I've been reading and working with a great book, The Artist's Rule by Christine Valters Paintner. It is filled with wisdom she has gathered from others as well as her own practice. This bit from Linda Leonard seemed good to share:" A major obstacle to creativity is wanting to be in the peak season of growth and generation at all times...but if we see the soul's journey as cyclical, like the seasons... then we can accept the reality that periods of despair or fallowness are like winter - a resting time that offers us a period of creative hibernation, purification, and regeneration that prepares us for the births of spring."
After times of exciting productivity I can recall days, sometimes weeks when I felt like I'd lost it. I could go through the motions and paint, but the deeper connection was lost. There was a bit of panic and some depression. And then somehow I'd get stirred up again, and I'd love being in my studio. Winter after the holidays, is actually a great time for me. Summer may be when I experience less juice - there's just too much going on in the rest of my life, the heat is discouraging by mid afternoon.
How about you? Do you wait these times out, or keep pushing through? Do you accept the rest?
5 comments:
I go through cycles like this, but they are much more frequent... like twice a month! I think it's because my life is so full of everything right now, that sometimes the creativity cannot flow. I've come to accept it as a way of life, instead of getting a little bummed out. It always passes.
I have periods where I'm not feeling the creativity. I'm OK with it. There's always so much other stuff that needs my attention that I just accept it and enjoy catching up on other areas of my life until I feel that urge to get back into my little studio once again.
I'm learning to accept the low productivity cycles. Early on I use to force myself out of it to make more stuff but I end up making something I'm not happy with. Now I just try to live through, maybe focus on something else like knitting. I know it's all part of the creative process - the mind needs a break so I let it happen. :)
Low productivity cycles, for me, are for the grunt work - bookkeepoing, housekeeping, photos, etc. I find by operating on the fringe of my work I see it from a different perspective.
I agree with Neely. For me, low productivity usually has to do with everything other than making jewelry, for me. However, there have been times when I have been discouraged or overwhelmed by my business and that has effected my creativity. Luckily, like all things in life, that too passes. I just ride it out.
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