Creativity begets creation. Every invention was as a result of the flow of creativity through the mind of the inventor. Thomas Edison, Beethoven, Albert Einstein and all the other famous inventors had the experience of being conduits of the creative energy of life.
But like with every flow, creativity has an inherent challenge of experiencing a blockage which can be really frustrating especially if you are a full-on creative.
As a writer, there are times that I go days, weeks and even months staring at a blank page. Not that there’s nothing to write but all the ideas seem so cluttered and incoherent. They lack the vital touch of creativity to be translated into form. I bet you also have your own experience with this even if you aren’t a writer.
One of the pertinent questions I’ve sought an answer to is how to get your creative juices flowing again after having an episode of creative block. What I discovered might not really be what you anticipate for a solution.
So what do you do to get your creative flow back? Very simple- nothing. Nothing? Yes, you heard me right- nothing. In this extremely busy world of ours, nothing never seems to be the solution to anything.
We prefer 10 steps, 20 action plans and whatever chore we can find to nothing. And it’s completely understandable. I’m also quite a doer myself so till date I also have a hard time doing nothing, sometimes.
Perhaps, not everything requires our intervention to happen, they just happen on their own. I often ask people this question, “So, what did you do to make the sun come up this morning? And after a hard day’s work, what will you do to drive it away to make way for the moon?” Mostly, the response I get is penetrating silence which with time, I have found to be synonymous to nothing.
The facts as we have them show that the earth has its own pattern or orbit around the sun and is programmed to follow through its orbit. There’s nothing for us to do about that, it’s just for us to know.
The same creative power that creates and sustains all of creation including the earth, moon and sun flows through us. If we don’t need to do anything to make the sun come up in the morning, then is it absurd to think that the creative flow within us can take care of itself even if we do nothing?
It is not surprising that even after hearing that there’s nothing for us to do, we turn around and make “nothing” into a chore. So we sit on a bench grim faced and wave at the first person that passes by “hey look, I’ve been here doing nothing for an hour”
Doing nothing has more to do with mental activity than with physical chores. So even if you sit on a bench for 12 hours with a mind fluttered with activities such as what you should be doing, what you’re missing, when your creative juice will begin flowing again… you’re missing the point. Your mind is still cluttered hence will offer resistance to your creative flow.
Stress and creativity do not mix together. Creativity is at its optimum when your mind is at rest. That said, it means you can be washing your clothes, typing a presentation or even cooking your favorite meal and still have your creative juice flowing again after experiencing a creativity block. As long as the mind is not stressed during these activities, there’s enough aperture for creativity to ebb.
Stress and creativity do not mix together. Creativity is at its optimum when your mind is at rest.
I love Ursula’s advice to Kiki in the anime, Kiki’s Delivery Service. I believe it’s exactly what those who are experiencing a creative block need to hear: “Stop trying. Take long walks. Look at scenery. Doze off at noon. Don’t even think about flying. And then, pretty soon, you’ll be flying again.”
Restpiration 