The music stops. The
paintbrush goes dry. The writing
instrument stalls.
Nothing is cooking on the stove. Nothing is being designed, or being built,
sculpted, filmed, sewn, drawn, edited, produced, danced, photographed, or
created in any way and the garden, once beautifully manicured with
well-orchestrated rows of colorful blooms simply dries up and dies.
You may think what you
are about to read is about pure artistry in the classification for which you
are most familiar. Surprise! Nope… YOU
ARE CREATIVE and creativity exists WITHIN YOU.
However, this is the very reason why I am writing this…
creativity does not always come in the familiar form you think.
Your everyday life IS a work of
art whether you think of yourself as a creative or not.
When the vigor is not there and the vision is not there,
this can be alarming for anyone, not just ‘artists.’
What is this called?
Creative block.
Anyone can have a creative block
on any given day, even for those who do not think of themselves as creative by
label or name, however the ‘art of doing’ and the ‘art of being’ exists within
every human soul.
This is life… it happens.
When your life encounters the death of a loved one,
sometimes the creative process dies, too.
While most creative types who define themselves as artists might
thrive upon sadness or grief, do their best work, and channel all of their
energies into making something spectacular, it might come as a shock, if it doesn’t.
For those who never even think of themselves in these terms,
can also have ‘the block’ where the zest for creating simply fades.
What happens when a death halts creativity completely?
What if your livelihood is reliant up on being creative or
if one of the top joys of your life is doing creative work?
For those of you, who missed Part 1 of how to deal with
this, get caught up watching my video here:
The blog follower who asked me this question did NOT say his livelihood depended upon being creative again. However, he DID SAY/mention he was creatively blocked from picking up that guitar because of the loss of a loved one and the memories he had attached to being creative.
This was part of his regular everyday life.
For you and your regular everyday life, there are things you
do whether it is work or school, taking care of loved ones, doing purposeful things,
which produce some sort of result for others in what you do. There are also things you do for yourself as
part of your self-care, sanity, and part of creating your own safe haven in the
form of outlets, hobbies, and self-expression.
That self-expression does not always have to come in a form the
way most people believe it to be so in traditional form of creativity.
The point I wanted to create with PART DEUX with the "overcoming" part of “Dealing with
Creative Blocks Linked to Grief” is that both everyday life and livelihood can
be affected, even if you are not dealing with creativity in the pedestrian
terms of what that means.
Grief does not always have to come in the form of death of a
loved one. It can also come in the form
of the loss of __________ (anything/anyone) and that is inclusive of windows of
time, opportunity, or application of being authentic in the most meaningful
moments of your life.
When we close
chapters in our life, it is usually the creative outlet where the human soul
finds a coping place of solace. However,
what if that temporarily pauses, too?
The creative cylinders in our brains find creativity in
everything from problem solving, strategic planning, dreaming, developing our
imagination, sense of adventure, exploring life and having the energies to
exert into the things which tickle our interest, curiosity and wonder.
Recently, I did some business coaching with individuals who
felt ‘blocked.’
Unlike “Lavon” mentioned in the video above, there was no
death of a loved one, there was no guitar involved, but the creative blockages
were still there in a corporate setting.
Creativity exists in being able to visualize communication, conversation,
and solutions to overcome obstacles within conflict – both externally and
within one’s self with one’s truth.
These individuals had lost sight of being able to see that
there was conflict “within” and instead only saw the conflict outside of
themselves, utilizing the external as a scapegoat in lieu of owning inside what
was happening. They were not realizing
they had the solutions within themselves to overcome most of it…they just had
to tap into their ‘creativity bank’ of understanding HOW they approach any
situation and that there was possibility for solution.
Grief can exist when hopelessness takes over, clouding
insight because you are now FEELING EVERYTHING and your brain wants to
logically process things mechanically.
However, when you are dealing with humans and not machines,
solutions in finding that creative navigation through the blockage requires
deeper examination.
When the ‘mechanics’ take over, sometimes this creates a
deeper creative blockage, because thinking becomes linear.
Let us remember, emotions are NOT linear. This is the problem.
SOLUTION: You can
also evolve through the blockages it IF you allow yourself to FEEL everything
and process it…. which of course is a rollercoaster at times, but if you ride
through it, you will see the light afterward.
Many prevent themselves from SEEING the solution.
Most humans put up ‘walls’ or ‘shields’ and ‘shut off’ the
flow of feeling because it is uncomfortable.
However, the more you shut yourself down or shut yourself off from
FEELING, the worse it will be because things have a tendency to build in your
cell system memory and become a ‘trigger point.’
You can eliminate both your creative blocks and your grief,
if you develop the patience with yourself to go through the actual
process. There is never ‘the right time’
to do this, so do not convince yourself you’ll “feel” later or “grieve” later –
this will only create more problems.
As I suggested in the video, we need to compartmentalize our
problem-solving (one of the creative processes, which you may feel is dead
within you).
·
List your feelings by addressing every single
one of them. This may sound ‘weird’
because we humans do not do this.
However, if you SEE what is going on in your head and heart it is easier
for you to accept it, acknowledge it by looking at it, and then allow yourself
to come to terms with it to address it to FEEL IT. You can give yourself permission to “FEEL” it
once you see it to understand it.
In the video, I address two other columns as they
specifically relate to the questioner’s individual unique situation, your two
columns can be and will be different depending on WHAT (situation/loss) or WHOM
(it can even be your ‘lost self’) you are grieving, but the application is
still the same.
Once you allow yourself to go through the process FULLY, you
can then begin to chip away at your own creative blockages, where the energy
can flow freely once again.
Remember, even if the loss is permanent, the present feeling
of grief does not have to be overwhelming to where that becomes permanent,
too.
Instead, if you allow yourself to go through the period of
grief and fully release it, you will be able to return to your creative
processes once again. Perhaps they (the processes) may
even become stronger once you do, because you will have taken yourself through
the arduous trek of overcoming, which will ignite a stronger sense of self and
spirit to execute in the creative self-expression of your life.
Above all, do not fear that this block is a ‘forever block.’ Look at the ‘block’ as something that is
challenging you to evolve and know that it can be worked through, but you have
to give yourself permission and patience to do so… it is YOUR RIGHT TO FEEL.
You need not be ashamed of declaring that for yourself, nor
do you need to backburner or shelve it for ‘later.’ You are allowed to claim this time ‘to feel’ so
you can fully purge what has been building up in grief. It is normal, it is healthy, and above all,
it is for your own well-being to create mind, body, soul, and spirit wellness
IN BALANCE.
When we return to this balance from the erratic process of
what grief represents upon owning it, by experiencing it, it is here the
blockage no longer hinders and we can find the flow once again.
Namaste.
