Creative Cocooning:

A Method for Deeply Engaging The Work & Experiencing What Emerges

Nicole Justine Reid

There are many ways to create: When the mood strikes. As a daily practice. Or in a more intensive, intentional container.

This is what I call Creative Cocooning.

Here, I will discuss:

• 1) What is Creative Cocooning?
• 2) How Do You Know if Creative Cocooning is Right For You?
• 3) Creative Cocooning: How to Design a Creative Intensive for Yourself

1) What is Creative Cocooning?

Creative Cocooning is just that – you build a cocoon so you and your creativity can undergo a metamorphosis and discover what emerges from this process.

Everything else becomes secondary or nonexistent for a set period of time (let’s say, a week, though it can be more or less – more on timeframes later). Your focus is entirely on creating. 

What this does is channel your energy towards a single goal or intention and allow the creative process to work its magic through you in a very focused laser-like way. 

Distractions can derail or delay a project. Sometimes,  they can be a necessary part of the creative process – they reveal layers and having the space and time to see the project from different angles can be a big benefit. 

But that’s not what I’m discussing now. I’m talking about a Creative Intensive.  A time period where it is just you and The Work.  No distractions. No one else’s energy or input. No tasks. No phone calls.  No emails. 

Just you and pure creation. 

It is confronting.

It allows you to go deep into The Work.

What is The Work? Ostensibly,  it is the creative piece or project you are working on.  But really,  it the deep engagement of yourself with Yourself, and the creative process. It is a bypassing of the mind and distractions, and a meeting of your Divine Self and the Life Force that flows through everything. It is a meeting of yourself in the wild, untamed place where societal obligations and daily life tasks do not push and pull at you and other people’s energies do not distract.

It is a true gift to experience engaging The Work this way. You encounter layers of resistance and love. You touch your fear. But, in this held container, you have the opportunity to face it and move through it, and reveal and reclaim a deeper part of yourself in the process. And The Work reflects this richness. Because All of You is participating and being reflected in the creation. The depth is inherently captured and will be felt, on an energetic essence level, by the receiver of whatever it is you are creating. 

And – most importantly – by yourself. You are Creation. Disconnecting from your creative essence can be draining and actually reduce life force. If you are sensitive and connected to The Energy That Is, you might feel it more when you aren’t allowing the creative flow the time and space it needs to breathe through you.

So, this is a time for self-care. For self-love. For touching the deepest part of yourself and reclaiming your creative force in a deep way.

How do you know if a Creative Cocooning is right for you?

2) Is Creative Cocooning Right For You?

First: You will just know. I always say, Follow the Resonance, and so, if you feel called towards this experience, you will know it is right for you. And then it is just about committing to it and doing it.

But fear can step in and make you doubt yourself. If you are getting into your head, drop into your body, your intuition, however you receive wisdom and information from your Higher Self, and ask, Is this right for me now? It may be right for you – later. Or now. Or never. Listen to your soul and follow your own wisdom.

I personally find that Creative Cocooning is beneficial in these times:

• You are disconnected from your creativity and need a rewiring/deep dive/reconnection
• You are wanting to work on a more intensive project (writing a book, painting a series of paintings, diving deep into a product you are designing, etc.) and have been having trouble making it happen. Creating a Creative Cocoon is a great way to make it happen. It gives you focus and permission to keep that focus. You will feel so much better on the other side of completing The Work.
• You need a creative shake-up – and creating a sacred time and space to be open and experiment and see what is wanting to emerge through you is just the thing to support this.
• You need a reset within yourself. Too much planning. Too many obligations. You need some time for You. And since you enjoy creating and somehow, that seems to slip by the wayside, it’s time to bring that front and center and establish You and Your Creativity as a vital part of your life.
• Any or all of the above.

If any of these resonate for you, and you are feeling a magnetic pull of any magnitude towards this experience, read on. There is magic waiting for you.

To experience Creative Cocooning, you must build the cocoon. Here are some suggestions as to how you might go about doing that.

3) Creative Cocooning: How to Design a Creative Intensive for Yourself

For this time period, you will be alone with the Work. 

1. Decide on a time period that scares and excites you a little bit. How long have you ever been alone? Stretch past that time. That is where the richness lives. A few days? A week? Two weeks? A month? You will know. It should be on the edge of comfort, just enough to open you up to new levels of yourself and your work,  but not enough to derail you with total fear or creative paralysis.  We don’t want that. That’s counter-productive. 

2. Choose a sacred space where you will engage in the creating. Your home? Nature? A studio? A combo/mix of your home and our and about? A retreat somewhere? Sometimes we can’t – or don’t desire – to go away on a creative retreat. So, another way is create a retreat ourselves, at home. Depending on your medium,  your intentions, and the level to which you wish to interact with others, consider:

• Signing up for an artists retreat
• Use a friend’s house if they aren’t there
• Go to a hotel or Airbnb
• Engage this process when your spouse is away on business or travel (arrange for childcare, if needed)
• Tell your spouse or whoever you live with what you’re up to and have them support you in refraining from discussing our doing anything besides The Work during the set time period
• Have your spouse go somewhere so you can have the house
• Go out into nature for the day and create there,  or a reserved room in a library if writing

3. Address your own fears and concerns. If you are already thinking along the lines of, “I can’t do that, that will never work,” think again. Ask yourself, “How can I make this work?” and let the ideas bubble up. If you feel at all excited by this idea, it is meant for you. Believe you can do it. Because you can.

4. Minimize/eliminate distractions and interruptions. Tell people what you are up to and that you will be Unavailable from X date to X date.  This means no phone calls,  texts,  emails, obligations, etc. If you worry about keeping your own boundaries, prepare to shut off your phone, laptop, etc. Put an away message on your email. Or use an app that won’t let you go online to sites that might derail you. Support yourself in making this as easy as possible. This may also play into whether you choose to do your Creative Cocooning at home or away. Take care of any tasks that need attending to – laundry, phone calls, bills, etc. – so your mind, body, and entire being can be focused on The Work. Create the conditions you need.

5. Prepare materials. Get everything you will need for whatever you are/ might be creating. Gather materials. This also includes food and water. Don’t let that become a Distraction. Have a plan for how you will get food and water or have food and water ready. 

6. Set an intention.  This will be your Focus Point for the retreat/ Creative Intensive. It could be about The Work itself, or your relationship to The Work, or yourself, or how you will engage with the creative process. It could be something like, “To be open to what emerges” or “to focus on X project all the way through” or “to experiment.” You can use an If/ Then Statement such as, “If I get restless and scared, I will sit and breathe and become curious about my feelings and what wants to emerge.” Or, “If I get lonely,  I will acknowledge my loneliness and go a step deeper into myself to find comfort, nourishment and connection.”

7. Enjoy your Creative Cocoon. Then,  it is time to step into this space you have created and allow yourself to Creatively Cocoon and see what emerges.

May you reconnect deeply with yourself and enjoy the process of creating whatever it is that is created through you.