Do you ever have those days when you’re just not feeling it creatively?
I had one of those days recently. I had planned a writing block, prepared my mind on the topic and showed up early at a coffee shop. But some days you just don’t have “it”. I felt like I was trudging uphill in the mud. My words felt slow, and the pieces weren’t fitting together. It was tedious. I went over them four or five times, and after a few hours, I still didn’t have the blog post I was proud of.
It turns out I’m normal. You’re going to have a lot of those days. They frustrate me. I feel like I should be better than that, beyond that and over that. But it’s all part of creating anything beautiful.
Nobody talks about the hidden creative process. It’s easy to think writers, speakers and content creators are brilliant. All the time. Surely the first thing that comes to their mind is dripping with clarity, poetry, and grace, right? Nothing could be further from the truth. Good creative work requires rough drafts and slow processes and pain along the way. We have no idea what blood and sweat someone else’s creative piece required.
Some days you’re walking on air as you create, lost in a time warp. Enjoy those days; breathe in that rarified air. Other days you’ll have to grind it out one muddy step at a time. But once in a while you’ll cut your losses, hit pause and come back to it the next day.
I fear we’re expecting to prepare creative feasts in microwaves. I fear truly creative people are giving up and declaring themselves not fit for the task when it isn’t quick, share-able, affirmed or viral. Do you quit when you hit writer’s block, content creator’s block or speaker’s block?
I hope not.
Some days, for whatever reason, you just won’t have “it”. And other days you will. I can’t predict it anymore. But I can live with discipline. I’m going to block off my next session on the calendar, turn my phone off so it doesn’t suck me into the vortex, and give it my creative best. Content creation, writing, speaking, music or anything requiring creativity doesn’t float effortlessly to the genius. It’s carved out slowly by the hard worker that just keeps showing up and offering their sweat and blood.
Please don’t quit. We need your ideas, verses, stories, and lyrics sliding through our heads. Show up today. And while you’re at it bring your best.