Creative Paralysis
What do we do to get out of our stuck-ness?
“When the path to creative freedom is in learning to stay a beginner ”
You don’t need to be an artist to experience what creative paralysis feels like. It’s the universal feeling of being stuck.
As someone who writes and draws regularly, I go through seasons of creative “stuck-ness”. Sometimes I don’t pick up a pencil or make art for months. Sometimes it’s just a few days. I’ve come to accept this ebb and flow of being stuck, but I also have looked to other artists to see what they do when they seem to hit this metaphorical wall:
“Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work,” says painter Chuck Close. Novelist Isabelle Allende echos, “show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too.”
Picasso famously proclaimed, “to know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing.”
These quotes have all guided me in some way to remember that we don’t dream our way out of being stuck. We don’t avoid the blank canvas or the blank page. We work our way through it. We do our best and trust that in showing up, we find our way.
Now, these words may be inspiring. But how do they help us in our day-to-day life when we feel stuck and unmotivated? First of all, it’s important to acknowledge that we have all experienced this feeling in some way, especially this past year. Whether you have been stuck in the same physical location for far too long, or the same job, or the same detrimental habits or harmful patterns… or you’ve been stuck with the same self-defeating thoughts or emotional turmoil of feeling numb or flat. Take a moment to recognize where you are feeling stuck.
Here are 5 ways creative paralysis shows up in my life:
When validation becomes more important than self expression
Disregarding my creative voice for what’s “trending”
Attachment to my successes makes me fearful to fail
Prioritizing perfection over exploration
When I’m too afraid to experiment and risk not getting “likes”
I find that the source of my creative paralysis comes from two places: my fear and my need to control.
The controlling mindset tells me to be a perfectionist. To be attached to the results of my work. To create for the sake of validation. My fear tells me I’m not good enough. It tells me not to take risks or stay curious. I fear my own mediocrity and have developed a very low tolerance for the lousy first drafts I write or the mistakes I make along the way.
I don't have a magic solution to avoid these creative blocks entirely. However, I am learning to recognize them sooner when they come up, so that I can move through them sooner.
I practice replacing the fear based mindset with a beginner’s mindset.
I stay curious to learn. I practice being eager to try something without expectations. I focus on the questions rather than the answers. And of course: I try to enjoy the process rather than the results. The first step to beginning… is simply beginning.
A little glimpse into the beauty of Florida wildflowers that surround the highways
I'm going to do thinks a bit different this week and share my top 6 book recommendations to inspire you in your creativity:
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth GilbertDaily Rituals: How Artists Work, by Mason Currey
The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron
Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad, by Austin Kleon
Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do
“Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours.
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