Recently, I found a page in one of my many notebooks that made me stop in my tracks. As I was in a Girlspring Springboarder meeting, I read a line in this journal that said, “My art, or lack thereof is not present. I want to do and make art for women…. I want to unite women and make a change. Girl power is the best power”.
My first thought after reading this journal page was Dang, I’m so cool but that was just because I talked about girl power. My second thought after reading it was that it was very correct; I have not been as creative as I used to be. Whether this is in writing, drawing, or even just coming up with ideas on how to fix the world, I have been lacking.
Then, as I was having an internal crisis, surrounded by some of the most creative minds in Birmingham, I realized that this is what life is like. There are, and will continue to be, times in life when the creative river that flows deep within each person’s veins will run dry. It may only be for a week; it may be for much longer than that like my creative withdrawal.
I have been sitting, looking at a blank computer screen for almost two months because I could not figure out anything to write about. I felt as though I had nothing to say, nothing to contribute to the world. At times, this is also what many people will feel.
People will think that they have nothing left to say, nothing left to give, nothing left in them that is worth something.
This is not the truth.
When there are these times of writers, painters, poets, potters, or any other artists block, the best thing to do is to continue doing what brings you joy. But also, go out and experience new things. Sometimes, people cannot come up with new ideas because they themselves are not doing new things. So go out, and eat sushi for the first time and paint the way it made your taste buds light up, or go hike a mountain and write a novel on the way the crests reach up to kiss the sky.
There will be a time in your life when you want to give up, when the doubt of not being good enough will keep you up at night, but the thing is that you do not have to be good enough because you are already good.
