For anyone wondering how to be more creative, to hear of someone who is always overflowing with ideas must sound wonderful. It appears that most artists, at some time or another, have trouble coming up with ideas. How many posts do you see on writer’s blogs about how to overcome writers block? In more than 20 years in various fields of the arts, I have never had that problem.
That doesn’t mean that I am thinking all the time. On the contrary, I rarely think and that’s why I’m so creative. The ideas and images spring unhindered from the depths of my mind. They don’t even appear as thoughts, they don’t really get that far, and since I don’t follow the ‘creative risings’ they don’t disturb me – usually.
That’s the blessing of a creative mind, a wellspring of ideas bubbling into manifestation and you as the artist, a conduit for the riches of the creative realm of existence. It’s a wonderful role to have for a lifetime, but sometimes, it’s also a curse.
This is what you don’t want to hear. What about when you’re full of ideas but aware that you don’t have either the skills or financial recourses to bring those ideas to fruition? That can get depressing. The skills you can learn, but only to a certain extent and sometimes you wonder if you will ever be good enough to really do justice to your ideas.
What about when you’re trying to sleep and scenes from possible novels keep flipping into your mind? These aren’t even from the one you’re working on; they’re only possibilities and fragile ones at that. You aren’t going to get up and write them down because you need to sleep and not every idea is worth recording. Nevertheless, they’re exciting enough to keep you awake, when you really just want to sleep. Only if you know how to meditate, can you can free yourself from the grip of these random images and get some sleep. Otherwise, they’ll drive you crazy.
Sometimes, even when ideas aren’t bursting into your brain, your mind is just waiting. It’s as if a flashlight is sweeping the depths, hoping to illuminate the next great idea. This keeps you in a state of intense alertness that, although it’s a wonderfully clear and peaceful state, can also be the cause of sleepless nights.
Then there is the problem of jobs and money. I was born an artist. It’s impossible for me not to be creating something on a regular basis. Luckily, I have been able to make my living as one form of artist or another, because trying to stick at an ordinary job while your heart and mind are champing at the bit to get on with your project is torture. Add to that the fact that in any artistic field there are always a whole lot of people struggling to make a living and statistically very few do and you can see how creativity can be a curse.
Is creativity a blessing or a curse for you?
Much like yourself, it is both.