If you’ve seen any movie with a pregnant woman about to give birth, then you’ve seen a phase of labor known as transition. It’s the point where mom becomes a little more aggressive.

You may have experienced something similar to this. Arriving at a crucial peak in your life, one that tests everything you have to offer before that new career, novel in the making, or new beginning can be welcomed into existence. It’s a point at which your mind starts to question your capability. Or perhaps, a point of comparison, wondering what it is that you’re needing to succeed.

If this is true for you, then you have something in common with Tom Hiddleston. Yes, even Tom once told an audience he’d “lost his mojo.” Sound familiar? This (oldie but goodie), Nerd HQ Tom Hiddleston Q&A with Zachary Levi, is a favorite of The Collective’s. The entire conversation is infused with relatability and evidence of “Meraki,” investing your entire being into your creative work.

Tom Hiddleston lost his mojo? pfft… In his [signature] poetic deliverance, he tells the audience a story of seeing the sunrise over London. An experience that provides him with this lesson: “Get up when the sun gets up, and look around. And you realize you’re part of an amazing planet.”

In the week’s following my daughter’s birth, when her cries seemed inconsolable, I’d carry her to the window to look outside. She’d quiet, distracted by fresh sights. There is power in altering our scenery, an active vs reactive approach to our crises. Easing our disquiet and eliminating the barriers to our imagination. But I’ve discovered Tom’s experience also contains a clichéd truth, common when we’re attempting to create most anything. A lesson we’ve seen repeated in inspirational quotes, as well as movies: darkness precedes dawn.

It is here we find the hidden glory of germination. The culmination of our prior efforts and preparations still at work, by which elation stems—creation.

As you move closer to your goals this week, take a moment to rest in the assurance that progress is being made. Even if things appear stagnant or in reverse.

Your masterpiece is being created. The pain. The hope. The heartbreak. The insurmountable odds you will overcome. Be patient, but persistent. Meraki will lead you to results. Brighter than spring, loftier than Valhalla.