For whatever reason, you can’t have the courage to do something with enthusiasm.
You feel stuck in a rut and you don’t know why.
It has happened to me and, frankly, to all the adults I know, although many will not admit it; thinking it is a sign of weakness.
It can be a source of strength and new inspiration as long as we interpret its “message” correctly.
Let me tell you about my experience with a common creative illness, “writer’s block.”
This is what I call “jamming”.
And what’s interesting is that it doesn’t just afflict writers, it afflicts all the “creative” types, including actors who don’t audition, painters who don’t lift their brushes, and sculptors who don’t dare touch another pinch of clay. .
But all human beings are creative, whether they’re cooking something new or driving to the airport in a novel way. So Stuckness is a creative block, of any kind.
When I suffer from writer’s block, it is usually symptomatic of other things:
(1) I don’t feel appreciated; Telling myself that nobody likes my things.
(2) I’m whispering in my mind that I’ve lost it, whatever magic made my work “good”.
(3) I anticipate the rejection of editors and publishers.
(4) I am predicting that my work will not sell; which will be a commercial failure.
(5) I tell myself that I should be doing something more productive.
(6) I feel like I’m just redoing old things or stuck in a single writing style that limits me.
(7) What I’m doing feels like WORK, and nothing more than; it’s sad.
(8) I don’t like my own writing; I find it terrible.
If you synthesize this entire list, it boils down to a few things.
I am predicting and expecting failure. And I am judging and hoping that others will judge my work negatively.
In light of these concerns, of course I am going to stop producing.
The key is to do the activity again, whatever it is, simply for the fun of it, because it is fun, because it is a way to lose yourself and find yourself at the same time.
Once you do this, instantly, you will be detached.