Empty

“Non-judgment quiets the internal dialogue, and this opens once again the doorway to creativity.”

It is often said that creativity is a fleeting, fickle friend.

Yet I’ve always found it to be one of my most constant, reliable companions.

We find ourselves emerging from a testing, difficult time and we will endure difficult transitions as we start to understand the changes required of us. Many of us have been running on empty and this has to be a time of careful pacing, ensuring we are well resourced, bringing keen awareness to ourselves and each other if we are to find generative, creative ways forward.

I know that, on occasion, ‘my’ creative capacity deserts me, but it always returns when I stop making demands, telling it what I want and what it should do. Creativity doesn't follow orders. Trying harder doesn’t help.

My creativity isn’t even mine.

Even if we are driven by metrics, quarterly numbers, or performance indicators, there’s no point in pushing on when creativity has left us.

When I start to feel ‘stuck’ or creatively ‘blocked’, I’ve learned to step away from the screen and head outdoors. Open, empty spaces help me and, as I walk, or ride my bike, I can relax, secure that there is nothing that I can do to bring creativity back.

Nothing I can do.

Nothing.

There is a critical discipline here. As I slowly, reluctantly, often ungraciously accept that my agency has been taken from me, so creativity returns; ideas bubble up, images and words arise, concepts emerge.

My understanding of this paradoxical condition of creative emptiness still feels rather binary; either I’m doing OK or I’m not. I’m aware that my internal (work hard!) dialogue pushes me along for more than makes sense. Then I grind to a halt, bereft of inspiration and impulse. Much like any athlete or sportsman, I need to tune into my inner condition, resting and resourcing before the obvious need arises, and settle myself in for the creative long haul.

And this is work we can do together.

We can let a colleague have an easy day, we can watch for the signs of fatigue and burnout in another’s face, we can pick up each others’ load,

We can offer gentle words of support and care, share opportunities to rest.

And in those resting moments, creativity will reliably return.

Notes:

If you haven’t seen Elizabeth Gilbert’s fabulous TED talk, ‘Your elusive creative genius,’please do take a look; it’s a gem.

Similarly, Steve Chapman’s ‘This talk isn’t very good. Dancing with my inner critic’ might get you out of the blocks on a tough day.

Twyla Tharp’s ‘The Creative Habit’ challenges us to make creativity part of our daily routine - and contains 32 creative exercises to get us on our way.

Finally, a pack of ‘Oblique Strategies’ by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt might catalyse creativity in your ‘stuck’ moments!