My creativity has changed dramatically since adopting these principles that I’ve learned after completing the Artist’s Way

10 Long-term solutions to prevent and overcome creative block

There are a couple of things I need to mention before I get into the steps. These things are mindset adjustments that will help you understand your creativity better.

Understand that the journey to recovery is not linear but in fact spiral. It’s like walking around a mountain in circles (in a spiral) on our way to the top. We might pass the same tree but we’ll see it at a different angle. It’s the same with our recovery journey.

You will encounter the (seemingly) same challenges but you will approach them with a slightly altered mindset. The message here is don’t get discouraged if you feel like you keep encountering the same struggles. The Artist’s journey is spiral.

Going through ebbs and flows of feeling more and less productive is completely normal and par for the course. Let’s not demonize creative block. It’s not a death sentence. You just need to learn how to traverse it. You will never be super creative all the time, but you don’t have to be completely blocked either.

#1 Engineer a spiritual experience

This might sound weird but a surprising thing I learned from The Artist’s Way is that creativity is synonymous with spirituality. I also read something like that in Stephen Pressfield’s The War of Art

Regardless of what you believe or choose to name it, that little hunch you get – that you call inspiration – comes from outside of yourself. You didn’t have to rack your brain for hours and yet you still get to take all the credit. Isn’t that wonderful? Who would want to argue with this…?

So what I understood from this is that I am a conduit for something to be created. Although I can create anything I want on my own, if I create a channel of communication with what I like to call the universal energy of creation, I can tap into the universal well of inspiration. Julia Cameron speaks of ‘transcending my own limitations‘.

I have often felt creatively blocked before I’ve even sat down to do anything, usually because I am anticipating not having a clear idea of what I want to write or draw or whatever. Knowing that receiving some inspiration is a two-way street – I don’t feel so anxious and won’t get down on myself which often leads to feeling even more blocked.

There are things you can do to make sure the channel of communication stays open. Julia Cameron talks about an induced or invited experience brought on by undertaking certain exercises to get you in the flow with the creative energy of the universe. You are trying to create an alliance with a higher consciousness. Accepting this concept alone can do wonders for your creative recovery.

The two main tools for creative recovery are Morning Pages

#2 Fill your cup

In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron likens our creative capacity to the ecosystem of a fish pond. We fish from our pond when we work (big fish and little fish = big projects and small projects) so we also need to restock it. You do that by consuming sensorial materials and engaging in activities that both thrill and excite.

If you neglect to pay attention to the upkeep of your pond (if you allow your cup to run dry) you will become depleted, stagnant, and feel blocked.

Julia Cameron’s advice is that artists need to be self-nourishing (think self-care) in order to be creative and productive. When we become blocked we are like overfished ponds. If you can see yourself in this light it will help you be kinder to yourself.

Any ‘artist brain’ activities will also be therapeutic and help to fill your cup. These are usually that are repetitive in nature, like sewing, chopping vegetables, washing anything, scrubbing, shaving, showering or driving. These activities are not only soothing but stimulate the artist within. Have you ever gotten a great idea while in the shower or driving?

#3 Identify and heal creative injuries

Most of what blocks us as people (not just artists) are things that happened in the past. Things that made us feel like we are not good enough or question our abilities in some way. These things all mess with our confidence and our flow. Identifying and acknowledging old wounds can go a long way in lessening their blow in the present moment. Sometimes healing requires us to simply forgive ourselves or just mourn the fact that it even happened. When we try to ignore things, they tend to grow and morph.

These injuries could be someone who shamed you or someone who told you that you were not talented. Your injuries could be as simple as self-limiting beliefs that have their roots in the words of some less-than-kind family members, teachers, or even strangers.

Pay attention to what you think about yourself and try to write a new story for yourself. Positive affirmations especially help with limiting self-beliefs. Unpack the belief and create an affirmation for yourself that neutralizes the old belief.

Here are a couple of my own affirmations (based on my own limiting self-beliefs that came up while doing the Artist’s Way course):

• I have the ability to achieve my most audacious dreams
• My feelings are valid and important
• I am worth spending time and money on
• Working on myself is always time well spent
• There is a divine plan of goodness for me and my work

It goes without saying that these are not quick fixes and will probably take more than just a week, but this will impact your long-term unblocking. Creative health is an ongoing journey. It’s a lifestyle.

#4 Surround yourself with supportive fellow creators

Find people who want you to do well. People who are not too lost in their own problems and people who are fellow creatives. People who really want you to succeed will not only be encouraging but will also tell you when you are just being full of shit and making excuses. They will encourage you to just do the work.

If you can’t find or connect with these people in person, find them online. There are so many supportive creative groups to join on Reddit or Facebook.

In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron asks you to identify a person to act as your creative support, a sort of accountability buddy. This person believes in your abilities and will encourage you to carry on. You only need one person who you can check in with regularly. They don’t even need to be ‘an artist. Everyone is in fact a creator.

#5 Show yourself compassion

What a strange concept I hear you think…It was totally foreign to me before I completed The Artist’s Way. Hence the urgent need for creative recovery. I have been so proud to exclaim how hard I am on myself thinking that this somehow made me do better, when in fact, it was the reason I never finished anything I started. Or even worse, never even started. My perfectionism and procrastination have been my two biggest barriers and they are both rooted in fear. Fear of failure, fear of standing out, fear of outshining others, the list goes on.

Cameron likens our artistic self to our inner child. When has screaming at a frightened child ever inspired them to action? No one would ever use that approach, yet we do it to ourselves all day. It is of course not conducive. When we can’t start something it’s often because we are plagued by fear in some form or another. If we approached ourselves with kindness and support we would coax ourselves out of our self-imposed cave and be more willing to take the first step.

#6 Find alternative avenues

This is something that could help you right now as well as something to keep in mind for the long term. Whenever you feel stuck during a specific activity (writing, painting, playing music) stop doing that activity and do something totally different. But just keep working. Do something. If you are stuck with a specific medium, switch mediums.

It also bears mentioning that having multiple projects on a ‘slow burn’ as Tiago Forte would say, helps with this concept. In building a second brain, you have multiple projects that you’ve created folders and you can add to them whenever you have something to add to it. This concept can be applied to creative projects as well. Taking a break from your current project to work on something different.

The important principle is not staying in the feeling of being stuck. As long as you keep moving you can’t become stuck. It’s much harder to begin again when you’ve just been sitting on the couch lamenting. It’s hard to get out of that mindset where inspiration will definitely not spring forth.

#7 Go on a consumer fast

One effective way of staying stuck is constantly consuming other people’s material. Youtube videos, blog posts, reading book upon book and listening to countless podcasts. We do this sometimes to stall having to start doing our own thing while still feeling like we are being productive.

But information overload could be drowning out your own ideas. When your brain never has a moment to experience a bit of boredom it’s like not having a moment to come up for air. Your brain needs time to breathe.

Run an experiment for a week. Stop reading and watching all content. Social media especially. Have a tech-fast. A digital detox. You will be so amazed at how much clearer your mind feels and how much calmer and in control you feel. The ideas will start rolling in.

I think we feel more stuck than ever because our focus is constantly on devices. We neglect to pay attention to our own experiences in the world. The very thing we draw inspiration from as artists. Be more present.

#8 Explore your curiosities

Some of my favorite exercises in The Artist’s Way are ‘Buried Dreams’ and ‘Detective Work’. Both of these are geared to help you excavate a part of yourself that you’ve forgotten or hidden away.

In order to keep a steady supply of creativity you have to find those parts of yourself again. We can only do this by exploring and playing and experimenting.

Start exploring in your journal. Here are a couple of questions to get you started:

• List five hobbies that sound fun.
• List five classes that sound fun.
• List five things you personally would never do that sound fun.
• List five skills that would be fun to have.
• List five things you used to enjoy doing.
• List five silly things you would like to try once.

#9 Keep showing up and do the work

Just keep on trucking as they say. Build a consistent practice of showing up at the page so to speak on a daily basis. Sometimes, you will not feel in the mood and that’s okay. The very act of doing the work is the relief.

Julia Cameron reminds us in her ‘Rules of the Road’ that it is far harder and more painful to remain blocked than to just do the work.

This might also serve as a reminder that feeling in the mood is not a prerequisite for doing good work. You can’t avoid work based on your mood. You have to show up regardless of your mood. You don’t need to wait to feel like you are in the mood which is a great help to procrastinators like me – there is no excuse!

#10 Do the Artist’s Way

I don’t recognize myself post The Artist’s Way.

I even went so far as to create a companion workbook