Blockade!

The past few weeks have been very enlightening.  I have learned things about myself, that as a writer, I never knew.

I always figured procrastination to be my greatest enemy when it comes to my work, but now I am thinking differently these days.  I am not as hesitant and neglecting in other areas of my life, so why then, is it so hard for me to get to the computer, and write.

As for you my readers, think about yourself.  Look at your own outlet.  If it is writing, then this post will be right up your alley.  If your inspired outlets involve music, gardening, painting, or any other creative hobby in which you have to create, hopefully you will get something out of this.

I want to look at how we, as creators of art, can be so excited and thrilled over a project or idea, but then suddenly lose our willpower and drive.  Let’s look first at the problems.  Then tomorrow I will come up with some solutions we can use to battles these creative blockers.

Problem One:  Distractions

As I am writing this current blog, I cannot count the times that I have been distracted away from my computer screen.  Since I am a mother and wife, I have responsibilities to my house and son.  This is just one of many distractions that come.

We as artists have no problem coming up with distractions of our own.  Netflix is a major downfall for myself.  Even reading can pull one away from the process of creating.  Just life in general is one big distraction.  Our minds wander off into the wonderful land of stress.  We think about our relationships, finances, the future, transportation, jobs, and the list could go on.  It seems as though our brains and lives are setup to completely stop what we truly want to accomplish.  Deep down inside, we desire so much to make something great, but we get in the way of own selves.
How can one stop these distractions?

Problem Two:  Sad Emotions

Most artist, especially musicians, are extremely emotional.  Recently I have realized something about myself, that I never quite looked into before.  I could not for the life of me figure out why I was a happy-go-lucky person for two weeks out of the month, and the other two, well let me just say, I am a darkened damsel of doom.  I have self-diagnosed myself to have pmdd.  (I am not going to go into it, because we all have google, and I figure you can look that up yourself.)  I will be getting my doctor’s diagnosis later on, but since it is not a pressing matter, I am not too worried.  It is something I must live and I am not the type to take pills anyway.  If you are a woman, then you know all too well, the way hormones can affect your thinking, reactions, and emotional levels.  If you are a man, I am not ruling you out.  Men have feelings too!  Just hidden deep inside, I think.  Emotions can hold back any creativity that is trying to poke through.  It is enough to make one cry!

Who can work on something they love, when they feel like the world is crushing in around them?

Problem Three:  Happy Emotions with a Time Limit

Coffee, song running through your head, skip in your walk?  Sounds like a wonderful start to a productive day!  The world is yours to conquer.  For me, I love waking up happy.  I have a list in my head of all the things I want to do.  I get so excited.  My energy is high, my heart it light.  But then it hits.  It hits so soft I don’t even realize it happened.  My happy emotions take me back to the first problem: distractions.  I go out with my husband, we enjoy a day together.  I start listening to music, dancing with my son.  I recently spent a whole morning and afternoon playing Legos.  This may seem like a blessing and wonderful thing to most.  Yes, it is a beautiful thing.  To be able to spend time with the family and to be happy with the time you have.  But that is the thing.  As a creator, as a writer, time is a precious commodity.  Depending on your writing skills and how fast you write, just two hours can get you a few pages.  Also editing loves eating up those fleeting minutes.

Who wants to spend the time on art, when they are happy doing other things?

Tomorrow I will discuss a few ideas to combat these nasty “little” problem.

-Beck

https://www.facebook.com/suzannebeckintheopen/