Overcome creative blocks, live shamelessly.

It is the nemesis of every creative: the blockade. This state in which it is simply not possible for us to act creatively. Like a deer caught in a bright spotlight, we are paralyzed in the face of the task, the project. No matter how much we want it.

The screen mocks us with its emptiness, the cursor in our writing program flashes passive-aggressively waiting for words, our hand rests on the strings of the guitar as if we were afraid our touch would destroy it. “Frustration” is still the best possible emotion here. Because when it comes to professional and therefore economic challenges, pure despair soon sets in.

Over the past few months, I have dealt with this topic time and again. As I want to keep things brief both in my podcast and in this blog, I have refrained from writing a lengthy essay that could list the numerous reasons and even more diverse possible solutions. The problem is as old as cave paintings.

Of the many thoughts and possibilities for approaching this problem, the following three, more or less independent, seem new and remarkable to me.

I got this idea from “Breathing Life into Your Muse” by Clintavo. It fits especially well in a world where we constantly push the creative muse to the side like a nagging child through distractions and preoccupation

If you find that your creative wellspring has run dry, that you can no longer hear the Muse's whisper, and that you can no longer bring forth ideas from the Mystery, you may have been neglecting to properly nourish your Muse.

Clintavo, Breathing Life into your Muse

The Muse is commonly understood to be a god-like force (see “The Artist's Way” by Julia Cameron) that provides us with the inspiration, energy and will necessary to indulge in this obsession.

But it's not that simple. The relationship status is: complicated.

Because creativity is not a one-way street. It is always the result of input and output. As I mentioned in one of my (German language) podcast episode, ideas arise primarily from the creative mind intuitively linking impressions, thoughts and craftsmanship. This requires silence. Literal peace and stilness.

The moment in which this connection takes place and ideas emerge is known as the “kiss of the muse”. Inspiration and tranquillity are the ambrosia of the muse. And without ambrosia, there is no divine power.

So if we deny the muse the flow of inspiration and deny ourselves the peace in which the muse can kiss us, we shouldn't be surprised if she files for divorce. So the next time you are blocked, simply ask yourself whether you are actually living a creative life. One of vocation, inspiration and peace.

“Do the work” is a quick read by Steven Pressfield. And even though it is short, it deals with an important factor regarding blockades: resistance. This intrinsic refusal to start something. No matter how much we know it's important or how much we want it.

That reaction is resistance. Resistance is an active, intelligent, protean, malign force-tireless, relentless, and inextinguishable-whose sole object is to stop us from becoming our best selves and from achieving our higher goals.

Steven Pressfield

Pressfield gives us little hope that we can ever succeed in escaping this resistance forever. Instead, it is a battle that we have to fight every day. One that we have to face again and again. In “Do the work”, the author also uses the metaphor of the dragon as this power and us as knights who have to stand up to this beast every moment of our creative lives.

However, I found this idea less frustrating than relieving. Overcoming the daily blockade becomes something that falls into the same category as emptying the dishwasher or doing the tax return. It's annoying and seems unnecessary. But we can't escape it. So we might as well just tackle it head on.

In the creative world, it's these “Bam!” moments that I love so much. Moments in which impressions and the unconscious have condensed into something new and then literally implode. Generating an energy that we can no longer escape and finally take action.

When I came across the following quote in the review of my notes from “The Artist's Way“ by Julia Cameron, I experienced such a moment and was finally able to write this post about creative blocks. I had been procrastinating, writing, recording and discarding it for almost a year. It was just never good enough.

Until Julia Cameron threw this at my feet:

Creativity requires faith. Faith requires that we relinquish control.This is frightening, and we resist it.Our resistance to our creativity is a form of self-destruction.We throw up roadblocks on our own path. Why do we do this? In order to maintain an illusion of control.Depression, like anger and anxiety, is resistance, and it creates dis-ease.This manifests itself as sluggishness, confusion, “I don't know ...?”

Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

A few months ago, my therapist gave me the task of finally letting off steam without shame. This came to mind when I read the quote.

„Markus, it’s time for you to live shamelessly.“

A very good therapist from Nordborchen, Germany

Being creative means letting off steam shamelessly. To be creative is to lose control. As long as we try to control the outcome without surrendering to the rage of the creative process, we've failed before we've even started. We have not lost the battle against the dragon. We have the beast under control.

Because we didn't face it.

But: we can't win either.

There is no way out, there is no excuse. The creative process cannot begin without us.

We have to surrender to it. Inspired by the muse. Bravely armed and shamelessly losing control.

It's like Steven Pressfield says:

We can always revise and revisit once we've acted. But we can accomplish nothing until we act.

Steven Pressfield

So, how do we end a creative block? Just start!