroy. Emerge.
Making a mess isn’t just part of the process—it is the process.
If You Want a Fulfilling Creative Life, you have to Make a Mess.
If you feel stuck, all you need is the right set of ideas to feel motivated again. Start by making a mess. A mess of opportunities. A mess of options. A mess of ideas.
Stuck is insidious, you might not know you are. Stuck looks like you feel like you only have one option, or you don’t like any options, or you wish there was another one.
I had a client recently—a brilliant artist—who had a really cool job offer and... was stuck. If this sounds familiar, you get it. For a creative, a great offer can feel like a trap.
If you take a job that fills your time…
→ Will you miss out on something bigger?
→ Will you have space for your own creative work?
→ Will you be closing doors you can’t open again?
When there's not a single clear answer the best option is almost never based on just one factor (like money).
I know this stuck feeling well. The kind where your brain loops in circles. Where at the end of the day, you wonder, Did I do anything that actually moved me forward? But forward to… what?
The way out is about getting clarity. And motion will move you there.
The Magic of the Mess
I use creative processes with my clients to break through this stuck place, and making a mess is step one.
No, this doesn’t mean taking unreasonable risks or running into traffic naked. It means creating more possibilities than you think you need. It means trusting the process, not the plan.
I know how tempting it is to avoid the mess. The internet is filled with “life hacks” that promise to make everything streamlined, simplified, effortless. But creativity doesn’t work like that.
It’s messy. It’s supposed to be.
Every time you go through the cycle of making a mess and shaping order from the chaos, you unlock new pathways of growth. If you've ever made a new choice, did something different, and realized you liked it as it lead to even more fulfullment or success, you understand this.
The mess isn’t an obstacle—it’s the raw material. It's a way of creating options that you can then work into something even bigger.
The mess is the clay you’re sculpting your life with.
The mess is where creativity takes root.
The mess is filled with unknowns, and that’s ideal.
The mess is where you plant seeds for new skills.
The mess is where you dig deeper into who you are.
The mess (and making the mess) is where you find inspiration.
The mess isn’t optional. It’s required.
CREATE. DESTROY. EMERGE.
The process I use—and live by—is simple:
1. CREATE – Make the mess.
2. DESTROY – Cut, refine, let go.
3. EMERGE – Step into clarity and action.
This isn’t just how I approach my work as a creative coach, or my art work. It’s how I approach everything. I’ve seen it over and over again with creatives: the moment they stop clinging to knowing (stuck) and start creating (motion), they snap back into inspiration and move forward.
It’s about nurturing the right kind of chaos, using it to destroy the unnecessary, and then emerging with more clarity than you had before.
Step 1: CREATE
Make the Mess
Creativity begins with divergence.
The "diverge" stage, the CREATE stage, the mess, this is the part where you brainstorm wildly, where you say “yes, and” to everything. Where you allow dumb ideas to exist because they are the stepping stones to great ones.
When I’m in this phase, I’m the person dumping the entire kitchen drawer onto the counter.
When I launched my 12-week course on unleashing creativity, I made a massive mess.
I dumped every idea into a document, more than one.
Some were fully coherent. Others were bits and bobs.
I formed an outline… then another… then another.
I made mind maps, sketched titles, scribbled half-baked ideas.
I made lists of references, articles, and books.
I decided on a theme for the journey I take creatives through.
I showed parts of it to people (messy!) and got feedback.
For a while, it looked like nothing. Just noise.
And here’s what I’ve learned: you can’t access your best ideas if you don’t give yourself permission to play with bad ones.
At this stage, I had pages of ideas. And through this process, honestly, less than half made the cut. If I sat there focused on what wasn't going right, I would never have continued. That's where phase 2 comes in. Keep reading.
To sum up, if you’ve ever had a brainstorm where you thought, This is garbage, congratulations—you’re doing it right.
Step 2: DESTROY
Narrow the Focus
Now comes the part most people resist: letting go.
This is where you cut what isn’t serving you—whether that’s an idea, a habit, or an old belief about what’s possible.
When I was building my course, I kept saying, I’ll launch when it’s ready. I have the 6 modules, now I'll write the 12 weeks, 84 articles and inquiries. And THEN I will launch.
(sidebar: anytime you say "I can do X when Y is true" that's a signal to challenge your assumptions)
But my coach said, Nope. Just start.
That felt impossible, I had this idea of how I would do it and didn't want to let go because I didn't have another plan. I wanted to be sure of every detail. I wanted the perfect roadmap. The perfect plan.
What I really wanted was to know how it would go, and all I had was a plan. This was just an excuse to avoid action. And remember, process > plans.
Starting before I was ready put a countdown timer on decisions. It forced me to make real gut decisions on what to keep and cut. It forced me to embrace failure as a way to learn what would really work. It forced me to cut and shape the course in real time—and that made it infinitely better.
Step 3: EMERGE
Step Into Clarity
After the mess and the destruction comes the moment of knowing.
This is where energy, motivation, and creativity come rushing back.
The final course I launched? It was nothing like the outline I started with. Well, the first two weeks were the same, the rest took new directions because the mess gave me even better information.
By starting before I was ready, I got to know my students and learned what they specifically wanted from a course and community.
Because I started before I was “ready,” I was able to shape it based on their actual needs and not just my own singular experience.. I was able to see what really mattered.
The thing I feared—creating something that wasn’t enough—was the exact thing that allowed me to create something that lasted.
Looking at what’s on hand, trying stuff and seeing how it works or doesn't, seeing what you can create from that, this is the EMERGE phase.
Why This Process Matters
You cannot emerge without first creating and destroying. That’s where most people get stuck—they’re afraid to make the mess, or they’re afraid to let go of the mess once it’s made.
But this cycle—CREATE, DESTROY, EMERGE—is how creativity works. It’s how growth works.
It’s how you work.
Here’s finale of the story about my community and course, for now.
After starting the course I was all in. I had to be, I had students counting on me.
I pulled all my notes, week by week, into the final outline. As we went, we often changed gears when our members shared their experience.
I was afraid of creating something that wasn't enough. I learned that it's better to create than create perfect. And what we have created has lasted years now.
The impact was beyond myself. Humbly, there are others who have seen major positive life changes from this particular project and none of that would have happened if I didn’t commit to making a big, honking mess.
When you’re in the EMERGE phase, you will discover an unstoppable version of you. You’ll feel excited for the work because you've pruned everything else. And you will know exactly where to start.
What Phase Are You In?
→ Are you in a CREATE phase, throwing everything onto the counter and seeing what sticks?
→ Are you in a DESTROY phase, letting go of what no longer serves you?
→ Or are you EMERGING, looking at the mess and seeing a new way forward?
Drop a comment and let me know.
And if you need help getting to the next step, just ask.
Creatively yours,
-Marc
P.S. If you’re ready to make a mess, clear the clutter, and emerge with something extraordinary, my Creative membership is the perfect place to do it. Let’s CREATE together.