Field notes for the creatively blocked

Hello Reader,

I’ve been on a few podcasts lately to promote the recently launched Welcome to the Creative Club audiobook narrated by yours truly.

Despite circling similar themes related to creativity, what it really means, how we lose and find our creative power, and how to unleash it, each podcast is an unexpected experience, a less potentially fatal version of Russian Roulette.

I never know what to expect when I dial in. Most of the time, my strawberry-patterned socks get blown off. You just never know what a couple of humans might create together, which is both a delight and slightly intimidating.

But here's what I keep getting asked: "How do we overcome creative blocks?"

I wonder if the creative block is a myth that helps us rationalize not creating?

Are creative blocks real? Or are they a byproduct of being blocked in other areas or an echo of general stuckness?

A malaise caused by being disconnected from ourselves, getting caught in the clutches of busyness, pulled into doing laundry, and the never-ending quest for dinner ideas, leaving us stumped about what we want to create next.

Whenever I’ve felt blocked, what's clogging the drain is not creativity.

This is what makes creative coaching transformative: simply focusing on what you’re trying to produce without looking at who’s creating it (you) is not sustainable. It’s a short-sighted stopgap (or release valve in this case).

Many of the responses I shared relate to general drainage.

Since this question is one of the usual suspects on podcasts, creative Drano being in high demand, I wanted to share my five creative block removers with you, Reader.

1. Create space. This can be one of the hardest things for amped up, productivity as self-worth or safety belt addicts (I’m in recovery). It might seem counterintuitive, shouldn’t I be getting busy creating?, but space is exactly what the brain’s default mode network (DMN) needs.

The DMN is a network of brain regions increasingly recognized as key to creative thinking. It’s activated when the mind is at rest and not focused on a specific task, and becomes highly active during mind-wandering.

Taking a beat, stepping back, and allowing ourselves to daydream, rest, and meander (frolic even, why not?) refills our creative tank with premium fuel.

Try it. Carve out 20 minutes to do nothing and just be every day. Observe the impact at the end of the week.

2. Meet yourself daily. It’s hard to create if we’re disconnected from the source of creativity: ourselves. The world, with its demands and distractions, can pull us away from ourselves. We need to create time to meet ourselves daily. See what’s stirring within and what’s asking to be seen, felt, expressed, or created.

This can take many different forms; explore what feels good to you. It’s important to create meetings you want to attend to keep showing up. For me, this looks like meditation, journalling, and movement, or at least some permutation of this mind, heart, and body triad. I can feel the difference when some of these practices slip.

Try it: What might a daily date with yourself look like?

3. Just show up. Take action. Create time this week, cadence up to you, where you show up to the page or whatever your medium is, and see what emerges. Give yourself permission to suck. Whatever you make doesn’t have to be good. That’s not the point. The point is to show up for yourself and your work, even if just for 10 minutes.

It doesn’t matter if one word or five hundred flow out of you, if it’s brilliant or bullshit, what matters is you showed up. You can celebrate that. Eventually, you might just be surprised at what comes through when you get out of the way, drop the judgment, allow, and receive.

Try it: Block 10 minutes to show up to the page every day for a week. See what emerges.

4. Reconnect to what brings you joy. Get curious about what used to light you up. Think back to what you loved to do when you were a kid or the last time you felt fully alive: What were you doing? Who were you with? What do you notice?

Look at your list - what could you experiment with this week? How might you design versions of these, testing how they make you feel now?

Try it: Run a series of micro experiments, fun ways of playing with what used to make your heart beat faster. Observe, analyze, iterate, and enjoy the creative discovery process.

5. Death & Impact. Remembering life is a limited series neutralizes the inner perfectionist, judge, critic, or teeth-chattering protector. Why wouldn’t you create what you really want when you’re going to die at some unknown point in time? It might be morbid, but it can light a fire under your peach.

If that doesn’t do it for you, consider your impact. Someone out there needs exactly what only you can create. Knowing your work can create a positive ripple, seen and unseen, who are you NOT to create it?

Your work matters. We need it (just look at the state of things out there). If we create what we’re drawn and moved to make, we’ll build a better world together. So, flip fear the bird, show up for your art, and share it with us.

If you’re feeling creatively blocked, one or a combination of these might loosen you up and allow what’s innately yours (creativity) to flow.

I’d love to hear what works or doesn’t for you. And if you have a burning or even lukewarm question, hit reply, and we'll hash it out.

Keep creating,

P.S. Ready to continue the conversation about what unleashes and blocks creativity? Check out some recent podcast episodes:

• Joanna Penn and I explored creative courage, different ways to rest, and intuitive marketing on The Creative Penn: A Podcast for Writers​
• On The Artist Pivot, Ayana Major Bey and I discussed embracing pivots, unleashing creativity, and making life your biggest art project.
• Cher Anderton and I dove heart-first into creative blockers, self-trust as creative practice, and how creativity lives everywhere on Make Discomfort Your B**tch​

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