Archive for the ‘I’m in a creative block.’ Category
Why Trusting the Process is Bullshit
You have to show up for the creative process. You have to practice your art every day. But you don’t have to trust it. What you have to trust is something much harder than the process.
In: Everything I do sucks., I can't get inspired., I have a horrible inner critic., I'm afraid to create., I'm in a creative block. · Tagged with: creative block, faith, fear, process, trust, writers block
Your Deepest Fear: It’s Not What You Think
Conventional wisdom aside, our deepest fear is neither our inadequacy nor our power, neither our failure nor our success. It’s something else entirely.
In: I'm afraid to create., I'm in a creative block., I'm just not creative. · Tagged with: anxiety, authentic self, authenticity, criticism, deepest fear, failure, fear, honesty, inner critic, overcoming fear, self, shadow, shame, success
Art is Alchemy: Part I (Plus: So What?)
Knowledge of the tenets of ancient and medieval alchemy can actually deepen and enliven your artistic practice.
In: I can't get inspired., I have a horrible inner critic., I'm in a creative block., I'm just not creative. · Tagged with: alchemy, carl jung, marie-louise von franz
What Image Is Seeking You?
When I approached the studio tonight, I didn’t really have an idea or image about what I wanted to make. I had a vague notion that my sculpture would carry a distinct feminine energy (beyond whatever I was bringing to it), but that was it. It could have been a female figure, an abstract suggestive [...]
In: I can't get inspired., I don't know where to start., I'm in a creative block., I'm just not creative. · Tagged with: archetype, image
You don’t own your creativity.
I’m back to the visual arts as my primary artistic outlet. It’s because I remembered why I stopped writing creatively when I started my job as a grant writer so many years ago: I needed to get out of my head come five o’clock. And although I returned to my writing for several of the [...]
In: I can't get inspired., I have a horrible inner critic., I'm afraid to create., I'm in a creative block.
On Writing, Art, and the Layered Look
The summer before my sophomore year of high school, I was reading a fashion magazine and trying to figure out how to spend my limited funds to clothe myself just right for the new school year. I was fifteen in suburban America, and this was The Most Important Decision Ever. A big headline on the [...]
In: Everything I do sucks., I'm in a creative block.
Intentional Movement: The Emptying Value of Art
If you’ve been reading me for very long now, you know I have a great love of etymology. We can learn so much about the words we use — understand the true depth of what we say — when we know the roots and the branches of those words. When we find out, for example, [...]
In: I can't focus., I can't get inspired., I have too many projects on my plate., I'm in a creative block., I'm overwhelmed.
Overcoming Fear by Aligning with Your Authenticity
In the continuing saga of doing one thing each week that scares me to death (or at least to paralysis), this week I submitted a query for a guest post to one of my new favorite bloggers, Bindu Wiles. So just as a little background, I started Freak-out Friday on August 6 to force myself [...]
In: I don't know where to start., I'm afraid to create., I'm in a creative block. · Tagged with: authenticity, fear, self
Excavating the Deep History of Creativity
We are all born with one thing in common: the impulse to grow. No baby is expected to stay six pounds, or eight pounds, or ten, for very long. The world looks on us expectantly from the moment of conception: How big are you now? And how about now? And now? The word grow can [...]
In: I can't get inspired., I'm afraid to create., I'm in a creative block., I'm just not creative. · Tagged with: Demeter, Persephone
Stark Raving Monday v4: Questioning Self-Doubt
It’s something I always do: I get all gung-ho about a project, dive right in — and then choke. I question my motives, my commitment, and most of all my qualifications and credibility, my ability to compete with the big boys and girls. I’m almost 41, and many days I still feel like I’m 12. [...]
In: Everything I do sucks., I have a horrible inner critic., I have no support for my art., I'm afraid to create., I'm in a creative block., I'm just an amateur.
