Creativity craves freedom. Artistry craves limits.
Creativity wants to expand, it gets in all the cracks and blows them open. It wants to be able to turn the world on its head, by whatever means possible. It never wants to settle and hurtles through the world, transforming everything in its wake
When we lie in the wake of creativity, we can experience profound transcendence. But sometimes the storm of creativity is too much to see through. All the ideas and visions spin round, at such a fast speed, we can't grab onto a single thread.
When we are in turmoil, or running a blank creatively, sometimes this is us actually experiencing an influx of too much information. Although creativity is a huge force of nature, when our minds are too 'busy', creativity can't work its magic. Creativity is a demanding creature and it won't settle for being sidelined. It demands attention and space. This is why mundane activities like cleaning, or taking walks can actually inspire creativity. These sorts of tasks gently clear our minds from the incessant babble of daily life, creating cracks where creativity can sneak in.
When creativity does sneak in though, it can demand the presently impossible. By this I mean that sometimes we can catch an idea that we don't have the means or resources for. Sometimes even the things that we would need to assemble our idea together don't even exist yet. This is when resistance can pop up, tempting us away from the idea and making us quit before we even try. Resistance is creativity's nemesis. There is never room enough for both. Either creativity wins, or resistance does. It is our job when encountering the sometimes impossible demands of creativity to do two important things.
One: Comfort resistance into silence and submission. When resistance arises, which it always will, comfort it by acknowledging its doubts and whims. But do not give into it. A great book to read on how to beat all forms of resistance is, 'War of Art' by Steven Pressfield.
Two: Hone creativity's storm into a soft breeze. When a barrage of ideas leaps at us, it can be tempting to follow every trail. But if we follow every path, we will most assuredly end up lost in a maze, tangled up with all the ideas wrapped round us, in an incomplete mess. Creativity can sometimes be unreasonable. It can expect the impossible and sometimes bombard us with too many ideas at once. It is our job to quiet the noise and say, 'Thank you for the ideas, I will take note of them but I'm paying attention to X today. When the time is right and I have the space for that next I will see if I can bring it into reality then. Right now I need to step into my current creative box.'
When we do this artistry can take over. For in that one box we can fine-tune our idea into something magical. If we comb through that box, we will find all the resources we need. It it through limits that we can actually be more creative because there is less noise and possibilities to sift through. It is good for us to have a focal point, because in this way we can bring our creations into reality.
Sometimes we can get stuck on our way inside our box. Maybe the box is too large and we can't reach the top or find the entrance. This is okay, perhaps that box was built for multiple people. We need to recognise when a project is too large for us. If we ask for help, we can step inside the box together and create something that could be even more wonderful. There's no use just trying to smash the box to get in. It won't feel good.
It's a lot of effort to try and fight everything and we might come to resent it. It's much more fun to ask for help, try and work with what we have and grow from there.
I wish you luck with all your creative endeavours.
I hope that you always find inspiration and manage to rein in your ideas into magical realities.
Much Love
Naomi Leila Xx
P.s. How do you find inspiration? What do you do when you got a block? Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear your answers.
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