blocks to creativity

Spring Cleaning for Creativity

I hate spring cleaning.  I’ll tell you why.  When I was a kid, my mom would come into my room and instigate a spring cleaning.  Now if it were just about getting the dust bunnies out from under the bed and putting away the winter coats, that would have been fine with me.

Alas, no.  Her intent was to go through my toy box and find a way to make it more manageable.  Not a bad idea from her point of view.  I am sure her point of view was a horrific pile of un-played-with toys strewn everywhere but where they belonged.

My point of view was that someone else was going to force me to choose which of my beloved pile of toys had to go.  Oh, I hated those sessions.   

I would defend a broken unrecognizable bit of plastic as necessary to a game that I never played.  My mother would become frustrated with my tears, drama and obstinacy and return it in kind and we both wound up exhausted, hurt and angry.

Spring cleaning became a hated ritual.

Fast forward to today and there is no one to force me to clean out my toy box of art supplies, unfinished projects or no longer loved items, except the sound of my mother’s voice whispering in my ear that I have entirely too much stuff.  It is much easier to ignore the voice now than it was back then.  But I ignore it at a price.

The price of hanging on to un-finished-objects (UFO’s) or unneeded objects requires a lot of mental, emotional and physical energy that could be used to fuel my creativity.

If letting go of UFO’s are blocking you in any way, you might be interested in a short e-book I wrote called:

How to Prevent UFO's from Alienating Your Creativity

You can find out more about it here:


If you have trouble letting go of your un-used creative toys consider that you may have gotten what you needed out of them already even if they don’t look finished or used up to the rest of the world.  

Spring cleaning your space can allow room for more creativity.  And isn’t that a breath of fresh air?

Energy Vampires Suck Your Creativity Dry

 

Hi Creative Friends,

I finally got sucked into reading a vampire book. (Please pardon the pun. I couldn’t resist!  They make me laugh.)  I didn’t read the whole thing.  About half-way through, it was too much for me, so I skipped to the end to find out what happened, but I really didn’t care much.

However the book got me to thinking about Energy Vampires.

Here is a quick primmer on EV’s:

  • An EV can be a person, place or thing:  (Your negative sister-in-law who never shuts up at family dinners) (Driving in rush hour traffic) (The Internet)
  • EV’s are relentless:  Conscious or unconscious behavior, Energy Vampires never give up taking, taking, taking. 
  • They are restless:  They are always seeking new ways to steal your energy, your ideas, your good will.
  • They will waste your time.  Time you will never get back.
  • EV’s are demanding, self-centered and self-serving.  They never have your best interest at heart.
  • They are all around you.  They can spot the young vulnerable ingénue in you wearing a low cut dress when you should have on your garlic necklace.
  • Energy Vampires restore their energy from sapping yours.

You already know what you need to do to un-hook from these life-suckers but here are a few ideas:

  •  Make a decision to eliminate the Energy Vampires in your life.
  • Name them.  Shed some light on the ones that give you the most trouble and acknowledge what is going on. 
  • Pick your battles.  Unless your middle name is Buffy, you should do this elimination one battle at a time.  Energy Vampires don’t go away without a fight.  They are used to getting their way with you and want things to continue.
  • Get support.  Ask for help if you need it.  Safety in numbers at functions that drain you can help.  Limit your time around the ones you can’t avoid completely.
  • Know that you are in a fight for your life, your time, your feelings and your priorities and your creativity.

Ultimately how much energy you have dictates how much you can allocate to your creativity.  No energy, no creativity.

Now start sharpening that wooden stake!

Have a creative week!

Hugs, Diana