_edited.png)
When I tell you I’ve been in a creative slump lately, I don’t think you understand the severity of it. We’re talking years. Yes, years. And truthfully, I don’t blame myself. In the last three years my life has done a complete 180* and I think, deep down, I’m still very much trying to process what has happened. I moved out of state, got divorced, moved back to my hometown, met someone new, moved into new apartment, became a mom, got married, said goodbye to my dad and grandma, adopted a cat and then inherited another cat, went back to college, started learning French, left my corporate job, moved again, started therapy… It’s enough to give me whiplash.
Somewhere along the way, I forgot part of myself. The creative side. The side of me that loves to paint and roam aimlessly through museums and flower gardens. Who used to read books just for fun and watch the stars at night. In a lot of ways, I’m still healing and adjusting to the changes my life has seen in the last three years. The me who I used to see in the mirror is not quite the same, and by no means does that mean I’m unhappy with who I’ve grown to be now. I’m incredibly happy with where my life is but it’s just different. I’m different.
I suppose that’s the beauty of life though. We never stay the same for very long. Something new is always coming our way and we become the result of our repeated decisions and choices. What matters is how we respond to it all. So, while I’ve been learning to navigate the new waters of life, I’ve also been learning how to awaken that creative side that’s lay dormant for so long.
Step #1: Stop Forcing the Creativity
The old adage says that good things come to those who wait, and the same can be said about our creativity. When we force creativity, it scares the muse away.
The ancient Greeks and Romans held the belief that each person was assigned an external entity of creativity, a daemon, known as a “genius” that operated as a messenger between humans and the divine. These genius spirits were the source of a person’s creativity, not the person themselves. In her book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert explains the concept of this belief is that they “didn’t believe that an exceptionally gifted person was a genius; they believed that an exceptionally gifted person had a genius.”
This belief left room for people, especially creative people, to not be so hard on themselves. In their mind, they believed their genius spirit simply wasn’t speaking to them, and this idea hung around until the mid-1700s when the whole belief was spun on its head. After that point, creative people—artists, poets, singers, inventors, etc.—were believed to be the geniuses themselves, and this belief is still widely accepted today. This newer belief puts a lot of pressure on creatives to be creative. A look back through the twentieth century is evidence enough of this. Notable people who succumbed to this imposing belief are Harper Lee, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many others who were frozen with the belief that they could never surpass the greatness and recognition that their previous work had received. In the music industry, this is known as a “one hit wonder.”
While I don’t know where I stand in regard to the ancient belief on creativity, I do know one thing: forcing creativity will make it harder to catch. This is known as scarcity mindset which “is when you are so obsessed with a lack of something […] that you can’t seem to focus on anything else.” This is closely related to the concept that what you focus on most, you’re more likely to bring more of it into your life (i.e. the Law of Attraction). It’s debated on who first said the quote, but “where the mind goes, energy flows” applies here. If you’re constantly stressing about not being creative, you are, in a way, unintentionally manifesting more creative struggle for yourself.
One way that I’ve been able to combat this is by thought-stopping, which is exactly as it sounds. Once a thought comes into your mind that doesn’t resonate with you, you immediately throw it out. For example, if the thought of, “I’m not creative” comes to mind, I’ll immediately say or think, “No, I am creative. I’ve written three books. I run a blog. I enjoy interior design and branding.” Or something like that.
Our brains have a tendency to have a strong confirmation bias and seek out information that confirms the thoughts that pop up to reaffirm that thought or belief. Long before Ghandi said his own variation of this quote, Lao Tzu said, “Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” Our thoughts have incredible power over our lives. The thoughts we entertain can influence our beliefs, actions, and habits, so if you’re stuck thinking, “I’m not creative,” you’re going to continue to show up as a non-creative person and invite more creative struggle into your life.
So how does this tie in to not chasing creativity? You can, quite literally, do anything you put your mind to because it all begins within our thoughts. Change the way you think, change the way your life is. It’s simple, but not always easy. Don’t look at creativity, or the momentary absence of it, as a permanent thing. Creativity, our genius spirits, come and go. Allow yourself grace and have patience because creativity always strikes when we least expect it, so wait expectantly. Wait with the optimistic view that creativity is on its way to you. Hold on to the belief that your next revolutionary idea is soon arriving.
Don’t chase. Wait. And wait expectantly.
Step #2: Waiting Expectantly
People often confuse the idea of waiting with sitting around and twiddling your thumbs until something happens. This is incorrect. The proper way to wait for creativity to strike again is to be active in doing something non-related. I know it sounds like a backwards way of behaving but trust me. Remember when I said that scarcity mindset could be the cause of unintentionally manifesting more creative struggle into your life? That’s because your focus is on the thing you’re lacking (i.e. creativity), so don’t focus on it. Find something so far removed from your typical routine that creativity has no choice but to chase after you to catch up.
My favorite ways of doing this is as follows:
o Going to a museum or art gallery
o Getting some much-needed time outside
o Unplugging from socials for a day (or two)
o Reading a book in a genre I’ve never read before, or watching a movie I typically wouldn’t watch
o Clean the house
o Rest
o Workout or meditate
o Research things I’m curious about but haven’t taken the time to learn more about
o Listen to a podcast
There are countless ways to occupy your time while waiting for your creative muse to arrive. In my experience, some of my best ideas have come to me while I’m in the middle of doing a completely unrelated task. For example, I was mopping my kitchen floor when the idea for this blog post came to me.
Find something that brings you joy and do that thing. It’s amazing what happens when we give ourselves permission to be and to do and to have fun. Fetel Lee says in her book, Joyful, “joy’s power is that small moments can spark big changes” in the way we think and live our lives. The Forbes article, “The Science of Happiness and The Creative Brain” goes into detail about how our joy/happiness is directly linked to our creativity and creative output, and there are plenty of studies that suggest our creativity is influenced by our feel-good hormones. While mopping doesn’t really seem like a joyful task to undertake, I work better when my house is clean. For me it makes perfect sense that my stroke of genius struck while I was doing something that brings me joy: cleaning.
Among the various things to do while waiting for your next dose of creativity, you may have noticed I mentioned rest. Sometimes the most important thing we need to refuel our creativity is a break. Mental overload is a dangerous thing, and can lead to fatigue, lower-quality work, moodiness, and poor decision making. Allowing myself breaks and even scheduling time to rest in my days seemed so counter-productive at first because western culture has a stressed important of hustle-culture, but over time, I have become more productive and creative in my work. And when I talk about resting, I don’t just mean throwing myself on top of my bed and saying I’m resting when my mind is running through a million different scenarios at once. No, friend, I mean true rest where I quiet my mind and force myself to be present. (This is something I’ve learned from my therapist. It’s called thought-stopping, which I mentioned above.)
Within the last year, I learned about the Italian concept called dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing. My favorite example of this is a video of a man sitting on a park bench, eyes closed, soaking in the sun. No phone, no books, no headphones, no work. Simply existing. This concept has transformed my way of viewing life, rest, and work.
Step #3: Embrace Collaboration and Feedback
One downside of being a writer is that it is a largely solo-career path, but thanks to platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, writers are able to meet and collaborate with other creatives rather easily. A quick search will turn up numerous Facebook groups, hashtags, and profiles that cater to the creatively inclined, and all you have to do is select which one to join or follow.
Utilize these groups when you’re feeling yourself slip into a creative slump. If all else fails, seeking feedback and collaborating with other writers will be a surefire way to kick your slump to the curb. This can provide you with fresh insight and new perspectives into the work you’re writing, and by engaging in discussion or bouncing ideas off of one another, you’re more likely to reignite your creative spark.
Asking for constructive criticism or feedback may be daunting at first and feel like you’re asking people to judge your work. This feeling is entirely normal, and I promise, it eventually goes away. Sharing your work for the first time is always a little unnerving, and it should be! It shows you care about the work you’ve created and that you want to make a good impression upon your readers. That, my friend, is a great indicator that you’re passionate about writing.
Make sure you take notes of the feedback you receive, ask any clarifying questions you make need, and go back to the drawing board to see how you can implement the feedback you’ve gotten. Not all the feedback will work, and that’s fine. Feedback isn’t meant to completely restructure your story (unless it’s necessary), but rather act as a guide to point you in the right direction to get you writing again.
A friend, mentor, professor, teacher, or sibling are your best options when you first begin the collaboration process because these are people you oftentimes trust and value their feedback. But if you’d rather seek outside help, here’s a word of caution: be picky about who you share your story with, and who you ask for feedback. Unfortunately, not everyone we meet is honorable, so make sure whoever you’re collaborating with is someone you can trust. If you do choose to seek help from a Facebook group or TikTok, be intentional about the details you’re sharing and what to leave out. You don’t want to give any spoilers away, and you definitely don’t want to give enough information that someone could steal your idea.
One way to potentially avoid this is to seek out a critique partner. This is someone who will review and leave feedback on your work in return for you to do the same. Critique partners help writers in a way that other feedback and collaboration may not since critique partners are writers themselves also looking for feedback and creative review. Again, you can usually find a critique partner pretty easily by searching through Facebook groups.
Whatever you’re looking for, do your research and have fun. It may take a few tries to find someone that gives you great feedback, but that’s all part of this hectic journey as a writer.
When Creativity Strikes Again…
Sometimes our creative reserves tend to dry up when we experience traumatic or uncomfortable life events which is what happened to me. If your creativity has been on the decline for a while now, it’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’ll never write again. The most important part of reviving a creative slump is allowing yourself grace. Having patience with yourself does wonders and takes the pressure off of creating right now.
For me, I’ve found that trying to be even a little creative in my life has also helped open the doors to sparking more creativity and desire to write. That can look like rearranging your furniture, painting your room, decorating a cake, or drawing with sidewalk chalk with your toddler. If you write only a word a day, that is still progress. Baby steps still move you forward. So, keep going and don’t give up. One day you’ll look back and be surprised at how far you’ve come.
Comments