Creative Block

Whelp, my body has told me something loud and clear:  I am in a creative block.

I haven't had a big push to write, aside from my self-imposed deadline.  I haven't be able to draw.  I don't feel like making music, aside from humming along with whatever I'm doing.  

I know the crux of the problem originates in a couple of pieces that I simply have not had the time, the words, or the conditions to finish.  AND YET until I am able to get this particular piece out of me, I don't seem to be able to make much else, at least not with the ease I have in other places.

So, writer's block.  How the hell do we deal with that?  Or if you're not a writer but understand that creative rut, how do we get out of it?

For me, one of my best methods is to write anyway.  The words tend to fill themselves in, even if it's just a few paragraphs complaining that I can't find the right words.  But the act of writing puts me in a better space to write.  It's the like gym:  the hard part is actually getting there.

Another method--switch mediums for a while.  Go plunk something out on the piano or find a new recipe or pull out the crayons for a bit and color.  Just make something.  Add something into the world that wasn't there before.  Then, at least, the pressure has lessened, letting a little air out of the balloon of expectations you've set for yourself.  This also helps preempt the shame cycle elements, where the frustration of not creating something turns into self-criticism and exacerbates itself into a spiraling pit of self-doubt and blah. 

Finding something physical to do for a while helps, too.  That can be going for a walk or even a long drive or going to the gym, just something where you cannot be doing much else because you are doing that thing--can't check your phone when your hands aren't free to do much with it or if you strategically left it behind.  For me, that's part of the joy of swimming--I do not currently have a means to even listen to music while I perform my laps, let alone check social media.  

Taking a break is okay, too.  Healthy, even.  Provided that it does not further that frustration cycle--if you can give yourself the grace to have a break, do it; if that's going to make things worse, try setting a very defined break (e.g. taking one week off) and then come back after.  For me, a deadline is helpful--I have established that I'm not quitting forever, just taking a break--but for others it makes things worse.  Whatever combination works best for you will vary by situation, even for the same person.  It will take a certain level of self-awareness to sort out the right one.  

Unless I'm on the taking a break tack specifically, though, I feel it's important to keep creating.  Not creating, to me, is physically painful when left too long.  I need to make things.  If I'm not stringing words together somewhere or building something with my own hands for too long, there is an anxiousness that I cannot quiet.  That anxiousness becomes a pressure.  That pressure can trigger some shame cycles or otherwise just sit there steadily swelling in the back of my mind.  Some catharsis is needed.  It's like needing to eat.

And like eating, there are different dietary needs, certainly, but I feel that most everyone has this urge but to different degrees or by calling it a different name.  I very much believe that creativity is applicable to far more places than it isn't, meaning I don't have to do traditional "art" to be meeting that creative need.  

Figuratively, I'm burnt out on one of my favorite foods at the moment--I'm going on clear liquids to let a few things reboot and then steadily adding pieces back into my normal diet again.

It will pass.  It always does.  And I allow the wave to move through (begrudgingly more often than not).  It's a chance for some new discovery in the meanwhile.