Great discussions on creativity, everyone. Just reading your comments is sparking my creativity! So here are the last of my thoughts on what you can do when that well of ideas seems to have run dry:
Take a Time Out. Remember how that works? Time outs? When you were a kid and got a little out of control, Mom sent you to the Time Out chair to cool off. Well, this is a similar principle. Too often we try too hard, which only makes creativity that much harder to find. So take a time-out. Give yourself time to play, to move, to get out of the house, away from your everyday life. Get out in nature. The woods, the ocean, a local park. Go to the library. Go to a museum and let the beauty of other people’s creativity wash over you. Go to the gun range and, as my hubby calls it, “plink.” Take a break from being an adult. Getting away from “it all,” at least once in a while, is restorative.
Spend time with creative people. You know who they are. You know the people in your life who seem to overflow with energy and ideas, with thoughts that spark your mind and spirit. Ask to spend a day with them, and watch their faces. Ask them how they stay focused. What they do to refill and rejuvenate. Let those who have gone before you help you on your journey.
Take a 15-minute vacation. Can’t get away for a whole or even half day? No worries. Take 15 minutes. Close the door. Sit in a comfortable chair. Close your eyes. And let your imagination take you wherever you want to go. Or go online and visit the place you long to be. Find pictures, videos, and more. Let yourself be transported.
Laugh! I’ve seen the restorative power of laughter over and over again, how it brings healing and even health. Watch cartoons, funny movies, or whatever tickles your funnybone. I have a whole shelf of videos and DVDs I watch to laugh. Doris Day movies. Red Skelton and Victor Borge comedy routines. The Dick Van Dyke show. And on and on. One of my all-time favs is a video of NFL snippets, set to ballet music. Hysterical! Laughter is a powerful force, friends. Give it full rein as often as you can. You’ll be amazed how that can rejuvenate you heart, mind, and soul.
Never forget, creativity is a precious gift. One a loving Father has given to bless you and those around you. Cherish it. Express it. Let it bless your world. And in those moments when you feel it’s run out, take a deep breath and relax. It’s still there. I promise. And if none of the ideas we’ve shared helps spark it to life, watch for next week’s blog, for a list of “When All Else Fails, Try These!”
Great suggestions, Karen! It’s too easy to get bogged down in the routine of being an adult.
This may have been mentioned in earlier posts. But the best thing I can do for myself and my creativity is read a book. Next best is create something. For me it is dress patterns and sewing.
I agree all your ideas and apply them daily.
I need to be relevant though. If a publishing deadline is tough, the deadlines imposed by a multinational corporation redefine the operative word, “Dead”. It is against that backdrop that I confirm my past, albeit not always understood, practice of dropping what I was doing to walk to a coffee shop, read a paper and do a crossword, whenever I hit a creative roadblock.
For the sake of 20 minutes lost, I gained hours in creative wrenching and I always, absolutely always, returned with a fresh perspective and a workable solution.
It may have been Hudson Taylor who said, I am far too busy not to spend an hour with God in the mornings – I find He brings perspective and realigns my daily priorities every day, if I wait on Him, which enables me to approach the day with calm focus – one of the key reasons why Jesus, instead of being exhausted by His daily, wall-to-wall load of needy souls, always remained fresh and focused.
Ah, laughter. It truly is restorative. Thanks for the great ideas, Karen!
On a recent writer’s retreat, my writing buddy and I discovered the power of getting away from the computer. We were there to write, to work, but each of us would occasionally get stuck. So, we’d take a walk or even work on something else (like, say, making lunch!) and the breakthrough(s) would come. A change of scenery makes a huge difference. I also love your suggestion, Karen, of going to a museum. I watch movies to recharge, or episodes from a favorite television show. And laughter? The perfect emotional release. Thanks for this helpful series on creativity.
Great ideas!! I completed a book proposal for a manuscript and sent it off to an agent this week. So now, as I wait for any word at all from this agency, I will take a much needed break from writing for 2 weeks.
I have decided to PAINT and DRAW (my first loves…) during this break and be creative!! I can’t wait!!
It is always a good thing to just take a break…and exhale.
Music does it for me. Lately, also, I’ve been tracking off into doing my jewelry-making. Sometimes one creative well can fill the other!