How do you get unstuck?
On the ups and downs of feeling inspired
Hey, everybody. I'm sorry for the radio silence; it’s been a busy few weeks. How are you doing?
I’m back from New York and still trying to find my creative groove. Travel is good — it takes us away from the everyday routines of our daily lives and opens our eyes to new experiences. But it makes it hard to stick with your commitments and daily practices. Yoga, for one, is pretty much impossible for me to do on the road. I’m realizing that my May work trips have taken me away from my creative self, and I’m struggling to regain that flywheel of creativity.
Can you relate?
I figured the best way to get out of this rut was to write something spontaneously and share it with you this morning. I hope you don’t mind my ironing out these wrinkles in public! Thanks in advance for reading this not-very-polished post.
This cartoon sums up where my head has been lately — focused on scrolling social media feeds, which means hardly focusing at all. The good news is that I’m in Madison for the summer and plan to invest time and attention in reading some actual books. It’s weird to feel a need to commit to reading, but this is where we are in the culture. These choices matter, and if we don’t make them intentionally, we end up being swept up in the currents of digital media.
Fortunately, I’ve managed to wrangle my attention the past few mornings on a new book, Adam Moss’ The Work of Art: How Something Comes From Nothing, which is precisely what I need right now. Reading about creativity and where it comes from is a hobby of mine, and since my creativity is at a low ebb, I’m hoping it helps me pick up the pace. You can read more about Moss’ book in this NPR piece. So far, it’s a good one. I plan to read a chapter each morning with my coffee and hope it puts me in the right headspace as we cruise into the summer season.
Are there other books about creativity or artmaking that you recommend? Please suggest them in the comments. I can use the inspiration.
Sometimes, when I’m bored, I look at pictures. Seeing how photographers get creative helps me get unstuck. At the very least, pictures can make me smile. I’ve been looking at Adam Ekberg’s photography this morning, and I think it’s the perfect antidote to my Monday morning malaise. Adam is so inventive and playful. I don’t know how he comes up with this stuff.
See what I mean? I’m feeling better already. Thanks, Adam! Here’s another picture that made me smile. I don’t know much about Alex Alemany, but he nailed it here.
Is it possible to be creatively out of shape? I know how bad I feel when I’ve overeaten or haven’t exercised in a while — sluggish and logy. Does that happen when you haven’t flexed your creative muscles? Is creativity like running? Do we need to train like marathon runners? Maybe our creative mind gets flabby without a workout.
As I was writing this post, I remembered Chuck Close's quote. He’s right. I think the cure for a creative block is getting over ourselves to get back into our groove.
Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will — through work — bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great ‘art idea.’ And the belief that process, in a sense, is liberating and that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day. Today, you know what you’ll do, you could be doing what you were doing yesterday, and tomorrow you are gonna do what you did today, and at least for a certain period of time you can just work. If you hang in there, you will get somewhere.
Speaking of Close, here’s an excellent piece about him from The Marginalian.
You know what? I feel better. I think this worked! Thanks again for being here for me, folks. And thanks to Adam Ekberg for the photo inspiration this morning — it helped. You can see more of his work on his website. And if books are your thing, find a copy of The Life of Small Things. I’m going to dig out my copy this week.
More soon. Watch for my Spring Pictures post later this week. Take care!
FWIW, I've found that reading books that are really strong works of literature in and of themselves to be a lot more impactful than reading about making art or creativity. The thing I've experienced is that while a lot of those books have great information, they just aren't that well written, and experiencing great art beats reading about how to make it! A few older, shorter novels I've read recently that may resonate are Stoner (John Williams) and The Plains by Gerald Murane. Both have the creative process and its ups and downs baked into the plot, as well as much more.
Finally, I think creative work has seasons. At least for me. I've tried to give up on being upset when I feel stuck and just know that like a storm, it will pass. I try to not to put too much judgment on it and keep faith in my passion for the medium.
I also highly recommend Led Zeppelin. Loud.