Ruts. Down periods. Being stuck. Dry spell. That time where
nothing feels right. You start and stop and just can't find that
happy, magical place where it all seems to come
together.
I have so been there. I am there. And I know I will be there again.
The good thing is, I am not afraid. It is a natural part of the process. Anyone who participates in a creative endeavor experiences times when they are less prolific. Less inspired. Where they just feel blah about something that normally fills them with excitement and passion.
I try to look at ruts and creative dry spells as simply a part of the cycle of artistry - a chance for the place where my creativity comes from to take a break. To rest. To be filled up again. For a bunch of new stories to be experienced.
Here are some of my favorite ways to get back in the groove again:
1. DO NOTHING. Yep. Ignore that thing that you normally love all together. If you have a scrapbook room, shut the door and give yourself permission to take a day, a week, a month off. No guilt. No pressure. No worries that you will never feel "it" again. You will. It will come back.
2. BE SURPRISED. One of my favorite ways to get re- energized is to allow myself to be surprised, delighted, and inspired by someone or something. Taking some time to surf around on the web can be a great source of delightful surprises. One of the coolest things is that people like to link to other people. People online like to share information, share the things that fire them up, the things that kick start their creativity. You can go from one thing to the next to the next and end up in a totally crazy wonderful place you never knew existed. You may even learn something. You may even be absolutely surprised at where you end up. And you may not even be able to wait another minute until you can go create something.
3. GO HERE: Keri Smith's 100 Things.
4. DO THE OPPOSITE. If you are normally a very linear scrapbooker/artist, force yourself to do something very organic and messy and free. If you really let yourself go and give yourself to the process and you end up hating your creation, throw it away or paint over it or cover it and start again. By simply going through the exercise of forcing yourself to do something totally opposite from what you would normally do you may be able to wake up your creative impulses enough to get back into the groove. I liked this quote from Cameron Moll: "Inspiration weaves its way into every facet of life. We'd be sorely remiss if we sought to be illuminated only by the medium or genre with which we work."
5. GO. Get in your car, on your bike, or use your own two feet (one of the best methods) and go somewhere NEW to you. It may be a new restaurant, a new store, or it may be simply walking down a new street in your neighborhood - the key is to get out from under your normal vision and see and experience something new. I love doing this by myself (it is one of the reasons I have come to love travel), but it can also be done with a friend, your partner, or even with your child(ren). Kids are amazing at seeing what exists right in front their noses, whereas we as adults tend to have lost that ability. Getting out of your normal environment and seeing something different is a great way to kick start your creativity.
6. TAKE A DEEP BREATH. One of the simplest and most effective ways (and one of the things I do often) to break up those negative rut vibes is to walk to your front door, open it, take a step onto your porch, stand up tall, and take a deep breath. Sounds cheesy but it is something that has worked for me - it clears my head, helps me focus, and allows me just enough of a break that I can go back into the studio and feel ready to work again. This is especially effective if you are working under a tight deadline.
7. COLLECT SOME EYE CANDY. Another way I like to work my way out of a rut is to pick up some new magazines. Usually they are unrelated to scrapbooking - most of the time I will pick them up because the design looks interesting or something catches my eye. Larger bookstores tend to feature a wealth of interesting and different magazines that you won't find at the grocery store. Check out a magazine for art or photography or cooking or parenting (maybe use #4 from above and grab something like dirt biking if you normally gravitate to knitting) or design. Magazines tend to be so visually stimulating that it is hard not to see something that makes your heart beat a bit faster.
8. GOOGLE. Try this result page. As you will see, a TON has been written on this topic. Most get down to the same thing: give yourself a break - it will come back.
9. CLEAN. This is one of those things that has worked for me in the past. It's almost a guarantee if I commit to cleaning my space, or even cleaning up around the house, that I will be bombarded with ideas. I am either inspired by things I discover in my workspace (gems often hide in the piles) or through the act of refocusing my energy elsewhere the ideas begin to flow. This works especially well if you commit to whatever cleaning task you detest the most.
10. WRITE. Sometimes when I feel really blocked I will use my time to just focus on writing. This often ends up being stream-of-consciousness writing where there is very little structure. It's writing with the intent of clearing my head and getting all the crazy thoughts, stories, and feelings down on paper or in my computer. Sometimes a great story will emerge from these sessions, but most of the time the value comes through the process rather than the result.
11. GET BACK TO BASICS. Think words + photos + cardstock. Create something using just those three basic elements without judgment. You're not trying to win an award, you're trying to get back in the groove. I find that going back to those core elements lights a fire inside me and helps me get back in the creative mindset.
The bottom line: TAKE HEART, IT WILL COME BACK.
Originally published January 10, 2007 as part of my AEzine newsletter series. I will be periodically bringing content back from the archives, updating/adapting, and re-publishing here.
