Stuck Without Inspiration

I am stuck without inspiration, perhaps it is the change of seasons? But, you know when you force things they don’t always come out right. I have always found periods of reflection allow creativity to rise again.

Stuck Without Inspiration

Sometimes I get stuck with my art and writing. There, I have said it. When you are on a creative high and full of enthusiasm it is like you are carried on a wave. Ideas occur and inspiration strikes from all sorts of everyday experiences. But then you get… stuck. You don’t really feel like creating new art or writing a poem or story. It is almost as if the light bulb in your head got switched off.

Your stress level about this depends on how you deal with being stuck of course. As always, our experience starts in our mind and our emotional response to a situation.

Fight The Lack Of Inspiration Or Accept It?

Force It

One approach to fight the lack of inspiration is to force it. Force yourself to go out and take photographs, force yourself to write something. What is it people say ‘fake it until you make it’?

I know someone who can sit down with a blank sheet of paper and make themselves start writing. He says that what he writes to start with is not good but the very act of writing gets the juices flowing. What he writes is full of crossings out, pieces circled with arrows moving them to different parts of the page. Quite a work of art in itself in fact. Much easier to do that on a computer of course but some people still prefer the pen and paper approach.

I have tried to force myself to write or paint something in the past when I am stuck. But I just can’t do it.

Creating On Different Levels

A lot of my creativity starts in my head long before I get to putting down words on paper. Phrases and structures start to appear in my mind before a poem beings to take form. I can have large parts of something written in my head before I start to write. And then the writing comes out in one large chunk with very little re-writing required.

Or perhaps I start to get the idea for a painting. Gradually I can see, in my mind, how it will look, what colours I will use. I can even see myself standing in front of the easel with paintbrush in hand actually painting.

I have to have the enthusiasm, the inner drive to do something to do it.

Following The Energy

When I was a consultant I would have large reports that had to be written, sometimes 100 pages or more depending on the evidence and detail required. But if there wasn’t something ‘in my head’, like I said a structure or series of points, I just couldn’t do it. Eventually it would all come together and, true to form, I could even sit up all night typing into my computer.

Once I wrote a major report on the hair and beauty industry overnight, sitting in my kitchen. I had been studying the results from surveys and interviews for days, lots of reading and note making towards the final report. Eventually I felt like starting to write something at 8pm on a hot summer evening. I knew how the opening paragraph would go and I had a list of points in my head that started to form the conclusions. I got out my laptop and sat in front of the cool breeze coming in through the kitchen window. And I started typing. I finished at 5.30am, listening to the sound of the dawn chorus. The report didn’t need much reworking either.

Periods of Reflection

This is not the first time I have been ‘stuck’ of course and I know how to handle it. Just let it be. I don’t pick at it, worry about it or generally get over anxious about it. I just acknowledge it is happening and take the time to allow periods of reflection.  Eventually my muse will return.

I think we need periods of reflection. There are times when we plateau in our activities and need to take time to assimilate our learning. Time to conserve our energy and just to be. By just being we let the rhythm of nature resonate through us. We actually feel our lives and experiences rather than rush through them to get on to the next thing. We live mindfully.

When the time is right inspiration will strike. Or in my case, words and pictures will start to come into my mind and I will be moved to start creating again. But in the meantime, I am just going to enjoy the calm of being.

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Thank you for reading!