Creative ruts and how I embrace them
Plates I made with my mom one holiday - this process was very grounding for me.
For me, creative ruts happen when I am overworked or when I come down from something exciting that has happened in my life. It also happens when I’ve been doing the same things in my life over and over with no change in scenery. We ebb and flow, our energy rises and falls and there’s a balance that needs to happen for one or the other feelings and states to exist.
When I find myself in a rut, I get agitated, feel like an imposter and I spend my evenings scrolling through Instagram wondering how others are experiencing so much success and not I - truth. After I go through all these emotions internally, I then find it in me to take a step back.
If you’ve been following my creative journey, you’ll know I’m a bit of a serial crafter. I bounce from craft to craft, try it out, see what it’s all about, fail miserably and move on to something else. Knitting, stamp carving, fabric dyeing, water colour painting, whittling, soap making, pottery - you name it, I’ve tried it. This can get expensive! These days, I’ve found a handful of crafts that I do enjoy and have kept a small amount of supplies in my home. All jokes aside, stepping back from what your norm is and trying something new has helped me break through creative ruts.
When you find yourself stuck, lacking inspiration or going through the same motions over and over, stop. Take a step back. Do something different. Here are a few things I like to do to:
Meet up with someone I haven’t connected with before or in a while
Do something in another creative field (a craft, a different genre of photography, etc)
Spend time with family
Go for a walk (Already do this? Change your path, do it backwards, try a new route)
Cook - try a recipe you haven’t before
The point of this is to change your scene, do something different, or do it in a way you’re not used to.