How to Find Joy in Unfinished Projects
Creativity doesn’t need to have an expiration date
The phrase “unfinished project” brings something specific to mind for each of us. For you, it might be the novel you’ve been working on for the past decade, or the pile of knitting supplies sitting in the corner of your bedroom, or the stack of half-read books collecting dust on your coffee table.
Whatever it is, I’m willing to bet that thinking about it makes you a little uncomfortable. Anything uncompleted tends to have that effect. Oftentimes, the discomfort is not even about the project itself — it’s a reminder of all of your shortcomings and failures. “I’ll never finish my book because I’m a terrible writer.” Or “I never finish anything I start. I need to grow up.” An unfinished project can make you feel like your whole life is unfinished.
At some point, the self-flagellation becomes counterproductive. It only makes the project seem like a chore, and who wants to spend more time on chores?
So recently, I’ve been trying to see things differently. As uncomfortable as it may be for our minds to leave things open-ended, there are good reasons to find joy in unfinished projects.
For one, they’re a sign you’re doing something right. There are scraps of stories all over my laptop and they are…
