It’s surprising, how you sometimes have nothing much to say.
It’s even more surprising – and unnerving – when this happens after a period of intense creativity.
But there’s a reason for the quiet…for the lack of words…the lethargy in the drive…the dip in the zest.
After every creative high comes a creative low. It’s simply a time to recuperate, to gather up seeds of inspiration once again, to go down the rabbit hole as you follow your curiosity so you can come back again, filled with wonder and words and delight and magic.
These creative dry spells are really not to be feared – recognize them for what they are so that you can go and refill the well.
Seeking Inspiration: Into the rabbit hole
I’m following my wonder and curiosity for all things metaphysical – Tarot, astrology, crystals, the elements…how the Universe works…and how inter-connected we all are.
I’ve been surrounded by Tarot and oracle cards, books, articles, images…undertaking a deeper exploration of Jungian archetypes and the collective unconscious, shadow work, and the psyche…alongside the Tarot readings I’ve been doing for clients…and this has made me immensely happy.
I’ve been grappling with birth charts and rising suns and ascendant signs…I’ve learnt that I love Western astrology for its focus on mathematics and logic and understanding of self. There’s no nonsense of remedies and prayers to magically realign your stars. Instead, it focuses purely on the interplay between the stars and how you can work to understand YOUR contradictions and work with them.
I’ve been working more closely with moon cycles and exploring the seasons…trying to wrap my head around the concept of cyclical time instead of the common construct of linear time…at some point I may try to read up once again on quantum physics – or maybe not – that stuff just does my head in!
Where will all of this lead? Who knows? For now, it’s leading me along a merry path that I’m only too happy to explore!
Have you experienced creatively lean times? What techniques and tools have you used to refill the well and come out of it raring to go once again?
I too have suffered from creativity lean sometimes. And I prefer to read more on those days to overcome my writer’s block, And it’s Tarot for you, I hope. Happy to join with you for #MyFreindAlexa !!!
Reading is a great way to spark new ideas! That’s a great way to bust through creative blocks.
We have all been there. Especially as writers, it can be a huge setback. I can’t day for sure that I have found a solution but I’m happy to see that Tarot is working for you!
Oh Tarot works very well for me! I’ve used the cards to figure out topics and decide on what to write as well. 😉
Everything sounds so fascinating. I would like to know more on how western astrology used mathematics… It must be an interesting read. I can understand the occasional high and lows of creativity… Sometimes I am bursting with ideas and other days I don’t even feel motivated.
Mathematics and astrology go hand in hand, no matter the system – I think that wasn’t clear in what I wrote, sorry! Western astrology I love because it focuses on YOU, on what makes you tick, on how you can improve or work with the elements of your chart, rather than giving you “remedies” like stones or exact times on when to do something or else.
I am going through a Creative downtime as I type this comment! Such lows are inevitable. Started using an innovative technique since last week – blogging erotica. It shift focus from content dev. for corporates to a challenging and niché genre. Another technology is joining a good blogging community like Blogchatter. It’s already helping!
Hope it answers your questions?
Liked the blog. Good topic. Well handled.
Switching up what kind of writing or creative activity we do often helps. And having a community is always a boost!
I find that creativity can flow through another channel when the one is blocked. Like when I have no words, I got for a walk. Or I cook something creative, and that opens up the doors for writing. Switching activities is what works for me, let the flow take its own way.
Yes, that is quite true too! I’m sure the muses get bored sometimes – they want us to do something new from time to time! 😉
I go through lean phases of wordlessness 🙂 I can’t create so I immerse myself in learning new things. I am a huge fan of angel and crystal healing, a certified healer. I do chakra balancing and aura cleansing while I wait for my muse to return. Astrology sounds complicated but interesting.
I love crystals too! And I love reading with Oracle and Tarot cards. I’m certified in regression therapy – past lives, inner child, etc. It’s really interesting and fascinating, how our brain and psyche works! Astrology is a bit complicated, very vast, but very fascinating!
I replenish myself by taking a break. Though if the break over extends it’s stay I get jittery about it. But recently I realised, no point doing so. Best to flow with life and then tell yourself that you are going to be back by putting a deadline to the writing break.
Your blog is so pretty and delightful 🙂
I agree Natasha. It’s best to go with the flow. Creativity, especially, cannot be forced, I believe!
And thank you for your kind words on the blog – I really appreciate it!
As long as you are going on its okay…. Keep going jini . All my love ans best wishes for you ..
Thank you Anindya! Friends like you make this journey worthwhile. 🙂
This is beautiful writing Shinjini. Following your blog now. Yes, I have experienced lean creative phases, writer’s blocks, lack of inspiration to write (or lack of a muse ). Those times become moments of self reflection, of gaining new insights into the art of creativity, travel (what may inspire more than new surroundings) and reading as much as one can. Silence is a great energy replenisher. It enhances art.It makes platform for new invigorating conversations to follow.
Thank you so much, Gayatri. Losing the muse is painful, isn’t it? But I guess even she needs a break sometimes! 🙂
I usually talk to people or probably travel to get over the writers block. Takes time initially but works wonders
Travel is a great way to break any block, I believe!
It happens to me all the time. I’m a new blogger, and these times would make me panic. However, I’ve learned to take a breathe l breath and trust that it always works out. Something happens, or something is said that triggers my creative genie to start singing again. I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one!
http://www.jojoy.ca
Oh absolutely not! It happens to all of us. Sometimes we just need to trust our flow and stop fighting it.
I returned to an old hobby, creating greeting cards, which I only do in the evenings when my brain and eyes are tired from writing. I find this increases my creativity in writing as it gets me right away from the current topic. The results of last week’s survey
Creating greeting cards is so much fun! I had done a few of those a couple of years ago. Maybe I should try that again soon.
Ah all the things I love too except for the Math. I love astrology, tarot, angels, healing, channeling, past life regression and all that good stuff. We even have to stop learning this for a bit until we digest it. Then we can go at it again. Thanks for your post.
Chaneling is something I’m quite new at and am looking to develop/explore more! Any good resources that you can share with me?
Hi Shinjini! You have a beautiful style of expressing yourself via words. I enjoyed your read and more so, how happy you are doing what you love best during the creative break…studying, exploring and helping people find solutions to their problems. That´s an awesome way to spend your time. Keep writing! I will be coming back for more. I also invite you to read my blogs as well and hope to see you there soon. Love and Cheers!
Thank you so much for dropping by Tina, and I’m glad you enjoyed reading my humble words.
for me it is not so much a loss of creativity it is more when I try to lead my creativity or force it in directions I don’t truly want to go. I agree we need to listen, wait and gather those seeds. #mg
Oooh yes. Forcing creativity doesn’t work for me, either.
For several years now, I’ve been too busy with research and other responsibilities connected to family to really be able to keep in contact with my creative side. That’s a whole other challenge,not losing yourself when you are a caregiver, and it is going to continue for a while longer.
Oh yes, that is a completely different challenge. Care giving is certainly not easy.
This makes a lot of sense to me now. I hadn’t thought of it before. Instead I would just sit at my desk after a creative high and wonder why I wasn’t able to continue along the creative path I was just on. Now that I know this I will be more aware next time it happens. And also, I LOVE Astrology. I did my birth chart and the charts of my kids and siblings. I even did a few for a couple of friends. I had a lot of fun learning all those things about myself and my loved ones! #mg
Yes, sometimes we do need to just fill our well. Astrology is fun. I’ve been learning slowly. Just got to know a few aspects of my birth chart, and suddenly my non-typical Aries nature makes so much sense to me!
I adore everything about this post!! I have Neil Degrasse Tyson’s book, Astrophysics For People In A Hurry in my tbr pile. I figured that would be a lovely compromise to imploding my brain on standard physics reading.
hahahah! Let me look that book up. Imploded brains are no fun, after all 😉
I just take a break and have a tea… or a book if the lull is a couple of days 🙂 Quantum physics does my head in too, lol.
Seriously! And there are so many who geek out on it. To be it’s just goobelty-gook! 😉
I am fascinated about astrology. I wish someone could teach me the details.
Oh yes, I’ve experienced creative lean times, not that often though. Sometimes all it takes is hard-work and more importantly satisfaction that pays a great deal to overcome such phases.:)
Yes, sometimes hard work does pay off! Glad you haven’t faced too many creative lean times. They can be quite tough!
Oh god, I expereince these creativity lean times often. And then I search for sources of inspiration all around me. sometimes I find them in uncanny sources, sometimes I just wait….. I havent really read much about the moon cycles an seasons. May be you should do a detailed post on it?
Working with moon cycles is a great way to really hone in on intentions. I do plan to write more about it soon!
My creativity comes in spurts. And then nothing. That’s the time I start to wonder whether I should ever write again. And then an idea stems again out of ordinary everyday inspirations. So I get what you are saying. Would like to add, I loved the Alice in Wonderland reference. Lets continue to stay curious and seek inspiration.
That’s kind of natural with creativity. We need to constantly refresh and recharge our creative wells!
Of late, my blogging has been the outlet. Sometimes, I just need to stay off it and allow life to speak to me.
Yes, sometimes that is important too!