How to Deal With Creative Ruts

Periods of rest are different from “creative blocks”.

Periods of rest are an essential part of the creative process.

Capitalism and its patriarchal, colonist roots have trained us to understand life through a linear perspective.

When in actuality life is cyclical. Time, growth, healing and creativity work in rhythms or cycles.

I’ve come to understand four stages of the creative process = conception, gestation, birth and death.

Phase one, is conception. This is the spark of inspiration, the moment in which you not only have an idea but also you physically or just energetically commit to carrying out the idea.

The second phase is gestation, development within the womb. This is the point in time where you are literally making the thing, you are showing up and doing the work and having the discipline required to make your idea into a reality.

The third step is birth, when you finish your creative project and you launch it into the world. It takes on a life of it’s own. Celebrate yourself and your accomplishment- do not down play your success and do not rush onto the next thing (this is how burn out starts, when you move to fastand start creating out of anxiety.)

The fourth stage is death. I’m not talking about your project dying because your finished work is immortal. However when we stop actively creating (wether because we launched our project or we walked away from the project) there’s a feeling of loss. Just like mothers of newborns experiencing postpartum depression, there comes a time when we are forced to separate ourselves from our creations. Let the creative high leave, don’t try to fight it.

When you ler yourself feel the lull, instead of distracting yourself, instead of numbing yourself. Let yourself Rest. Recharge. Restore. Recover. Meditate. Reflect. Stay open to new ideas.

Notice how the creative process is composed of four steps but only one of them actually involved physical work. Creativity requires long periods of self reflection, introspection, rest, curiosity and playful experimentation.

The more you act on your ideas, the more you create things constantly, the less precious you become with the things you make and then the more likely you are to share them with the world.

It’s crucial for the artist to share their work publicly. Yes there’s value in making things for yourself and keeping them to yourself but I believe self expression an innate human urge- we want to feel expressed and we want to be seen. When we don’t let ourselves do just that, we end up repressing the most vibrant parts of ourselves. When we don’t have healthy ways of expressing ourselves, we end up turning to unhealthy ways of doing so- this usually manifests as subconscious ways of seeking attention- like picking fights with your friends or significant other.

You allow yourself to be seen. You allow other people to not only see your work but find themselves in it and create their own relationship to it.

To work through “creative blocks” you need to do two things.

1. Create something everyday

2. Do not let your perfectionism stop you from creating everyday

Creativity is a muscle.

When you workout consistently, you gain muscle mass.

When you stop working out consistently, you start to lose your muscle mass.

Writers should write everyday.

Musicians should make music everyday.

We procrastinate on getting ourselves out of ruts by wanting to be perfect- start being messy & create something everyday.

Practice leads to progress.

Daily creation helps us not take our ideas too seriously because we are forced to remember, there is an infinite supply of ideas accessible to everyone at all times.

much love, kitty