A Busy Life
Do you ever get a spurt of obsessing over wanting to do artwork? Do you ever feel like there's nothing else you'll be able to do but write and write and keep writing until you get fired for staying home all day and all night? Do you ever get a painful feeling that keeps on until you create a truly spectacular piece? If you don't, then you don't have to read this. Just keep scrolling. But if you do, then you've come to the right place.
I'm one of the very few people that doesn't get writer's block or artist's block very often. I can write until my fingers break. I can paint until my tubes dry up, and even longer than that. I can draw and draw and DRAW! I have a head just full of things, you could probably find your lost pair of lucky socks in it if you are willing to look long enough. People with full heads are able to create forever. And, if you just happen to be one of those people, you must know that it is truly overwhelming.
I'll be taking a history exam when I suddenly get an idea for a painting. You might be in a business conference when you come up with an idea for a song. You might just have to create something sooo badly that you think you might cry. Uh-huh. Welcome to the club.
When you get home, you've completely forgotten about it. Either that, or you have to get up really early for work or a meeting, and don't have time to do stop and do a drawing. Nope, it's just not possible. You grab a sandwich and throw down on the sofa. You take a longing look at your paintbrushes, laying scattered among tubes of abandoned paint and dusty canvasses. You turn around and see your beautiful typewriter, empty of paper and looking so imploringly at you that you must look away. And the piano, more silent with its broken and rusty keys than it has ever been before. At one time or another, the cat walks across the keys. But not tonight. You stare back into your sitcom, playing away mindlessly while you grieve for yourself.
That's what it's like being a busy-minded person. You have an important life and job and family, but your creativity is crying for you. That happened to me once. I was on a hot streak. And then Christmas came. Goodbye, painting.
If you have this problem, I want to let you know that it is actually a dangerous thing. If you don't have time to nurture your artistic mind, it will die. That's why you have to be constantly creating something.
I dropped the ball on my writing recently. Although I was furiously typing out blog posts and sharing on Facebook, I let my more important novel go to waste. I just sat there, doing nothing. After such a long streak of fire for it, I couldn't do it anymore. While banging my head on the keyboard, I just wondered why?
Well, I just now looked up something rather important. The brain controls everything, as you know, and I wondered what part of the brain controlled creativity and imagination. Along with 3-D perspective and emotions, the right hemisphere of the brain controls musical awareness, artistic ability, and creative writing. The left wide controls your logic, scientific skills, and all the things you would need to get through school. Isn't that just interesting?
So, basically, while I was away doing other things, the right part of the brain was dying a little bit. Well, just a little bit. I was still writing blog posts, but it isn't the same as writing a whole story. I got out of shape with my fiction-writing skills. Although I really wanted to start it again, I just didn't have time.
So, we've learned all the technical stuff, even read a tear-jerking example, now down to the big question: How do you get out of this rut?
It's a many-answered question. That is, there are so many answers to it that I couldn't even begin naming them all. Do you love your art enough to quit your job? Then quit your job. Do you have too many friends and family around you, although you need them in your life? Take a vacation. If you explain, they will understand. Take some time off, at least, to get back into your life again. Get lost in the clouds, and don't take your head down (unless you're studying).
If you come up with something while in a very tricky spot, whip out a small sketchbook and write it down or sketch it. Do it under your desk, so no one will see, or just take a quick trip to the bathroom. It's always better to do it in a place where you'll be alone and you won't get caught. Or maybe you won't be, especially if you share a toilet with someone, which I doubt will happen. I don't care what you do, just write down your idea or desire.
When you get home, instead of grabbing a sub and heading to bed, sit down at your writing desk. Blow the dust off your keys and wipe off your papers. Grab your finest pen and begin to write. Plop down at your art station and wipe off your supplies, and make your idea. If it takes all night, go for it! At least you can go to bed (or work, if you're a night owl) knowing that you created something beautiful last night. Or not. If your piece turned out totally awful and definitely not the way you planned it, the heck with it! At least you tried.
So, my dear fellow artist, I hope that you are able to now empty your busy, busy mind and do your craft once again. I always love to hear from aspiring writers and painters like myself, so feel free to leave a comment or share this blog with someone you know. Thanks for reading, and I wish you the best of luck with your creating experiences. Chloe
I'm one of the very few people that doesn't get writer's block or artist's block very often. I can write until my fingers break. I can paint until my tubes dry up, and even longer than that. I can draw and draw and DRAW! I have a head just full of things, you could probably find your lost pair of lucky socks in it if you are willing to look long enough. People with full heads are able to create forever. And, if you just happen to be one of those people, you must know that it is truly overwhelming.
I'll be taking a history exam when I suddenly get an idea for a painting. You might be in a business conference when you come up with an idea for a song. You might just have to create something sooo badly that you think you might cry. Uh-huh. Welcome to the club.
When you get home, you've completely forgotten about it. Either that, or you have to get up really early for work or a meeting, and don't have time to do stop and do a drawing. Nope, it's just not possible. You grab a sandwich and throw down on the sofa. You take a longing look at your paintbrushes, laying scattered among tubes of abandoned paint and dusty canvasses. You turn around and see your beautiful typewriter, empty of paper and looking so imploringly at you that you must look away. And the piano, more silent with its broken and rusty keys than it has ever been before. At one time or another, the cat walks across the keys. But not tonight. You stare back into your sitcom, playing away mindlessly while you grieve for yourself.
That's what it's like being a busy-minded person. You have an important life and job and family, but your creativity is crying for you. That happened to me once. I was on a hot streak. And then Christmas came. Goodbye, painting.
If you have this problem, I want to let you know that it is actually a dangerous thing. If you don't have time to nurture your artistic mind, it will die. That's why you have to be constantly creating something.
I dropped the ball on my writing recently. Although I was furiously typing out blog posts and sharing on Facebook, I let my more important novel go to waste. I just sat there, doing nothing. After such a long streak of fire for it, I couldn't do it anymore. While banging my head on the keyboard, I just wondered why?
Well, I just now looked up something rather important. The brain controls everything, as you know, and I wondered what part of the brain controlled creativity and imagination. Along with 3-D perspective and emotions, the right hemisphere of the brain controls musical awareness, artistic ability, and creative writing. The left wide controls your logic, scientific skills, and all the things you would need to get through school. Isn't that just interesting?
So, basically, while I was away doing other things, the right part of the brain was dying a little bit. Well, just a little bit. I was still writing blog posts, but it isn't the same as writing a whole story. I got out of shape with my fiction-writing skills. Although I really wanted to start it again, I just didn't have time.
So, we've learned all the technical stuff, even read a tear-jerking example, now down to the big question: How do you get out of this rut?
It's a many-answered question. That is, there are so many answers to it that I couldn't even begin naming them all. Do you love your art enough to quit your job? Then quit your job. Do you have too many friends and family around you, although you need them in your life? Take a vacation. If you explain, they will understand. Take some time off, at least, to get back into your life again. Get lost in the clouds, and don't take your head down (unless you're studying).
If you come up with something while in a very tricky spot, whip out a small sketchbook and write it down or sketch it. Do it under your desk, so no one will see, or just take a quick trip to the bathroom. It's always better to do it in a place where you'll be alone and you won't get caught. Or maybe you won't be, especially if you share a toilet with someone, which I doubt will happen. I don't care what you do, just write down your idea or desire.
When you get home, instead of grabbing a sub and heading to bed, sit down at your writing desk. Blow the dust off your keys and wipe off your papers. Grab your finest pen and begin to write. Plop down at your art station and wipe off your supplies, and make your idea. If it takes all night, go for it! At least you can go to bed (or work, if you're a night owl) knowing that you created something beautiful last night. Or not. If your piece turned out totally awful and definitely not the way you planned it, the heck with it! At least you tried.
So, my dear fellow artist, I hope that you are able to now empty your busy, busy mind and do your craft once again. I always love to hear from aspiring writers and painters like myself, so feel free to leave a comment or share this blog with someone you know. Thanks for reading, and I wish you the best of luck with your creating experiences. Chloe
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