I am officially in a creative rut.
I legit haven’t made anything since I finished the Love Bunnies a few weeks ago. I’ve wanted to create things. I think about all of the fun new projects I want to start on a daily basis, only to feel tired and listless when I actually have the time to sit down and create.
Even the books I’ve been reading lately have been lackluster and blah. I’ve sent 3 — THREE! — different books to the DNF (did not finish) pile, which is highly unusual and truly disappointing.
Instead of creating, I have been spending hours upon hours watching Instagram reels, doing puzzles, reading and listening to books while playing Bejeweled Classic on my phone for hours on end, and watching episodes of Death And Other Details on Hulu (which is fabulous). I’ve also been working on a website for someone, which took up way more creative energy than I expected.
I have been shoulding (reads like shitting) on myself for weeks for my lack of creativity and productivity, because I feel like I should be creating, even though I … can’t. Add in some health challenges (i.e. — perimenopause and hefty mood swings) and it’s been the perfect storm of not-so-fabulousness.
I have to remind myself that being in a creative rut isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to me. Creativity ebbs and flows and rest and recharging is just as important as creation and production.
I’ve been working on projects non-stop since November of last year and after 3 months of being in creation mode, my brain and body have said it’s time for rest.
AND IT MAKES SENSE.
I think the worst thing we can do when we are in the ebbing phase of creativity is to force ourselves to be somewhere we aren’t instead of simply honoring where we are.
Rest is necessary.
Recharging our batteries and refilling our creative reservoirs is necessary.
Being productive and creating new work all the time isn’t sustainable or even reasonable. And yet, here I am telling myself that’s exactly where I should be.
So here is me, telling me, to chill the eff out and embrace where I am in the journey, creative ruts and all. I am exactly where I should be. And it’s okay to rest and check out for a while. When the creative urge strikes again, I’ll be ready to hit the ground running.
