I always love flights that take off on an overcast day.

The wheels leave the runway and you’re thrilled by the sight of the mundane world below receding further and further away.

As you reach the cloud cover you get jostled around as you climb through it, a shadow of doubt crosses your mind as to whether or not it’s supposed to be this bumpy, if the plane can actually handle this turbulence.

And then, finally, there’s that magical moment of bursting through the clouds, emerging on the other side into a spectacularly bright, clear world of dazzling sunlight and clear skies.

The stress of travel seems to melt away, and you can’t help but feel in awe of the experience.

If you’re leaving a place that has more cloud than sun for large chunks of the year — Vancouver, London, or most recently for me, Tallinn — this might be the first time you’ve seen the sun in days, or even weeks, further amplifying the majesty of the moment.

On a recent flight from Tallinn to London, I was struck by the similarities that this experience has with the work of being a creator.

The Strata of any Creative Project

We start on the ground with a clear view of where we’re going, sure there may be a few clouds in the sky, a few problems we don’t know quite how to solve yet, but the problem seems manageable and fairly straight-forward.

As we begin to explore the work, we realize that there is more unknown than we had initially thought, more to learn, research, develop. That initially clear sky has clouded over, but we’re still generally sure of which direction to head in, with clear reference points and boundaries around us.

We climb further into the project, getting it off the ground and soon find ourselves in the middle of the cloud cover.

It’s at this point we often become disoriented and lost. The big picture view has been lost and all we can see is what’s right in front of us.

Turbulence tosses us around, there are setbacks and sidesteps, sometimes we might rapidly lose altitude for a period of time and we wonder whether it might be best just to turn back.

It’s worth remembering at this stage that there are clear skies up there if we have the will and the bravery to keep showing up, pushing ourselves to climb further and the faith that if we persist, we will eventually burst through the cloud layer and into that bright, dazzling world of sunlight above.

Keep on the throttle and point your nose up.