Who gives you permission?

I’ve been thinking and writing about permission lately. Who gives us permission to write, or create, and why do we seek permission from outside of us in the first place? 

And it all, yet again, comes down to patriarchy, capitalism and the messages we internalise from living in those systems. 

Going to school = asking permission to do things, being told what to do and when. 

Working = being on a schedule for the most part, being told what to do and when. 

It’s therefore no surprise that in other areas of life, we look for someone to tell us what to do and when. 

Including what to do with our creative projects. 

It takes a lot of awareness and willingness to be uncomfortable to unpick this particular pattern once you’re aware of it, and if you don’t it can stop you from making any progress creatively for years. 

There are a few ways you can consciously unpick your internalised patriarchy and capitalism and give yourself your OWN permission to create: 

1. Decide you’re going to rebel! Commit to noticing every time you feel like you’re waiting to be told what to do with your project/creative work/writing, and give yourself a nudge to just do it anyway. Make a time to actively work on your project, without an eye on anyone else’s approval! 
   
2. When you feel like you’d like someone to approve of what you’re doing, give yourself that approval. Make sure you consciously let yourself know that you approve and tell yourself you don’t need anyone else to approve of you to do it. 
   
3. If you work best visually, make yourself a permission slip. Either create it in Canva (or by hand, or via some other method you like to use), and then pop it somewhere where you’ll see it often/when you’re working on your creative project. I’d suggest wording it something like this: “I [name here] give myself permission to work on [project here] as often as I want to, for as much time as I want to. I commit to creativity, to my project and to myself.” End it with a signature to make it official, just like when you needed a permission slip for school. 

Making sure you give yourself permission to create is fundamental to you actually working on your project/s and living a fulfilling, satisfying life. 

You deserve one of those. (Yes, yes you do.)