The world of creativity is a vast space, so instead talking about it all, for the sake of this prompt, I will be focusing on a specific genre of creative act I'm used to which is writing.
Most writers tends to complain about writer's block due to lack of inspiration or motivation to write.I often advice writer's who are struggling with any hindrance preventing them from picking up their pen, to dig deep within themselves and honestly ask and answer just one question, why do you write?
The answer to this question differs for different writers but the truth remain the same, whatever the answer is, it is what motivates a writer to write and the unavailability of that thing that inspires a writer to write is what causes writer's block.
Every writer have something called a muse, something that makes words follow out of you unconditionally. When it comes to me, I have never ran out of ideas to write on but I sometimes lack the inspiration to write on those ideas.
For instance, on my note app on my phone, I have numerous topics I have highlighted but some of those topics have been there for over a year, I just lost interest in writing on it. The funny aspect of is that, at that moment when I'm penning down the subject, I feel motivated to write about it but I might not have time to do so and I find myself saying; I will do it someday but sadly that someday might never come.
For me, what I experience has never been writer's block but something called burn-out or writing anxiety. I was able to overcome this two to an extent by asking myself the same question, why do you write? I don't know for most people but I have been writing before I came across hive blog. I'm not really into writing essays, my area of interest was poems. I used the word "was" because it has been awhile since I wrote any poem. My journey of becoming a writer was not glittering, it is more of a coping mechanism.
As a kid, I was always the silent one in class. I shy away from making any contribution that will attract attention to me. To know how weird I was, I prefer to silently whisper the answers to questions asked by the class teacher to a friend of mine that sat beside me named toyosi, he will stand up and present the answer to the teacher, he will be clapped for and I will silently jubilate on my seat without anyone knowing the answer came from me. That was how I slowly became introverted and less cheerful. No one could really understand what I was thinking, I could not afford to let anyone know of my vulnerability.
I would not say a word but yet the pain of being in need of being appreciated or acknowledged persisted. As if that wasn't bad enough I was bullied a little as a child because I was fragile but yet I remained silent, I would tend to my bruises and hide the scars from my parents. Eventually I lashed out while being bullied by some kids, that was the first fight I could remember being involved in. My parents found out, made enquiries about the fight and discovered all the previous fight I had gotten into with bullies at school. They tried paying more attention to me after then but I never opened up to them.
I was sent to boarding school to join my elder brother, I guess they thought being with him might make me feel better. They were right, I did feel better but the reason was different. One thing about boarding school is, it is one big hell house. You think bullies in my previous school were bad, try the bullies in boarding school. Gradually, everything started becoming too hard to bare but I still won't talk to anyone about it, the funny aspect of it was that I always had the biggest smile so no one noticed my pain.
In the midst of the chaos something unexpected happened, I find my way into writing poems. I never knew what it was called at first. I named the book "my thoughts in lines" the more poems I wrote, the better I was at it. I had finally found a way to express my thoughts, though it was just an interaction with a non living object but it felt good. The more I write, the less the burden of pain I felt and the happier I became. Found a way to put my thoughts in order which gives me the privilege of a clearer mind to think about other things that mattered.
I figured it was a lot easier to express myself by writing rather than spoken words, that is why sometimes I'm really bad at explaining myself because I don't usually find the right words to best describe my emotions.
This is my own reason for writing, not just because I enjoy it, it helps me put my thoughts in order. Though there are times when I feel too overwhelmed to write, that is when burn out comes in. At that moment, I just listened to specific music I had saved in a specific folder.
There are some songs that are therapeutic, it is not just about the lyrics but the melody. Somehow I figured out music assist me in processing my thoughts whenever I have a lot to think about. In fact anytime I'm writing music is always on, it makes the whole process smooth and faster, like a guide directing my thoughts.
Sadly not so many songs qualifies as being therapeutic not to talk of a song, I'm quite aware that music serves all kind of purpose but have you ever listened to song beyond or without the boom - boom - bang and slowly your mind connect with the lyrics like you are being spoken to, a song that lightens up your soul and make you cheerful against all odds. Yeah, this is why i turn to music anytime I'm experiencing burn-out or disinterest in writing, it helps stabilise my mood for easy follow of words.
But then, despite having able to cope with burn-out along the line, it is still my reason for writing that always make me come back to writing. So for anyone struggling with creative block, find out what motivates you the most, it might be a moment, a memory, a person, emotions {sadness or happiness} e.t.c whatever it might be focus on it and add something that makes it flow, mine is music and sometimes rest, find yours.
This write-up was inspired by weekly prompt "How do you handle creative blocks. " in hive student connect community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
Image - 1 Source
Image - 2 Source
Image - 3 Source
THANKS FOR VISITING MY BLOG
