Yes to all that you wrote! I’ve been thinking about how hard it is for me to not associate how my creativity is going with my identity. Also if I’m struggling to get in the flow, I automatically ask “what is wrong?” versus “what is this telling me?” That reframing has become important for me.
There's nothing wrong with you! I hope not, because I keep trying to convince myself there's nothing wrong with me either. I heard someone once use the metaphor that you can't stay in the creative flow forever because it would be like "doing blow 24/7" and while that is not the type of metaphor I usually make, it IS PRETTY EVOCATIVE.
Okay, now that I've got those very important notes off of my chest, I hear you about the river. It's not always enough to just get in it to feel like we are progressing...sometimes it's a bit frozen over so there's only so much you can take, or the water level is low. There are upstream things we can't always control and worrying is the natural flipside of caring about something deeply.
This is a really weird suggestion: but maybe watch some really good kid's TV? It will feel like you are blowing off work, but it's really research. I loved Gravity Falls on Disney--but there are so many great (truly well written) shows now, and they are such a fun way to time travel. I don't watch TV often, but when I do, it does light up memories in my brain and help me think about my characters in fresher ways. Not sure that would work for everyone, but since you seem like you were, like me, a major TV consumer back in the day, it might be something to try to tap into once in a while. :) Even if for just an episode. Hugs! You know you got this but also, I feel you.
It is my contention that the river is always there, flowing, and if it SEEMS iced over or low, it's because that's how I'm choosing to see it. Not in a self-shaming way, but in an optimistic way -- it's always flowing and full, and ready for me when I'm ready to see it.
Maybe I will watch some kids' tv? Although for me right now it's more that I have a lot of administrative things to do, and they're making it very easy for me to procrastinate on the novel, because they truly do need to get done, and also the novel is hard. I have a plan though! Which I'll share soon, because so far it's working.
Yes, admin! Even for me, pre-published Elayne...so much of my day is somehow paperwork? Or, like things owed to various people (critiques...and taxes!), etc. Though in my case, the more-mindless form of business is kind of a blessing because I'm waiting to hear back on my R&R and my crossing-my-fingers-potential-editor said she would circle back this week. Lemme tell ya, this week has felt very, very long. 😬 And I've been prepping myself (sending other things out to various peeps, etc.) so that if they say "NO!!!" (LOL, she's very nice, she will be classy about it but that's how it might feel) then I still have lots to be excited about? Which is so silly, but also so necessary. Hugs, lady!
Thank you! I'm trying! 😩 I'm def. doing the work, Julie! LOL! But it's so hard to tell if the light I see at the end of the tunnel is a bit of sunshine or a train coming through! 😂
My friends and I have a saying and a ritual to "throw it down the river." Which means to let it go and let it flow.
I do not equate fallowness with shallowness. We all have ebbs and flows. For me, following those makes me more productive rather than trying to force myself to create when I am having a down time. Concurrently and counterintuitively and contradictorily, writing can also be my way out of a lull. OR, doing something else creative like knitting, card making, scrapbooking, etc. Tracey Baptiste talks about 'procrasti-knitting' which she does when she's stuck on a book. It takes her mind to another place, while still creating. When she returns to write, she's rejuvenated. I use that technique A LOT, although not sure my writing productivity increases, but I do have some fine sweaters to wear. :-)
I know this feeling too, and I love the visualization of the river, which is also a symbol that comes to me often. I think it feels really hard to have fallow periods, as creatives, when so much of our identity is wrapped up in what (and if) we are creating. It can easily turn a needed rest into an identity crisis. The way I try to manage it is by giving in and trying to remember the therapy phrase "what we resist, persists" and trust that if creating isn't coming easily for awhile, then maybe I need to just let myself do the other life stuff. Of course this is complicated when your creativity is directly tied to your income 😣
YES ALL OF THIS. Ha, I feel like I could have just posted your paragraph rather than writing all that stuff I did. But the identity, the complication of the income being tied into it, and easing off when the creativity isn't coming -- all of that resonates so much for me.
I love the idea of fallowness, because farmers are some of the busiest folx I know, but they also know when something just needs to be let "be" for a while--how that makes it more productive later. It's so hard to decide what fields to do what with, and when. :)
I think too all the time about the metaphor of planting a seed, and how there's a long time where the seed is doing its growing in the dark, underground. And so many of these creative ideas might not look like ANYTHING, but they are still growing.
Right? And not to dig too Dee with the garden stuff...but you don't know which seed is which until they pop up! (And sometimes not until they bud, since shoots don't look like much.) 😂
Yes to all that you wrote! I’ve been thinking about how hard it is for me to not associate how my creativity is going with my identity. Also if I’m struggling to get in the flow, I automatically ask “what is wrong?” versus “what is this telling me?” That reframing has become important for me.
There's nothing wrong with you! I hope not, because I keep trying to convince myself there's nothing wrong with me either. I heard someone once use the metaphor that you can't stay in the creative flow forever because it would be like "doing blow 24/7" and while that is not the type of metaphor I usually make, it IS PRETTY EVOCATIVE.
Haha, yes! Definitely evocative and it makes total sense. And thank you for the reminder ❤️
First of all, before I forget, I love modern toile so much! I saw one a while back that was alien abduction scenes and it was <chef's kiss>. And there was this Back to the Future one, too. LOL. https://www.hyggeandwest.com/products/hill-valley-toile?variant=39667777077386¤cy=USD&gclid=Cj0KCQjwuLShBhC_ARIsAFod4fJarsalMCl7RabGC4LPZzGmVn8m7-0xqZG4s2e3sO1IMfM421irAs8aAqOZEALw_wcB
Okay, now that I've got those very important notes off of my chest, I hear you about the river. It's not always enough to just get in it to feel like we are progressing...sometimes it's a bit frozen over so there's only so much you can take, or the water level is low. There are upstream things we can't always control and worrying is the natural flipside of caring about something deeply.
This is a really weird suggestion: but maybe watch some really good kid's TV? It will feel like you are blowing off work, but it's really research. I loved Gravity Falls on Disney--but there are so many great (truly well written) shows now, and they are such a fun way to time travel. I don't watch TV often, but when I do, it does light up memories in my brain and help me think about my characters in fresher ways. Not sure that would work for everyone, but since you seem like you were, like me, a major TV consumer back in the day, it might be something to try to tap into once in a while. :) Even if for just an episode. Hugs! You know you got this but also, I feel you.
I love that Back to the Future toile!
It is my contention that the river is always there, flowing, and if it SEEMS iced over or low, it's because that's how I'm choosing to see it. Not in a self-shaming way, but in an optimistic way -- it's always flowing and full, and ready for me when I'm ready to see it.
Maybe I will watch some kids' tv? Although for me right now it's more that I have a lot of administrative things to do, and they're making it very easy for me to procrastinate on the novel, because they truly do need to get done, and also the novel is hard. I have a plan though! Which I'll share soon, because so far it's working.
Aww, love that view of the river! :)
Yes, admin! Even for me, pre-published Elayne...so much of my day is somehow paperwork? Or, like things owed to various people (critiques...and taxes!), etc. Though in my case, the more-mindless form of business is kind of a blessing because I'm waiting to hear back on my R&R and my crossing-my-fingers-potential-editor said she would circle back this week. Lemme tell ya, this week has felt very, very long. 😬 And I've been prepping myself (sending other things out to various peeps, etc.) so that if they say "NO!!!" (LOL, she's very nice, she will be classy about it but that's how it might feel) then I still have lots to be excited about? Which is so silly, but also so necessary. Hugs, lady!
Oh, that's super fun, good luck! And good thinking, sending other things out while you're waiting.
Thank you! I'm trying! 😩 I'm def. doing the work, Julie! LOL! But it's so hard to tell if the light I see at the end of the tunnel is a bit of sunshine or a train coming through! 😂
My friends and I have a saying and a ritual to "throw it down the river." Which means to let it go and let it flow.
I do not equate fallowness with shallowness. We all have ebbs and flows. For me, following those makes me more productive rather than trying to force myself to create when I am having a down time. Concurrently and counterintuitively and contradictorily, writing can also be my way out of a lull. OR, doing something else creative like knitting, card making, scrapbooking, etc. Tracey Baptiste talks about 'procrasti-knitting' which she does when she's stuck on a book. It takes her mind to another place, while still creating. When she returns to write, she's rejuvenated. I use that technique A LOT, although not sure my writing productivity increases, but I do have some fine sweaters to wear. :-)
I feel some of this but I'm feeling like I'm suffering from a bit of amygdala hijack so maybe I should write about that as my mind unclenches.
Writing as a method for mind unclenching is so important!
I know this feeling too, and I love the visualization of the river, which is also a symbol that comes to me often. I think it feels really hard to have fallow periods, as creatives, when so much of our identity is wrapped up in what (and if) we are creating. It can easily turn a needed rest into an identity crisis. The way I try to manage it is by giving in and trying to remember the therapy phrase "what we resist, persists" and trust that if creating isn't coming easily for awhile, then maybe I need to just let myself do the other life stuff. Of course this is complicated when your creativity is directly tied to your income 😣
YES ALL OF THIS. Ha, I feel like I could have just posted your paragraph rather than writing all that stuff I did. But the identity, the complication of the income being tied into it, and easing off when the creativity isn't coming -- all of that resonates so much for me.
I love the idea of fallowness, because farmers are some of the busiest folx I know, but they also know when something just needs to be let "be" for a while--how that makes it more productive later. It's so hard to decide what fields to do what with, and when. :)
I think too all the time about the metaphor of planting a seed, and how there's a long time where the seed is doing its growing in the dark, underground. And so many of these creative ideas might not look like ANYTHING, but they are still growing.
Right? And not to dig too Dee with the garden stuff...but you don't know which seed is which until they pop up! (And sometimes not until they bud, since shoots don't look like much.) 😂