I'm in a Creative Spiral

This summer has been a bit of a slog for me, photographically. I’ve been wrapped up in other things- family time, projects around the house, a couple of vacations. In the grand scheme of things, it’s been a wonderful summer so far.

But my motivation to create has dipped, and my photography has taken a hit because of it. I have a few ideas why:

1. My winter and spring were packed with wildlife opportunities: four weeks in Florida, a week in Costa Rica, and the usual bird migration through New England in April and May. Maybe I simply needed a break from the camera.

2. I’ve made a deliberate decision to spend a lot of time with my family (which has been great), especially knowing that access to my adult children will naturally decrease as they move on with their lives. This isn’t a burden of course, but when given the option to go shoot or hang with the family, even casually, I’ve chosen the latter moments more frequently this summer.

3. I’ve devoted a considerable amount of time and energy to my health which has included almost daily workouts and a commitment to eating better.

4. I’ve had the honor of speaking to several groups, and each talk requires planning, rehearsing, and delivering, all of which take a real toll on my energy.

5. And I’m writing here one to two times a week. While I enjoy writing, it doesn’t come easily to me. It takes a lot of mental effort to put words together in a way that feels both coherent and engaging.

These aren’t excuses so much as an acknowledgment that my body and brain have a finite amount of energy. With so much of that energy devoted to the things above, there just hasn’t been much left for creative work.

That does worry me a bit. Like muscles and cardiovascular fitness, creativity can atrophy if it’s not practiced, and right now it feels unusually hard to carve out the time and focus needed to push forward again. Experience (and age) tell me to be patient, to ride out the natural ebbs and flows that come with any creative pursuit. I’m in a trough at the moment, but I trust another crest will come, as long as I stay growth-minded.

Talking with other nature photographers has reassured me that I’m not alone in these creative dry spells. I know one very successful, highly talented photographer who can go up to six months without even picking up a camera. That’s reassuring, but to be honest, his talent is extraordinary, getting out of a rut may be easier for him than it would be for me. I don’t feel I can go six months without shooting and not see a noticeable decline in my skills.

Newton’s first law of motion, the Law of Inertia, states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion, and an object at rest tends to stay at rest, unless acted upon by an external force. Right now, my creative momentum has stalled, and I need some kind of outside force to get it moving again.

So I’ve come up with a few ideas to jump-start things. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to put some of them into practice. As summer winds down, I’ll report back here with an update. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.