Last week, I felt completely STUCK in my art.
I felt like I’d lost all of my ability to draw. That I had lost my imagination. That I could put pen to paper and nothing would come out.
And if you’ve been feeling like this too, let me first encourage you by saying: THIS IS NOT THE END OF YOUR CREATIVE STORY.
And it wasn’t the end of mine either.
I think it’s only natural that we feel this way in our creative practice sometimes. Whether we’re writers or bakers, painters or sculptors, musicians or poets. The creative juices don’t always flow with the same gusto, and truthfully, we do regress in our skills sometimes.
When you let something fall out of priority, it begins to deteriorate a bit. I hadn’t spent any real time in my sketchbook for, I don’t know how long. And it SHOWED. My sketches were stiff and muddy, and lacked any sort of expression.
But I didn’t let it end there. I simply sat for the rest of my work day and SKETCHED. It was uncomfortable. It was hard. But creativity is a RELATIONSHIP. It’s give and take. It’s showing up and making it work. You don’t give up on your relationships. You stick it out and come through it BETTER and STRONGER.
An amazing member of the community on YouTube shared a quote with me that’s been pinging around in my mind for a few weeks now. “Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” – Napolean Hill
The truth is failure is a part of the process. But the greatness comes when you tough it out; when you sit through the discomfort and keep going. When you see your failure, and LEARN from it.
So, if you’re feeling stuck today, too, let me just say: I HEAR you. I SEE you. I AM you. I fully understand the frustration you’re going through, but you and I are both going to get through this, and come out on the other side as BETTER creatives than we were before.
One way to get out of a creative rut is to go on an Artistic Side Quest! Don’t know what that is? I made a YouTube video you can watch here and learn how to take your own quest: https://youtu.be/XsIULpHpMWM?si=WnCciYEDXGM7S2vK