Saturday. The girls made lace pancakes for breakfast (!!!), I read a novel for a good hour before getting out of bed. The sun is blinding me through the windows. The light is so intense, so sharp.
I sit down to work on a crochet project but can not decide on which one to focus on. They are so many... UFO's... Half written patterns, swatches for step-by-step picture tutorials and new stitch ideas, new designs brewing in my head... Old designs in sleep mode after bumping into obstacles... I'm in creative blockage and can not for my life get productive right now. Where do I start?
I end up sorting and winding balls of yarn... Acrylic here. Cotton there. Wool... DK. Worsted. 4ply... But that doesn't get me anywhere does it? But it is something soothing with handling yarn... It calms me. Anyone who have felt the same? How did you get out of your creative blockage? Please let me know.
Kärlek
Annette
Annette
FOLLOW My Rose Valley HERE:
Sometimes i just wait until it comes back and sometimes i force myself to finish just one project. I find it more relaxing to work on one thing at a time.
ReplyDeleteI'm also in creative blockage and just wait until it's over. I think I have to get rid of an unfinished project though ... throw it into the garbage .... and then .... ahhhhh, I can't wait to get the feeling ...
ReplyDeleteHave a nice weekend. Regula
I know it well. Sometimes it helps me to just pack away most of them and focus on finishing one or two projects. Having multiple projects/ideas on the go at once seems to scramble my brain and it all becomes overwhelming and annoying. Xxx
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely way to start your Saturday. The whole crew here slept in. I was up until 11 last night to finish my steampunk book. The tween said she was up 'til 2 reading. My little one has to sleep 11 hours herself to get a good night's sleep.
ReplyDeleteI get my creative blockage away with by mindless crocheting. I just start crocheting...or quilting, with no set outcome. Once I get going the ideas start flowing.
ReplyDeleteYour ideas will start flowing again.
Oh yes - and sometimes it is the handling of the yarn that gives you the feel of what you are going to do next. It will come. I love the grey cable glove by the way - might it become part of a pair?
ReplyDeleteJust wait until your mojo returns! It will. Sometimes we just need a little break from it! XX
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ReplyDeleteRelieve yourself of the pressure. Read your book, go for walks, go and do what you want to do, what you actually feel like doing. If you like watching podcasts and reading blogs still, then continue to do that and just enjoy. If you don't, then stop and get out of the loop for a while. If you do stop, every now and then go and have a look at what has been happening - there will be lots. Eventually you will see something inspiring, that will remind you of a project that you were thinking of, that you maybe have already started. Creativity is a gathering and harnessing of thoughts and feelings. If there are none because we have exhausted them, then we come to a halt. It may be days, weeks or months before our creative energy refuels. I find it always comes back though. Creative burn-out happens because we don't respect the process and try to drive through it anyway. That works for a while, but not long term. For most of us there is no need to constantly be creating like it is a competition or challenge with ourselves and others. Only when money is involved does it usually become this way, as money is seen to give us validation and esteem for what we do and we see it as a necessity, which compels us to keep driving forward no matter the cost to ourselves. To become professional means we are 'good at what we do'. Really though, it should not matter if we are any good, just if we enjoy. And if we do enjoy excellence, then receiving money is not the evaluator of that, the end product and our skills and our own self esteem is. If we are not making money, then sharing should always be at our own pace and not driven by others. If we are receiving money for our work and so have those added pressures then still people are not machines and we need to all respect that, not least of all us ourselves. If your livelihood depends on it then it is a problem to have burnout. Otherwise it is about waiting and relaxing and being busy with other things and taking pressure off until we feel recharged.
ReplyDeleteI personally closed down my business because I was working in my own sweat shop for less than minimum wage - perhaps looking for validation because money for what we produce means we are worth something. But we are better than that, and I was cheating myself. Money is not the measure of our worth or our crafting abilities at all.
Sooner or later, I feel the call back and there I am again at 2 pm, just finishing this last row or whatever, with my mojo fully working again. I would just relax and think about enjoying Christmas without any pressure to create anything at all. Be kind to yourself!
Yes, just handling yarn can calm, for us addicts. ; )) I hate hitting a wall in creating. Sometimes just pulling out my favorite colors and having a play, no design in mind just crochet away even if it's just a granny square sometimes it can trigger the imagination and ideas flow. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI have had creative blockage on occasion. I have found that stepping away for a while helps. Maybe take a road trip, or going for a hike sometimes. Yes, winding balls of yarn helps too!
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