As we move further into summer, this is a good time to check in with your creative work—and with yourself. How are you doing? Perhaps you have had a productive season, or maybe you've been navigating uncertainty. Either way, take this moment to reflect.

This month, I want to talk about gratitude. It is one practice that can redefine your creative journey. Though, not the kind you express at the end of a triumphant moment. Instead, the kind that shows up in the middle—the messy, uncertain, still-becoming part of your story—and when it is hard.

Gratitude for the Unfinished

It is easy to feel grateful once the outcome is clear. The deal is closed. The show is sold. The edit is locked. Yet, some of the most powerful forms of gratitude emerge long before the end. They begin when the pitch is still pending, when the script is still finding its shape, when your confidence wavers, and the path ahead is anything except certain.

This in-between space—the draft stage, the development limbo, the waiting—is often where real growth happens. It is where resilience is created from presence, staying the course.

What if you could be grateful not only for the resolution? You could be thankful for the process itself.

Grateful that your story is still unfolding. Grateful that your best work is still becoming.

As creatives, this kind of gratitude helps you shift from needing everything “figured out” to trusting that you are still in motion—and that motion matters.

Try This Language Shift

When something feels incomplete, instead of saying:

→ “This is not done.”

Try:→ “This is still becoming.”

That shift invites space. And space, as any creator knows, is where the next idea can breathe.

Gratitude for What Was Difficult

Then there is the other side of the journey—the parts that truly hurt. The rejection. The burnout. The heartbreak you never saw coming. It might feel impossible to associate gratitude with these moments. Yet this is often where the most meaningful shifts begin.

I have lived it.

A relationship that ended hurt my heart, though it ultimately brought me clarity about the kind of company I want to keep. Who do I want to work with? What values matter to me? Are the people closest to me aligned with them?

A missed show opportunity that initially felt devastating turned out to be protection. A terrible natural disaster happened at the location where I would have been working. Several were injured. I could have been one of them. There is a saying: Rejection is God’s protection. In this case, I felt that was literally true.

In hindsight, I feel grateful for both of these experiences. Not because the pain was easy—because it helped me grow. So, gratitude does not mean pretending things are all fine. It means seeing and honoring what emerged.

A Different Question

Instead of asking:

→ “Why did this happen to me?”

Try:→ “What did this teach me about who I am becoming?”

This shift reframes your experience as part of your creative evolution, not just a detour.

Your Reflection Practice

Now, how do you move this shift from concept into your daily creative life? This is where practice transforms perspective.

Each month, I offer a way to move this conversation from words on the screen to lived experience. These practices are inspired by my book Take a Shot at Happiness: How to Write, Direct & Produce the Life You Want, where I use reflective journaling and camera phone photography to help you explore your happiness and wellbeing.

Photo Op

Choose one:

• Take a photo of something in progress: an unfinished scene, a half-completed painting, a rough draft.
• Or take a photo of something that once represented struggle, and now feels different. A scar, a set location, a personal object.

Action Opportunity

Look at your image and ask:

• What is this teaching me about patience, process, or growth?
• How might I honor this moment instead of rushing past it?

Write one sentence that expresses gratitude for something that is still unfolding—or something that once felt hard, and now feels meaningful.

You do not need to wait for the final edit, the last approval, or the perfect outcome to feel grateful. You are always a work in progress—and that is the gift.

Before I finish here...

This month marks two years since I began writing this blog. It continues to be a joy to support the happiness and wellbeing of the Stage 32 community.

If we do not each look after ourselves, then all the work—the accolades, the rewards, the privileges—will mean very little. Mentally, physically, spiritually (however you define that), it all matters.

We work long, intense hours, over long, intense stretches of time.

Take care of yourself.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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