It’s all in the mind
Either I’m becoming what I’ve always dreaded – namely, a candidate for one of those [flaky?] “self-realization” weekend retreats where you uncover, explore, and finally vanquish whatever subconscious “blocks” have you stuck in old patterns (…hey, didn’t someone make a sci-fi “religion” out of that?) – or I’m in the beginning grip of a sinusitis, accompanied by Lugu (the old Black Dog).
The absence of regular blog posts is not an indication of being happily employed elsewhere. It’s merely me stopping myself from writing posts like this one.
I’m stuck in every which way, and every time I think of a way forward, the hole gets deeper. Now my body is tuning in to my mindset, hence the weird days-long headache and slow bricking-up of skull cavities originally designed to, …um, lighten the load of this, my re-presentations.
Crazy! I’ve been feeling exactly the same way. I get home in the evening, peruse my Projects folder, then shut it again and just sit on the couch. For some reason, I’m lacking that creative energy that I need to spur me onwards toward the next thing. I’ve noticed the exact same thing occurring on my blog that is on yours – a reflection of that fact via a lack of updates.
One thing Marc Lesser has always proposed that I think is worth considering: Retreat to move forward. Maybe take a few days to unplug, sit down with a pen, paper, and nothing else, and let your mind wander. Capture on paper wherever and whatever it wanders to, and see what happens.
–Adam
Comment by Adam — July 24, 2009 #
Yep. I think part of my problem is that I haven’t gotten away at all – for years. It has caught up with me. Physically removing myself from the context would be best, but is financially improbable at present. A while back, Jonah Lehrer had an interesting post, which talked about how/ why living abroad unleashes creativity (saw that post via the more recent one, Designing for creativity). Would love to give that a try, even just in terms of short-term travel. Someone send me a plane ticket and doggy-sit my pet for a couple of weeks, ‘k? 😉
Comment by Yule — July 24, 2009 #
Even if you can’t get away, that stuckness has its own “novelty” for a while, so you might as well take in stride, like an adventure. After all, constant creativity, with always being “up,” has its own sticky level…. Try doing nothing for a while — well, maybe with the exception of eating lots of good food and watching mindless movies, or just frittering time away. And, forget about feeling guilty or useless — do nothing with full purpose, if you know what I mean. 🙂
Comment by maria — July 24, 2009 #