I’m having trouble writing my next posting for The Creative Instinct.

I’ve been trying to produce my second article about the power of small gifts – about gifts to and from others. It’s a lovely, juicy topic that’s got my head fizzing with ideas that simply refuse to settle down and let me write them.

Here’s were I think the problem is: I’m trying to write before my brain is ready to write. And I’m doing that because of the self-imposed pressure of posting to the blog on a regular basis.

Well, if I’ve learned anything about my own creative process it’s that my brain ain’t going to co-operate unless it’s had enough digestion time. And this subject just keeps opening up and opening up to reveal a breadth and complexity that I’d not previously recognised.

Trying to compose and martial my creativity in such situations is bonkers – but I guess most of us try anyhow when the pressure to produce demands it. In this case the resultant writing has been painfully laboured and trite until it finally dawned on me that I’ve been forcing the process.

It Feels Like a Block

The trouble is that until you do understand what’s going on it feels like a genuine writers’ block. It’s easy to panic and keep battering away in a desperate attempt to bash our way through. It’s times like this that lead to those familiar images of the tortured artist and writer.

But brute force of mind is rarely the answer.

Especially when, like now for me, the subject I’m trying to write has revealed itself to have much more to it. I need to step back, take a pause, and stop trying to write a book in a thousand words.

I need to remind myself that I don’t need to write everything that’s in my head (or in my notes).� I need to remember that I can’t write with clarity if I haven’t achieved clarity.

My Good Inner Critic

It would be easy to beat myself up about this, easy to let my bad inner critic’s destructive voice run wild. Heaven knows that’s happened often enough in the past.

But my good inner critic is strong these days. He’s telling me that this is a subject worth the extra thinking. And he’s politely pointing out that I’ve been pre-occupied with another project, developing a part of my life coaching website and grappling with the mysteries of Google Adsense.

So the result for me is stangely positive. I haven’t been able to produce the writing I wanted, and yet, right now at this moment of writing about not writing I feel wonderfully assured, calm and serene. I feel great.

I wish you all the joy of creativity.

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Other relevant posts:
Visualise Your Creative Block or Writers� Block
Are False Priorities Blocking Your Creativity?
Creative Blockages – 7 Killers of our Artistic and Creative Potential

It’s only a couple of months ago that I wrote about the challenges and opportunities we are faced with when illness knocks you out of your creative stride. That posting, Creativity – When Illness Strikes, was mainly about myself and my partner, Lynda, whose illness has had an impact on both of us.

But I also mentioned Victoria, who has had her own illness challenges to deal with:

One friend and colleague of mine set herself some tough creative goals at a time when she was struggling to manage a chronic illness. She developed her style and produced more work of a higher standard than she’d ever managed before. The satisfaction she gained during that difficult time was priceless.
Sad to say that her symptoms worsened to the point where even she couldn’t continue. Three years on and she’s still battling, but her creativity has been battered and, for now at least, subdued.

Victoria left a comment confirming the challenges she was facing to her creativity, but then added this:

I am wondering now, particularly prompted by Andy’s synchronistic posting, whether I can rediscover it, and I WILL be taking some (albeit small) steps every day, to do so.

Victoria’s Good News
Well, I got a phone call just now from a very chipper sounding Victoria. She did take those small steps, painting scenes from around Nether Edge in Sheffield, which is close to where she lives. And a couple of days ago she took a stall at a farmer’s market in the area and sold five paintings. That’s five paintings to five different people – a real affirmation of the quality of Victoria’s work. Not surprisingly Victoria is ecstatic that her first ever foray into selling her work could be so successful.

Victoria is still dealing with her illness, but feels that if she can do it, anyone can, bearing in mind the situation she’s been in (and is still in). She had to force herself to resume her art, but as she says, it seemed right even though it was difficult getting back into the swing of things. As she said in her comments though, it’s knowing when you are ready, and for the couple of years before that it wouldn’t have been right to push herself.

It was brilliant hearing the brightness and enthusiasm again in Victoria’s voice, and she deserves tremendous praise for her determination to keep hold of her creative dreams. I know our creative journeys are often disrupted by setbacks and difficulties, but let’s wish Victoria a smoother ride from now on.

Inspiration
And if you are experiencing difficulties of your own, then why not use

Victoria’s story as an inspiration to begin again – small steps, remember – but you never know where those steps can lead.

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See also: Creativity – When Illness Strikes

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Would you like coaching by the author of this blog? For more info about Andrew Leigh’s coaching services, please click here.

Understanding Your Creative Block Through Metaphor

I saw an interesting post about writers’ block over at Whimblog, where artist William H Miller struck a blow against his creative block by making artistic image of it. He used the play on words to make an actual creative ‘block’.

I wondered whether you could take this one step further and visualize your artist’s or writer’s block more metaphorically. It turned out to be something of a personal revelation.

Artists’ Block  Metaphorical Visualization

The key here is not to get hung up on that word ‘block’. So you are aiming not to take it literally, but instead to transform your feelings and experience of the artist’s block as an imaginative, metaphorical visualization.

There are two important gains from creatively imagining your block:

• It gets you being creative again (I use the term visualization, but you can render your metaphor in your own artistic form)
• It gives you profound insight into the nature of your block

For instance, when I get writers’ block it typically comes in two distinct forms.

The Build-up of Pressure

My own experience of this one feels like there is a genuine blockage in my creative system right at the moment of production. I’ve had the ideas and I’ve worked on them, developed them, made notes, done research – but simply cannot get started on the actual writing.

There are lots of ways you might visualise this – for me it’s like a volcano (I’ve mentioned this in my very first posting); I’m smoking, growling and popping with ever more intensity – you know how volcanoes can get a tad grouchy before they let loose – well, yes- that’s me. Of course, when the creative eruption finally comes it tends not to be fire and brimstone but a more benign outflow. I’m not sure how to visualize it – sort of flowery and beautiful yet urgent and edged.

Another way I visualise this is like a flawed superhero – Nuclear Reactor Man.

I know this particular writers’ block quite well and these days have learned to accept it as part of my own creative process.

The Living Maze

I haven’t felt this kind of block for a while. A bit nightmarish really, because the maze is shifting and blocking and I’m lost inside it. Although my maze has traditional hedging it’s also made up of faces and noises, buildings and cars and crossroads. The faces are large and oddly, friendly – genuinely friendly – welcoming and warm.

I’ve never visualized this block before – in fact I’m building the visualization as I write and it’s becoming very revealing to me. And that’s the real biggie in doing this kind of artists’ block visualization – you get surprising insights and can make some very useful interpretations of your metaphor. I’ll leave you to make your own interpretations of my maze as I feel it’s getting a little to personal to share – sorry.

Develop Your Metaphor and Visualize Your Resolution

Having visualized your block and taken whatever insights are available, the next thing is to visualize a resolution to it. For me as Volcano Man (yes I have two writers’ block super hero identities) it’s down to giving him time and space to let off the steam of frustration and allow things to bubble and form till he’s ready to blow. These days I can almost enjoy this process – not sure if my other half does though.

As for the maze, I can see it opening up – organizing itself into a more orderly – no – scratch that… the maze isn’t organizing itself, I’m organizing it. I’m picking up the blocks and shifting them around. They’re still there for me, and in my mind’s eye they’re not what you’d ever describe as regimented, but they give me space and a passage through. And those faces are still smiling – even the buildings are smiling.

Everything’s smiling – it’s a happy, messy maze that I see. Yes, it is still a maze, but a maze with open ground and places to rest and be alone to do my creative thing. I actually feel happy with this kind of maze; it’s a maze that suits me very well.

Revelation

You know what? I said earlier that I haven’t felt this block for a while and now I realize that’s simply not true. With all the events surrounding Lynda’s ongoing illness and trying to earn a living at the same time I recognize that this block is with me now.

Wow. When I began writing this post I had no idea it would be quite so personally instructive.

So What is Your Artists’ Block Metaphor?

So what is it for you? A swamp or quicksand? A river that’s been dammed to form a massive lake of creative turbulence? A pulsating steam engine with a blocked valve? A lung searing, impenetrable smog?

Work your own visualization up and express it in your own creative form – paint, sing, play or dance your own artists’ block. Digitalize it, photograph it, write it.

Do any of those and you get to be creative again! And you get valuable self awareness to recognize the causes and if you want to, deal with them.

Share Your Visualizations

Id love for you to share your own creative block visualizations in the comments below. So please add your version – and if that’s now, in a year’s time or whenever, that’s fine. If you have an image or other representation of your block that you want to share, then put a link or url with your comment.

Let’s find out just how inspiring our artists’ and writers’ blocks can be.

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Here are some of the many posts about creative blocks – please search the site to find more:

Creative Blockages – 7 Killers of our Artistic and Creative Potential
Perfectionism – a Creative and Artistic Straight-Jacket – and How to Escape it
How Life Changes and Breaks can cause Creative Paralysis
Falling off the Horse
7 Tips to Shock You Out of Your Creative Rut

This is a very personal posting.

It’s ironic that only a few weeks after celebrating The Creative Instinct first birthday – and looking forward to the continued growth and development over the next year – I’ve been really struggling to keep on blogging.

If you’re a regular reader you may have noticed a drop in posting frequency over these last few weeks. This is because my wife Lynda’s ongoing health issues gifted her a nasty flare-up mid-February which saw her in hospital for a while. She’s now been back home for over a month and is still crazily weak and still in way too much pain.

Even before February Lynda’s creative artwork had petered out because of the demands and discomforts her health was putting on her. Since her flare-up there’ve been a lot of very unsettling mental readjustments for the both of us. And for myself the pressures of looking after Lynda, running the home and keeping my coaching business going has taken all my energy and attention.

Therapeutic Creativity

There’s no doubt that focussing on your creativity can be hugely beneficial during certain periods of illness. The power of being absorbed by something other than your health, and the rewards of achievement have certainly helped Lynda through difficult times.

One friend and colleague of mine set herself some tough creative goals at a time when she was struggling to manage a chronic illness. She developed her style and produced more work of a higher standard than she’d ever managed before. The satisfaction she gained during that difficult time was priceless.

Sad to say that her symptoms worsened to the point where even she couldn’t continue. Three years on and she’s still battling, but her creativity has been battered and, for now at least, subdued. [Good new update! See the link at the end of this post]

This is what’s happening to Lynda just now. Her health is never better than fragile but her spirit is perhaps best described as defiant. So when she’s well enough she makes her art and when she’s not she spends a fair amount of her time thinking about her art.

But periods like this current one can last months and are a different matter entirely. A couple of days ago Lynda confided in me that at the moment she feels no attraction or desire towards exercising her usual creativity.

Who Am I?

Such a change in focus brings up unsettling questions for any person in this situation, one of which is who am I? When your whole self image is wrapped around a core of being creative, and that creativity is absent, this becomes a big question – not least because you probably have no idea when, or if, your creative core will flicker back into life. I guess that when you’re very ill this is the least of your concerns. But as you get a little better the loss of the creative urge becomes more apparent.

From Lynda’s previous experiences of these periods we expect that her creativity will reassert itself as her health problems ease. But there’s always doubt.

My Own Creativity

As the partner of someone who is ill the pattern has been slightly different. Certainly there were a few weeks where my creative instinct was blasted out of the water – from the obvious concern of seeing your loved one in serious distress (and the emotional turmoil and uncertainty that is part of that), and from the sheer time pressures of added activity in such unwelcome situations.

But then as the dust began to settle a little I still wasn’t able to find the time or mental space for my own creativity. Now, six weeks or so on from Lynda’s sudden flare-up my head is just starting to clear and only now do I feel ready to get motoring with things again.

Gradually the emotional turmoil and mental repositioning we’ve had to put in place have become more manageable. And as the pressures have eased a little, I’ve been able to regain some control of my own time and routines. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to blogging on a more regular basis and continue the development of The Creative Instinct in terms of new resources, products and site development.’

And hopefully Lynda’s health will gradually improve enough for her to rediscover her own creative drive.’

Don’t Force It

Patience really is a virtue in these situations. Trying to force things along – deciding, for instance, that you should be feeling creative when it’s simply not there right now – well, that’s a recipe for frustration and unhappiness.

Make The Most Of It

I’ll leave you, I think, with this final thought. Please do make the most of your creative instincts now. Don’t put things off. Find a way of doing more of what you really want to do. And if you’ve been stopped in your tracks through whatever circumstances then don’t force things before you are ready. But if you feel your creativity beginning to stir, then do take a little time to reassess the barriers and see if you can’t knock a few of them down.

Wishing you health, peace and creativity – Andrew

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See also the follow-up post:
Creativity and Illness – Victoria’s Good News Story
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Lynda started her own blog a few weeks back. You can read it here. It’s worth starting from the first posting.

For most of us our self limiting beliefs inhabit the shadows, exerting their stifling influence on our thoughts and actions without us ever knowing they are there. At their most powerful self limiting beliefs can stop a person achieving anything worthwhile, and even wreck the good things they’ve already gained. That’s why identifying them is so important.

Teri’s Story

Teri (I’ve changed her name and a couple of minor details to protect her identity) was fascinated by the medium of film and was particularly drawn to the idea of film script writing. It was very clear she had a lot to offer. But Teri found it impossible to contact the groups, classes and people that would have helped her develop. She simply wasn’t up to being in the company of (as she saw it) more talented and able people. And her belief was that anyone at these groups would be more talented and able than her.

The really sad thing was that you only had to talk with Teri for half an hour to see her talent and her brightness shining through. Everyone who knew her also knew her potential. I wish I could tell you that Teri’s story had a happy ending, but it didn’t. Her self limiting beliefs condemned her. They were her unchangeable truths.

Finally she gave up the struggle and began to fritter away her hours in computer chat rooms. She became increasingly bitter and resentful towards anyone who was achieving beyond her own perceived limitations – including her partner and some close friends. The results for both her creativity and her relationships were inevitable.

Now that’s an extreme but real story, which brings me to the first valuable resource for pinpointing our self limiting beliefs – our friends and loved ones.

Self Limiting Belief Identification Method 1 – Ask Someone You Respect‘

Your friends will know where you are holding yourself back. Some of them may have already told you. If so pause now to write down the good things they say about you that you yourself have a hard time believing. But if you don’t have a clear idea, then ask them.

When you do ask, make sure you feel relaxed about it. Going about the task in a formal and stiff way can make it seem a big step. Wait for a time that seems natural and casual. How do you bring stuff like this into a conversation? Well, you could do worse than saying you’ve been reading some blog posts about self limiting beliefs and you were wondering about your own.

You can ask your friends questions like:

• Where do you think I hold myself back?
• Which of my abilities should I be making the most of?
• What could I achieve if I really believed in myself?

Large and Vague – or Smaller and Specific

Self limiting beliefs can be large, overarching beliefs such as Teri’s story above, but they can also be small and very specific.

For example, Sunil (name changed to protect identity) is a highly creative, able and ambitious young man who was working hard to achieve his goals. He enjoyed each Friday night with the same long-standing group of friends. Sunil actually loved those Friday nights and didn’t want to give them up. But the established tradition was that each person bought a round of drinks, and that everyone had to have a drink every round. It was a big group of friends, but Sunil’s next-day hangover was getting even bigger.

The creative and business time Sunil lost to his hangover each Saturday (and sometimes Sunday) was eating away at him. He felt trapped and expressed his self limiting belief about the situation like this: ‘I have to drink the same as everyone else on Fridays.’ There were all sorts of justification he could give for this statement but the bottom line was this ‘truth’: that this was one situation that was impossible to change.

Only when he challenged the ‘truth’ and recognised it as a self limiting belief did he begin to explore the possibilities for change. Having considered many options he decided on a tactful and it’s fair to say, tentative, approach to cutting back on the sheer quantity of alcohol he drank. To his surprise several of his friends immediately followed suit. The ‘truth’ of the situation as Sunil had believed it to be, turned out to be anything but.

Self Limiting Belief Identification Method 2 – Self Perception Statements

You can do this exercise on your own – though completing the statements with a partner who’s doing it too can certainly make things easier. Just complete the sentences below with your own perceived truths. When you’ve done that you can begin to confront your limiting perceptions with the ‘challenge’ questions which you’ll find towards the end of the article.

Self Perception Statements

Complete the statements below. You can complete each statement in as many different ways as you wish. Don’t move on to the next statement until you’ve exhausted the possibilities for the current one.’

• I am…
• I am not…
• I am good with…
• I am not good with…
• I will never be able to…
• I don’t deserve…
• I am held back by…
• Other people…
• Other artists/musicians/creatives…
• I always…
• I never…
• I should…
• I have to…

The next step is to identify which of your self statements limit you in some way. These are the ones we’re interested in. Pick out these statements even if you believe them to be absolutely true.

You will then have a list of your self limiting beliefs. Now at this point you might be thinking something along the lines of: ‘What if I have a really solid, unarguable set of circumstances that limit me?’ Well, there’s no doubt that some situations are genuinely limiting – but in that case it’s often your own attitude and assumptions that are the deciding factor.’

For instance, I’ve lost count of the number of successful dyslexic writers I’ve met or have heard about. And The Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists of the World has around 650 highly accomplished members. These creative people certainly had a genuine obstacle in there way (ie. no hands), but the positive and empowering self belief of each individual member transformed obstacle into inspiration. Let me repeat that – positive and empowering self belief transforms obstacle into inspiration.

So pick out a statement and ask yourself the challenge questions below. Take your time answering them and please don’t be afraid to inject some healthy humour into your answers. Be as creative as you like and see how many scenarios for change you can come up with, no matter how crazy and surreal.

What you are doing here is beginning to change your perceptions about your self perceptions. You are changing the way you think about yourself and your abilities.

Challenge Questions

• How true is this statement?
• Do I have to accept this?
• How can I change? Attitude? Actions?
• What can I begin to do differently?
• What’s the ‘positive opposite’ statement that I’d like to work towards?

Don’t Just Read This – Do It!

There’s a fair amount of work involved in identifying limiting beliefs, but the effort can be profoundly rewarding.

It’s now a well accepted that we can choose to change our self limiting beliefs for more life enhancing and positive ones. It’s the truth, and you’d better believe it.

t’s also worth checking out the first two parts of this series:
Changing Your Creative Destiny – Understanding Personal Self Belief
Changing Your Creative Destiny, part 2 – Self Limiting Beliefs and Me