When breakdowns make way for breakthroughs

Leaning on improvisation to nourish our creativity

I was recently invited onto the Space to Think podcast to connect with its host,

Sarah Philp

, over creativity and improvisation. We also discussed listening, trying, and letting go.

This piece is an extension of that conversation and the reflections from my latest solo podcast episode about tending to your creative foundations. Ultimately, it’s a window into my experience of using improvisation to play, plot, and pivot.

Shifting my idea of success

When I first read DO Improvise by

Robert Poynton

, I was deep in change. It was 2013, and I’d recently moved from Leeds back to my hometown of Edinburgh. A direct message on Twitter had led to coffee with a fellow studio owner and, before I knew it, my partner and I were taking the risky step of buying his business.

Soon after, we embarked on a renovation project, completely gutting and styling a 120-year-old traditional tenement flat. This kept Jonathan away from work for extended periods, leaving me to manage our existing studio while also getting acquainted with a new business, new clients and a new team.

I then discovered I was 15 weeks pregnant, a somewhat unexpected but welcome surprise. We had hoped to start a family but anticipated needing treatment, and years of fertility struggles lay ahead, but finding out I was carrying a healthy baby was and still is remarkable to me.

This stretch of change happened to be the most productive and profitable of my career. A thriving business, a growing family, and success, in a way. But was it?

Beneath the surface of this “picture-perfect” postcard was someone I no longer knew. Someone less creative, less lively, less me.

Rediscovering myself

When my daughter was four months old, I was diagnosed with postnatal depression. I’ve written about this phase and I’ll no doubt write about it again someday. But, for the sake of today’s post, I’ll keep it brief.

My recovery wasn’t linear, but therapy allowed me the time and space to meet myself with compassion. I discovered a newfound love of journaling, developed a keen interest in nature, and began heeding the nudges to change the way I lived and worked.

I wanted to slow. To savour. To simplify.

Looking back, I can see that improvisation played a part in this return to myself. It was the antidote to my creative block—a time to notice more, let go, use everything as DO Improvise teaches. Despite feeling unsure of myself, I was adapting.

It would be years before I made any significant changes in the direction of what I truly wanted for myself, but there was a knowing that change was possible.

Unlocking our potential

Throughout that time of shifting my approach to working, living and being, improvisation took the form of normalising challenges and mistakes, seeing them as opportunities rather than obstacles. I felt as though I couldn’t descend much further so adopted an attitude of "the only way is up."

Improvisation embodies a sense of possibility—which happens to be my word of the year—as well as compassion and abundance. It encourages us to embrace imperfection, and recognise that everything is an experiment.

By approaching life and work playfully, it can help us respond to change and foster growth in boundless ways. It’s an everyday thing, a game of figuring out, which can lead to inventiveness and unexpected outcomes.

Chance adventures occur with chance encounters—like that direct message I received through Twitter on a day I happened to be in Edinburgh and was free for a coffee.

While that business move led to highs and lows, I’m grateful for it. Because that business, while it’s no longer my primary focus, still supports my family.

Navigating uncertainty

Life is unrehearsed—our relationships, our conversations, our businesses—and we might not like what happens to us, but we have choices.

Improvisation teaches us to be adaptable, and the great thing about learning to adjust to situations is that it makes us more tenacious. It helps us handle surprise and rejection by building confidence and flexibility.

Much of life and work is outside our control. However, we can still shift and shape according to our circumstances. There will always be curveballs and setbacks, but there is always a way forward. We don’t have to be limited by our experiences.

I found this when I returned to work from maternity leave for the first time. Going back to the studio was a “no” for me. I couldn’t face the people or the pressure. But in working from home, I could build my confidence and creativity again and decide on my next steps once energised and resourced.

And the most important lesson I learned? To try. If we can get into that mindset of experimenting in the here and now and move our focus away from the distant results and towards the present moment—the ride—it can be quite liberating.

How do you navigate uncertainty and stay motivated to keep trying, even when you’re unsure of the outcome?

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.”

— Amelia Earhart

Resources for improvisation

I was recently inspired by the book I Didn't Do The Thing Today by

Madeleine Dore

. Madeleine writes

On Things

and challenges the myth of constant achievement, inviting us to accept what I called “the humanness and messiness of it all” in a recent post.

Alongside The Success Myth and Do Improvise, the ideas in the book are helping me respond to setbacks. Much like those I recommended in a recent article with 91 Magazine where I shared five books to nourish your creativity.

Two of these books are The Creative Act by Rick Rubin and Creative Confidence by David & Tom Kelley. Both are supportive reads if you’re struggling with believing that you’re an imaginative soul.

Creativity exists within each of us—sometimes, improvisation is the key to rediscovering that spark and nurturing its growth.

What books or resources have inspired your creativity? Are there any authors or titles you would recommend to others?

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