Creativity: How Are You Blocked?

I'm getting more and more interested in creativity. I've already written about it here. The primary reason why I am interested is because I believe that human beings are innately creatively creatures. We want to contribute to the world in our own unique way. We want to participate in this immensely complicated universe. Our consumer culture often has us believing that the way to be happy is to take and receive and possess things, but I think that what truly brings us happiness is serving, contributing, and participating in a way that thrills us.

However, often the ways that we like to contribute get stifled. The idea of being "blocked" is pretty common within creative circles. Being "blocked," means being stuck, unable to move forward on creating the things that bring you passion. I've often heard it mentioned within the context of writing - "writer's block."

Here, we get the image of a frustrated, confused, stifled person feeling pessimistic and pissed off at themselves. They can't seem to get any ideas together, they can't seem to contribute in a way that seems "good." I have a feeling that the innate creativity that we all possess is massively blocked in many, many people around the world and that that is related to rising rates of depression, anxiety, and other crappy feeling states.

How do we get creatively blocked? One of the biggest culprits is this idea that everything we have to create must be "good." We begin to evaluate ourselves, and suddenly fear this evaluation. We get paralyzed, afraid to move forward on anything because of our own self-talk. We think, "if I think it's bad, then what will others think?" We get terrified of rejection, ridicule, and punishment. So, it makes sense that we back off. It feels bad to put ourselves out there, so we retreat and keep to ourselves. 

However, we end up getting stifled, bored, and stagnant. Humans want to grow, learn, and experience the world through (moderate and manageable) challenges. One of the best ways to figure out what is blocking you, is to imagine yourself being creative. Find a quiet moment and place, close your eyes, and imagine yourself getting involved in a creative pursuit again. 

When I say creative pursuit, I am speaking very broadly. Perhaps you like to make physical things - crafting, painting, drawing, photography, cooking, bartending, barista-ing. Perhaps you are musically inclined and enjoy singing, playing an instrument, composing music, or dancing. Perhaps you are socially inclined and enjoy serving others, connecting people in new relationships, networking. Perhaps you are entrepreneurial and like dreaming up ways to serve the ever-expanding economy with new business offerings. Perhaps you love fashion, and putting together a new way of dressing. Perhaps you love teaching, and imparting and coaching others in academics, sports, and more. Whatever it is, close your eyes, and imagine yourself engaging in your chosen activity.

Imagine yourself feeling calm, focused, engaged and alive.

What pops up? What negative self-talk shows up? Thoughts like...
"I'll never get it right," or
"I'll just be disappointed again," or
"If they [Mom, Dad, friends, boss] find out about this, they'll think I'm weird," or
"I'm not creative, I have nothing original to contribute," or
"I suck at this. I should just stop trying."

Any of those? Anything different from those? This is a normal reaction to this exercise. Our mind dreams of all sorts of ways that we can fail - it's a very evaluative beast. And the mind's evaluation is often really helpful to us. It helps us choose between the rotten apple and the ripe apple in the store. It also helps us choose between rotten ideas (e.g., punching that guy in the face when he makes you angry) and good ideas (e.g., breathe deep and calmly communicate your perspective).
 
However, when we're in creative mode, those evaluative thoughts can freeze us, limit us, and paralyze us. So, take a peek at those negative thoughts that come up and write them down. When you are in a calm state of mind, start practicing addressing those thoughts in a different way. If "I suck" keeps coming up, turn it into, "I can be a beginner and practice to get better," or "maybe I'm not so bad," or "it doesn't have to matter how good this is - what matters is how I feel when I am creative."  

Through practicing noticing the negative self-talk that comes up around your creative passions, you can gradually unblock yourself and make it safe to practice being creative again. Try it out - at the very least, it'll give you a great lesson in the silly ways you may be talking to yourself day in and day out. By examining our self-talk we can loosen its grip on us, leading us to live more authentic, flexible daily lives in the pursuit of meaning, connection, and vitality.