Frustration equals early in the process.

Sit with that for a moment or two. 

Let it sink in like a stone dropping into a still pond. How many times have you slammed into frustration and thought, I’m screwing this up, again –  I should have this figured out. Something’s busted?  What is wrong with me??  But what if that grinding, gnashing feeling isn’t a red flag – what if it’s just the front door? Not failure, but the first step? That’s the kind of twist that flips the script, shakes the stage, and changes the game.

The Dance of Light and Shadow – It’s Always Both

Creativity, growth, life – it’s a damn paradox, isn’t it? One minute, you’re bathed in light, everything’s crystal clear, like you’re standing on a mountain peak with the world laid out below. The next, you’re groping through fog so thick you can’t see your own hands. It is  just light and dark, but fullness blazing bright, then shadows curling in, heavy and deep. It’s not one or the other. It’s both. Always both. Living in the land of and. 

We trip over ourselves expecting strength to mean no weakness, clarity to erase doubt. But that’s the lie we’ve been sold. Peter Brook once said theater lives in the tension – the space where opposites collide and spark. Same goes for us. You can stand tall, anchored in self-trust, and still feel the tremble of vulnerability, the sting of uncertainty. They’re not enemies; they’re dance partners. That’s the shift: it’s not either-or. It’s both-and.  Stay with the thought a little long, muse on it –  and feel how it could re-write  you if you worked with this on  the daily. 

Head Gets It, Body’s Gotta Live It

In a session the other day, I tossed this out: “It’s easy to nod along mentally – yeah, I get it. But to live it? That’s the real gig.” Rick Rubin’d strip it down to the bone – it’s not about knowing the tune; it’s about playing it in your marrow. You don’t flip your whole life overnight. Start small. Pick one corner – your writing, your relationships, that project you’ve been circling – and own this shift.  Own it in this one corner of the universe. Let it seep in, somatic and real, until it ripples out like an underlying drumbeat that pulsates you through your conscious and creative life. 

The Power of Not Knowing – And Knowing It’ll Work Out

Here’s where it gets juicy: “If I can know that I don’t know, but I absolutely know it can’t not work out for the best – then I can sit with the discomfort.” That’s the work, folks. This is one of the many reasons improvisation (the real stuff – not comedy driven) shove us into the fire, the crucible of it – no scripts, no safety nets, just you and the raw, unpolished now-ness. It’s sitting in the muck of uncertainty with a quiet, unshakable trust that the universe is unfolding exactly as it should – even when it’s not on your personal, demanding timeline.

“Drop the agenda,” I said, grinning like a fool who’s finally caught the punchline. “Especially that it’s gotta happen now nonsense. When impatience kicks up, I lean into breath – long, slow, deep, (LSD) and thus feeling more and more alive. I root into presence. I allow. I notice what I have not noticed for awhile.” That’s not weakness; that’s strength at a creative and soulful level 

Frustration’s Your Friend – A Marker, Not a Monster

The paradigm shifter: frustration isn’t the enemy.

It’s a neon sign flashing, You’re early in the game. I had this hit me like a freight train recently – my frustration was screaming that I was still at the starting line of this journey I was on. When you’re deep in the process, patience comes easy – you know it’s gonna work. But early on? That itch, that edge, it’s just proof you’re in the thick of becoming and perhaps the mind is telling you stories that are all together helpful at that moment. 

“If I really take that in,” I told the room, “if I own it down to my bones, it changes my whole dance with frustration – forever.” It’s not a problem to fix; it’s a signal to read. Step into that knowing – not just with your head, but with your gut, your breath, your whole-self and state of being. Suddenly, you’re not dwarfed by the challenge – you’re the space holding it, bigger than the storm.

The Invitation – Perfect in the Mess

“I’m not waiting for everything to be perfect to call it perfect,” I said, letting the words hang like smoke. “I’m allowing it to be perfect in its process.” That’s the chase – raw, unpolished, truthy. That’s the eloquence Brooks’s  weaved into a quiet stage moment. That’s the primal howl that true creatives can pull from your core. It’s knowing – deep, unshakable knowing – that the mess, the stumbles, the shadows are all part of the masterpiece. Step into that, and everything shifts.

Where’s this landing for you? Where in your life – your art, your hustle, your heart – can you lean into this today? Frustration’s knocking – what’s it telling you? Scribble it down, let it simmer, and see what breathes back. This is the work. This is the shift. This is your invitation.

In the wild, beating heart of it all,

Joshua Townshend

Townshend Studios – Where Creativity Breathes