I recently spent about six weeks creating a small holiday collection of five ink and gouache paintings (see the collection here). During this time, I decided on the theme and composition, sketched, drew, and painted, all in a satisfying flow that allowed me to not only draw and paint quickly but also enjoy the process greatly.
After I had completed the creative and business aspects of the project, I found that days had passed without me being able to decide what to work on next. Then weeks. And nothing. It's not that I had decided to take some time off and was enjoying a break. This time was filled with underlying feelings of guilt and even shame. Until one day, while playing outside with my dogs, it hit me: I was experiencing a creative block.
Of course, I had experienced this before, but this time was different. I started drawing and painting in 2014, but at the time, I had a corporate job that sucked a huge amount of my life force, so spending weeks or even months without creating any art was the norm. However, now that I am a full-time artist, not being able to create art consistently has a greater significance and emotional charge as it affects my growth as a business owner.
Since this is a widespread concern among many artists in all fields, I decided to take a deep dive and face this issue to gain a better understanding.
What is a Creative Block?
A creative block can be understood as a temporary inability to access and express one's natural flow of creativity. It does not mean one has lost one's skills or inspiration forever, although, at times, it may feel like it. It just means that at the given moment, which can span for days or even weeks (maybe longer in some cases), we can't grasp the motivation or inspiration to create. It can feel like our minds are blank, that we don't have any ideas that we deem worthy of being brought into creation, or even like a whirlwind of abstract ideas floating around mushed up together, but nothing concrete.
Causes of Creative Block?
Like with everything else, what caused my episode may greatly differ from what caused yours. However, there are some general causes of creative blocks:
1. Perfectionism: The fear of failure or the thought that we may create something less than perfect can paralyze our creative process. Perhaps we do have ideas, but as mentioned above, we don't think any of those ideas are good enough, or maybe the ideas are too lofty, and we believe we lack the skillset to bring them successfully into being.
2. Self-Doubt: An antagonizing inner critic may discourage us by telling us how bad we truly are at this or how we cannot compete or even come close to other artists. I wrote a blog post about befriending the inner critic that may be useful if this is happening to you. You can read it here.
3. Burnout: Overworking is likely one of the most common causes of creative blocks. For me, the image that pairs with this is a heavy fog full of swirling thoughts and chaos engulfing my whole body. I have found that I get burned out not only by the "business" tasks (such as marketing, social media, bookkeeping, etc.), which for me have involved long periods of learning subjects I do not particularly enjoy but also by spending long stretches of time drawing and painting without proper rest in between sessions.
4. External pressures: Deadlines, financial worries, personal stress, or too many responsibilities at home can also create a mental fog that stifles creativity.
5. Routine: Doing the same things, in the same order, in the same place for too long without any variety can surely affect our creativity. Once we find the perfect organization and placement for our supplies and easel or table, it's hard to move things around because it works for us, especially if we only have a small space. We may even develop a step-by-step painting process where we even have a set, pre-selected palette. This is understandable and even encouraged sometimes because it works. It helps us achieve consistent results and become more efficient artists. However, creating art is not just about productivity and should not be treated like an assembly line.
The Spiritual Meaning of Creative Block
If you become a long-time reader of my blog posts, you will notice that I include a spiritual perspective in most of them. I believe that we are a whole composed of body, mind, and spirit. Most experiences, especially the most uncomfortable ones, offer an opportunity to learn something. I adopted this worldview when I decided to stop seeing myself as a victim of my circumstances.
I realized that all the causes I listed above are present in my latest episode of creative block, which makes it an excellent opportunity to pause, center myself, and observe what is truly going on. The main question that came up for me when trying to understand why this was happening was, "Why am I doing this?" What is it that keeps me getting through the many hardships and keeps creating despite the discomfort and the resistance? To paraphrase Viktor Frankl, when we have a WHY we can withstand just about any HOW.
Best Practices for Overcoming Creative Block:
It makes sense that the best way to overcome creative block is to do the opposite of what's causing it. For example, if we ascertain that perfectionism is at the forefront of the block, we must allow ourselves to create for its sheer pleasure and even purposely create "bad" art just for fun.
Going down the above list, we could do some inner work and befriend our inner critic, create a schedule that prioritizes time off, delegate, or find a way to get help or support in those areas of external pressure and change up our routine.
In addition, the following suggestions for overcoming creative block may be useful:
1. Instead of feeling guilt and shame, like I did, make self-compassion an unbreakable commitment to yourself. Judging ourselves harshly for not performing as we think we should only leads to poor mental health. Since these instances will likely continue to occur, having a few kind words prepared could be a huge step in improving our self-talk. For instance, for me, something as simple as reminding myself that I am a human being and that it is okay to pause usually helps me move past self-judgment.
2. Reconnect with your inner child and work on healing them if needed. I plan on writing a post on this topic in the coming weeks because I think this is a very important subject for artists. Our inner child is the gatekeeper to our unfiltered creativity. Engage in playful activities such as doodling or writing for the fun of it. Although I have neglected it lately, I used to have playdates with my inner child. During this time, I would allow myself to just throw paint on paper, finger paint, or write silly stories.
3. As trite as this might sound, spending time in nature is a powerful way to restart our inspiration. Additionally, it may be a way to break up the routine.
4. Try different mediums and art forms. If you are a painter, try writing. If you are a writer, explore singing or dancing. This can spark new ideas.
5. Seek new experiences. To me, this is perhaps the most effective way to end creative block. Creativity is not just about artistic endeavors. The dictionary definition of creativity is "to make or bring into existence something new". It'd be logical to conclude that if we stick only to what we know for long periods of time, there will be a limit to novel ideas. Although I generate a lot of my work from imagination, I have noticed that I get fresh ideas when for example, I go to places I have never visited or read books in genres I normally don't read.
6. Do not wait for inspiration to strike. I read somewhere that action breeds motivation, not the other way around. This is an especially powerful practice, which is why, instead of lying on my bed looking at the ceiling for hours as I used to do, I'm writing this post. Chuck Close, the American painter and photographer, said, "Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work." Picasso expressed a similar thought when he said, "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working".
Experiencing creative block may feel like suddenly finding ourselves in a barren desert. It's uncomfortable and even scary. But this isn't the end of the road. I am choosing to see it as a rest stop, a chance to slow down, reflect, and recalibrate. By understanding its causes, honoring its spiritual meaning, and adopting the practices that work for us to nurture creativity, we'll emerge on the other side with renewed energy and inspiration.
Are you currently experiencing a creative block? Share your story in the comments. I'd like to invite you to support each other through these pauses.
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