Not only writers experience this kind of block, every creative individual has gone through this sometime. When you have gone for weeks or months happily creating amazing art it feels like you are invincible and then it happens, your mind goes blank. You question yourself and how can you ever go on being an artist with this kind of lack of creativity. Let me tell you, I have been there, it is a dark place but there is a way to see the light again.
This lack of ideas has and will keep occuring as long as I am an artist. Sometimes we let that affect us as such that it leads us into a depression, some even stop creating completely. Then the world is kept from all the amazing work this individual could have created. I am here to tell you…
We are strong! We are capable! We are creative! Immediately after your mind goes blank, you need not panic. Instead get your shoes on and go on a walk. If you live in a city then go out and pay attention to things you normally would not even glance at. For example the chewed up bubble gum stuck on the sidewalk or the cracked paint on an old building. If you live in a rural area notice the texture on the leaves of five different plants or the different colors of the grains of dirt under your feet. Look around, any sight might trigger a new thought or a new idea you might have never experienced before. Sometimes, I sit on the couch for hours battling myself and feeling pity for myself because I cannot think of anything new. All of this waste of time seems so pathetic when I realize that all it takes is a new perspective. Sometimes an object that seems so insignificant can trigger our creativity in an instant and it is not often that we find that sitting on the couch. That is why it is important to get up and be active during a time of creativity block.
The next thing is to pick up your pen and paper. I always feel scared to because I think that whatever I put down is going to suck. Well let me take the weight off your shoulders right now, whatever you put down doesn’t have to be a finished product, you don’t even have to use it. Whatever you put down is only a vehicle which will lead you to an open mind.
About two days ago, I experienced this block and that is exactly how I felt. When I finally picked up my sketchbook I drew a weird looking flower. I used my watercolors to color it in. The page was looking very empty (as you can see on the photos of the sketch) so I had to keep adding to it. Eventually, it grew into a face and flowers. I was actually happy with the results. It was playful and it allowed me to be creative, to just go with the flow. That is the way it has to be sometimes, we just need to let our ideas form on their own without interfering and trying to control everything.
From there you can develop that idea further or take a part of it or start over completely, it is our choice. We must choose to stay active not only with out bodies, but with our minds. They too can grow.
