Hey all!
For this month's Creative Collective post, I posed this question from Sarah to the group:
"What do you do when you're a creative person who isn't creating? How do you know when it's okay to be taking a break and when you need a good kick in the pants? Do other creatives feel an intense guilt when not creating?"
Ahh...thank you Sarah for being willing to answer your own question!
Sarah writes...
I've gotten through my non-creating malaise. Sort of. Here's what happened. I was working on my novel every single day for a couple of months straight. I was making progress. I had about thirty pages to go of my first draft. And then, I stopped writing. First draft's not finished, writing's not happening.
I felt depressed for about two weeks. But creative writing isn't my only creative outlet. I also have a blog. And I also have this goal of eating healthy and exercising regularly. I kept thinking to myself during that two week malaise- if I go exercise right now, that's time I should be spending writing. So I wouldn't go and then I wouldn't write. Because that makes sense. (Insert sarcasm font here).
Then something clicked and I decided to put writing aside for the moment and focus on my blog and exercise and eating right. And because it wasn't my novel, I was feeling so creative! My blog has gained followers and my daily page views are up. I let myself do something else creative, because I'm just not a one kind of project kind of girl.
So my new outlook? When the juices stop flowing, don't feel guilty. Find that other thing that you're just itching to work on. And trust that the juices will come back. I rented the movie Super 8 the other day and loved the dialog so much that it made me want to go work on my novel. I didn't....but I felt that spark and while I snuggled up on the couch suddenly realized that what I was doing was right.
My name is Sarah O’Holla. I am a young adult writer, blogger, school librarian and creative person who just so happens to wear jumpsuits on Fridays.
My fellow Valley artist Trace chimed in too.
Trace writes...
My strategy for getting un-stuck changes over time, but one constant that has emerged is a tendency to honor everything. I'm not religious per se, but there's a zen saying that I love: "The obstacle is the path." I can be very moody, emotional, and even prone to depression sometimes, but it's important to respect these phases in the same way that I have learned to love the brutal season of winter. Yes, it can be uncomfortable, but I sit through the discomfort.
I protect my inner spark so it's ready to go as soon as there's some fuel available for kicking it into high gear. I pay attention to the stark, cleansing beauty of this quiet "down time" and absorb its essential value. I remember that—as in the past—it will always give way to spring and flowers and warm sun on skin.
On a mental level, during the dark, despairing times of creative inactivity, I try to draw on the successes in my own history, recalling that there have been many times in the past that I was creatively stuck, and in every case, I managed to forge my way through it and do my work to satisfying effect, ultimately delivering the projects that at one time seemed so improbable.
On an emotional level, when I feel the urge to cry, I don't fight it. I fully engage it, because it seems like a primal process—like sleep—that nature intended. And when it passes I feel an exhilaration, similar to that fresh-smelling, altered ionic energy state that occurs after a thundershower. I just have faith that superstar-level creativity will happen again.
And when all else fails, I fall back on creature comforts. While history may judge me by how great an artist I was, my own inner yardstick for success is how happy I am in the moment, in as many moments as possible. If it takes putting down the brushes and going out for ice cream or a motorcycle ride to boost my happiness today, that's what I do. So be it. Then tomorrow, I gently remove the band-aid and get back to work solving the deeper issue: the creative urge.
Web designer by day, artist by way.
Thank you Sarah and Trace for sharing your creative wisdom!
Hmmm...It only seems fair that I take a crack at this question, too...
I find it helpful to apply to art making much of what I learn in yoga class.
To observe without judgement. To expand and contract.
There are times when ideas and flow and creativity are abundant, and times when I go to the well and return empty handed. And time that are all about refilling the well.
I also find it useful to just observe what's going on--without attaching anything to it.
As in, "I'm enjoying sleeping in instead of getting up at 4 a.m. to make art. I wonder if that's a winter thing?" as opposed to, "Ah! I'm lazy! So lazy!"
On the other hand, I often feel like I just don't have time for lengthy artist blocks--time for my own projects is so hard to find, I just go. Or maybe I'm blocked a lot--but don't notice because I'm not spending a ton of time in my studio.
That's one of the great things about working professionally as an artist for a large company (beyond the endless opportunity to get paid to practice my hand-eye coordination!). I have to make things. I have to meet deadlines. I have to be 'on.' It's good practice. It's built my ability to 'just go.' It also makes it harder for me to 'just play,' which is something I'm consciously doing more of these days.
I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Tell me how you unblock your artist's block!
xxoo Maeg
P.S. Happy Leap Day!
