Adventures in Writing: Unleash Creativity
Are you suffering from creative block?
One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that if you’re a creative person and you don’t fill your creative heart, eventually it shrivels up and goes into a state of torpor, waiting patiently for you to feed it the lifeblood of your muse. I have gone several years without writing anything creative. I maintained a personal blog, but it wasn’t anything I truly enjoyed. I’m more of a private person, so sharing real life information was difficult, especially when you’re not happy with your current perspective.
Why the fuck do people find me fascinating?
One thing I’ve noticed lately is people telling me that they find me fascinating. They find my life fascinating, even though to be 100% truthful – I don’t have a life. I don’t really go anywhere and I don’t really do anything. I go to work, I run errands, on occasion I take myself out to dinner if it’s been a rough week. My daughter and I have chatted about going to see Bad Moms. More often than not, I go to work and then go home. Why people find this fascinating confuses me.
A few of my coworkers know that I write and a small percentage know what I write, a miniscule percentage have been allowed to read my work (some have, some haven’t).
Do you suffer from Day Job Blues?
I work in a semi-creative position. I assist several departments and I’m not technically in any of them. I’m an island surrounded by continents. I’ve noticed over the time that there are creatives who do their creative job and then nothing else creative outside of work. Then there are the creatives like me who pursue their own personal creative projects, either because they enjoy it or want to make money from it (or both).
Let me tell you something, even if you are in a creative job, unless you truly love your job and you’re given complete control over what you’re creating (that’s probably a Hell No), then I’m sure you’re fulfilled and have no need to seek much, if any, creativity outside of work. I’m talking about people who work for a company, possibly in an office or at home, putting together flyers or designing products. I’m not talking about someone who loves to do Creative Pursuit A and also earns money on it because they are self-employed.
I’ve worked with people who have all kinds of fantastic ideas. They love doing things outside of work. However, more often than not, they don’t bother. They’ve worked all day long creating for other people. Maybe they were stuck in meetings all day long, or enough of the day that they’re burned out when they leave. Perhaps the customer isn’t convinced that the shade of yellow on the design is correct, even when it is.
All of these little things burn away your independent creativity and can leave you feeling wrung out. I know creative people who would go home and drink, sit in front of the television, then eventually go to bed, only to get up and go through it all over again the next day. I have rough days myself, but I try not to let them keep me from writing or creating a cover. If I don’t feel like doing either of those things, then I’ll go for a walk or color.
On the really bad days, I do vegetate in front of the tv, but I always keep the laptop on because sometimes I’ll get that second wind or an idea that nips me in just the right place to get the juices flowing.
Take Control.
Don’t let a day job keep you from your dreams. If you find yourself exhausted after work, maybe take a short nap (a truly short nap so you still sleep at night) or have a little coffee to give you just enough zip (so you sleep at night). If exercise gets your second wind fired up, then maybe go for a run or hop on the arc trainer long enough to get yourself pumped up. Work on those dreams. Work on your goals. Get things done so you can be fulfilled creatively outside of work.
