Creativity Chat
How do you deal with creativity blocks?
In my head I was confident that I did not get creative blocks, but then as I was typing I kept saying to myself “What about this situation” and “What about this other situation?” Hahah— it happens much more often than I realized.
In terms of artistic endeavors blocks come primarily with my 52 Frames challenges. Over the past two and a half years, I have learned so many things about photography and myself from that project that I cannot see myself stopping any time soon. However, there are weeks when the challenges are REALLY hard. I am not one to enjoy a lot of post processing. I don’t have models regularly available. And. And. And. In my last mini group I was working with I would complain nearly every week that I had no idea what I was going to do for the theme and finally one lady said, “Don’t worry. I know you’ll come up with something. You always do.” That really goes back to a lesson I learned from my running club last fall as we were preparing to run through an Illinois winter. Our fearless leader said just show up and the rest will take care of itself. Time and time again I just show up and I always come up with something. Sometimes what I come up with is better than other times, but it is so incredibly important to just show up and be part of the creative process.
52 Frames has a time constraint, so that makes having a creative block much more inconvenient. For other projects, I usually walk away for a little while and come back with a clearer head. Most of my projects are not high staked, so there is no pressure on me. I have a tendency to wait until the last minute on some projects, but that is my own fault.
When I am stumped at work, I am grateful that I work with a group of veteran teachers who are willing to talk through ideas on how to present a lesson or deal with a discipline issue or a difficult parent. As a German teacher, I have always had to rely on asking others for help, because I have been the only German teacher in my building for the majority of my career.
I know it sounds like I am some zen totally unstressed person, who just goes with the flow. That could not be further from the truth, but for some reason creativity blocks just don’t get me down, because I know they are never long term. They are usually just a sign that I need a break and some self-care. Then I can get back to it.
