Don’t Exhaust Yourself Trying to Overcome Creative Blocks, Move Through Them Like This Instead
We talk a lot about overcoming creative blocks with language primed for battle. We scour the internet for ways to “beat creative blocks” or “get rid of creative blocks”. We commiserate to other artists that creative blocks are something we have to begrudgingly deal with or spend time spinning our wheels to solve. Famous creative warrior-himself, writer Steven Pressfield, even wrote a whole bible about the relentless battle against creative blocks titled, THE WAR OF ART. But what if, creative resistance as Pressfield calls it, wasn’t some terrible boogie-man we need to shield our tender creative hearts against, but a normal part of the creative journey, and maybe even a positive one? A More Effective View of Creative Blocks Along my creative journey, I’ve found that my personal creative blocks have been the catalyst for some of the most valuable opportunities to finally resolve the negative beliefs and thought patterns that have not only been keeping me blocked in my writing or art, but in other areas of my life as well. Instead of running away from my creative blocks, when I chose to move through them, I was able to gain long-lasting peace from the subconscious patterns that kept disturbing my creative flow. Rather than try and circumnavigate creative blocks, only to have them pop up again later, I want to empower you to move through these blocks in ways that expand and ignite you, instead of leaving you exhausted trying to resist your resistance. Here are five strategies for you to employ the next time creative blocks come up for you. How to Make Your Creative Blocks Work for You The first rule about creative blocks (which I’ll refer to here as shadows) is that we have to shine a light on them in order to see them. The most effective way I have found to do that is through journaling. But this isn’t your standard, diary of your day or endless pages of self-loathing, it’s a specific journaling technique that will help you more effectively get to the root of your creative block. Whether you’re new to journaling or you’ve tried journaling before with lackluster results, be sure and try this technique. Understand What Creative Block You’re Working With The best way to get to the root of your creative block is to understand what you’re working with. Whatever that voice inside you is saying, let it have some space on the paper. Maybe it sounds something like: “I’ll never be good enough to create this [desired project here].” “I don’t have enough skills/talent/connections to make this art career work.” “I have to do things that make me uncomfortable in order to be successful.” The Key Questions to Ask Creative Blocks Once we get eyes on what all the internal fuss is about, we can spend some time questioning these limiting beliefs like a criminal interrogator. Cue your inner “bad cop” and give those limiting beliefs the third degree. Ask yourself the where, when, who and why behind them. Where did this belief come from? When did I hear this was the case? Who told me this was true? Why does believing this feel safer than the alternative? Remember This About Creative Blocks Creative blocks are not the Universe conspiring against you or proof that you aren’t cut out for bringing your artistic vision to life. Creative blocks are simply aspects of your ego (usually via distorted mindsets) that are trying to keep you safe. They’re trying to protect you from your fears of failure, humiliation, etc. When the ego and mind get in cahoots against your creative spirit, no matter how much agony it causes your heart, they think they’re doing it out of love. When you find out the core motivation behind your creative block, you will finally understand what support your spirit is truly asking for. Give Your Creative Block What It’s (really) Asking For Now is the part where instead of avoiding your creative block, you actually give it what it’s after. But not by giving into the lie. Instead, go straight for the protection your heart needs. For example, if your ego is telling you “you don’t have enough skills to make this creative dream work”… and you discovered through journaling that it’s pretty similar to a situation in school where you tried your hardest on an assignment and got a low grade, and that your ego is just trying to protect you from disappointment, heartbreak, and humiliation…then you can decide to give your heart the protection it needs, without linking it to pursuing an art career. You can choose to love yourself no matter what, to work on developing a sense of self-worth that isn’t attached to external validation, you can choose to show up for yourself in ways that your family or teachers or friends never did. You can choose to give yourself the sense of security you need to feel safe to pursue your dreams, all by yourself. Simply by deciding to. When Creative Blocks are Rooted Deep I used the example of needing security in order to feel safe to create because it’s such a common one. Nearly every creative I work with has trouble protecting their self worth and value when it comes to their creativity. They allow setbacks to be proof of failure, lack of sales to dishearten them, and naysayers to control their destiny. But a sense of security is possible to cultivate without any external validation. In fact, if you want to have experience long term creative success…it’s 100% necessary. And it all starts at the root…the root chakra. Our base chakra or root chakra is the energetic foundation from which our entire creative journey springs from. We can’t get far beyond “survival mode” until we clear, heal, and balance the energy in our root chakra. By establishing a healthy root chakra system, we can secure ourselves in a sense of self-worth that will support us throughout the rest of our creative journey. …
