Creative Magic, If You’re Into That Sort of Thing

I’m feeling the need to tell a story today. Gather round kiddies, and grab some popcorn, if you like.

A couple of years ago, I was very sad.

I hadn’t made any artwork in a very long time and I missed making art terribly.* Eventually, things got so unbearable that I decided I couldn’t take this horrible blocked feeling any longer: I needed to make art again.

It was like I had left something in the fridge for far too long and was attempting to ignore it. Except that the fridge was me, and the sour cream past its sell-by date (ew) was my neglected creativity. And if you’ve every dealt with forgotten sour cream or forgotten creativity before, you know that the longer you let that sort of thing go on, the harder it is to ignore. It just makes your life miserable.

So I decided to do something about it. But it wasn’t as easy as proclaiming, “Behold, now I shall Make Art and Be an Artist.” I had to figure out why I was blocked. I had to experiment.

_{*Ha! I mean, I missed it terribly, not I missed making terrible art. But that too.}

Since making the decision to somehow reconnect with my art, I’ve tried a lot of different things.

I’ve taken a class.

I’ve spent lots of time with a few creative pals.

I’ve gone painting in 100-degree weather and been devoured by ravenous tiger mosquitoes.

I’ve gone to life-drawing sessions.

I’ve started blogging.

I’ve joined an online community of creative folks.

I’ve had crazy high expectations of myself, made impossible commitments to my work, and needlessly disappointed myself.

I’ve begun to do all kinds of wacky practices and exercises to work with my blocks.

I’ve worked with a coach.

I’ve dreamed, made plans, started projects, abandoned them, and suffered mightily.

And perhaps miraculously, I’ve found a few things that actually work for me.

It took an (agonizingly) long time, but over the course of a year and a half, I slowly got closer to some kind of clarity. As it all began to make sense, it gradually got easier for me to show up to my projects.

I am still working on this. I work on it every day.

If I had to give one piece of advice to people who are creatively blocked, show them the most important way to magically access their own creativity, I would say this:

Do you realize how many many people out there have these same blocks? This is great news, my friend: You Do Not Have To Go It Alone.

But when I was struggling, I didn’t have anyone to tell me this.

I felt like there was something terribly wrong with me. I imagined everyone around me happily creating away, without a care in the world. I figured there were paintings, novels and sonatas popping up like mushrooms all around me, while I sat around feeling useless and wishing I could just get started.

The one thing that has truly worked like magic for me has been connecting with other people in order to work on my blocks in an intentional way. And the part that almost makes me laugh is that it is so simple, and yet it would never have occurred to me to try it. I say almost, because I try not to think about how much I could have done if only I’d figured this out sooner.

Talking about my creative struggles with a coach has completely changed the way I approach my projects. It has made me a lot more likely to show up and actually make something. And, more importantly, it’s made working on my projects a lot more fun.

The plot thickens!

It didn’t take me long to realize that I wanted to help other people in a similar way. So I began studying and experimenting and learning how to do it, with the idea that I’d help people show up to their creative projects, given that I do happen to have a bit of experience in the procrastination/avoidance area.

If you’ve been thinking about working one-on-one with someone for a while, and feel like you are maybe possibly ready to do it, I want to offer you an easy, non-scary way in. I need to find some creatively-blocked guinea pigs over the course of the next month or two, people who are curious about working with their blocks in a playful way. I still have three spots available for this. If you want to know more about it, you can check out the super-secret page of goodness (yes, that’s what I called it).

And if that’s not your thing, I still hope you’ll find a way to connect with like-minded creative folks. Honestly, finding one creative partner you can trust, or even just connecting with other blog readers, can make such a huge difference. I’m willing to bet that you (and your projects!) will be glad you reached out. And so will the rest of us, of course.

THE END.

Well, did you enjoy my story?

Okay, fine, it was a bit lame. Next time I’ll throw in a chase scene or something.

COMMENTS: If connecting with other people has helped you make any progress on your projects, I’d love to hear how it happened.