Creative Blocks: An Artist's Best Friend
Could the Muse be steering you in a new direction?
By Maria Mikhailas | Posted 4/30/05 | Updated 5/8/23
The creative block! One of the most feared encounters in the hearts of all creative folks.
When the creative juice hits a wall and we feel bereft of inner direction, panic fills our soul, "This is it, there is nothing left, I have reached the very end of my creative life!"
But there is another way of looking at creative blocks, and a much more true and useful way. A creative block is the Muse within letting you know that she has another direction she wants you to go in. She is very firm and demanding — and wants us to fulfill all that we are capable of, not just what we already know.
The creative stream flows along and we grow comfortable in the blissful current of that golden light, until it turns and begins to flow menacingly into the deep dark Forest of the Unknown. Then we panic! We think our muse has abandoned us! Oh, we of little faith! This is just when she is most powerful and useful Forcing us into the unknown where the real juice of our untold potential bubbles forth.
What can we practically do, now that we are experiencing this 'debilitating' block? First, changing our attitude about this whole process is crucial. The creative block is our saving grace from our own mediocrity!
Questions for Reflection
Now is the time to get out of the comfort zone that is suffocating our creativity. We could ask ourselves some dangerously stimulating questions:
- What would I do now, if I was totally free and unconcerned about results?
- What could I do that would mess up my comfortable creative project?
- How can I take an impossible risk in my work, right now?
Or, if you are physically motivated, try running really hard, jumping rope fast, flailing on a punching bag, or vigorously cleaning house (as Viv does!). This gets the blood up to the brain and rapidly circulating in the heart. It also liberates the mind, so that new directions can be felt, and new pathways to creativity can open in the psyche.
The creative block is the artist's best friend. She is an uncompromising friend that demands ALL that we are to come forth and bless the world. She has no use for our fear and resistance, but wants our acceptance of the process, and ultimately, our access to unique and authentic self-expression.
©2005 Maria Mikhailas. All rights reserved.
Maria Mikhailas is a long time painter, teacher and dreamer.