Two Minutes Creativity - Part 2/3
This is part 2 of the Battle with Creative Anxiety series. In this series, I share with you the tricks I am using to push through self-loathing creative block. If you haven’t read the part 1 of this series, do have a read now, it will put this post in context.
Now that you have completed all your half-finished drawing/novel/songs etc but what if you believe you have ran out of ideas?
A very common self-doubt that haunted many of the artists in any given time.
My inner critic would say nasty things such as “This is it, you are out of ideas, you cannot do better than this” or any similar nastiness it can come up with.
This trick is to counter act this self-doubt and reprogram your believe system that is no longer serving you.
The last time I experienced such a doubt was over a year ago. Yet, here I am, still creating constantly without the fear of lacking ideas because I know that now creativity drives more creativity
You screamed silently saying, “Wait, I just said I am done, my creative juices are gone, nothing, nada!”
Before you unsubscribe, hear me out. It will take a mere two-minute.
Literally.
My second trick is to do/play with something creative for two minutes when you feel stuck.
Anything creative will do, the images above showed how this mini creativity session can look like:
Cutting up toilet paper rolls and glue some random cutouts from my watercolour practise sheet (this spiralled out of control, an hour later, I was still cutting and gluing petals on the loo rolls!! LOL);
Draw funny things on a photo of a cup of coffee (that took less than 2 minute);
Draw a tiny square of pattern on a postcard where the stamp supposed to go. (Hand delivering these postcards were cheaper then the stamps, seriously!)
These mini creative session planed some tiny seeds that then turned into creative ideas in the future.
As I am writing this post, I noticed how these 3 seemingly silly two-minute plays did in fact turned into 3 properly creation I am proud of.
Toilet roll cutter turned into a light-box artwork for my mum;
A more complex yet still fun drawing on a photo of a coffee cup;
Tiny grid drawing turned into a big poster with intrigue grids for my future home;
The first and third projects are very personal and not something I post on any social media platform. However, I feel that it is important for me to show you what a little creative seed can turn into, so that you are eager to give it a go.
By the way, when the 2 minutes creativity play trick cannot get your creative juice going, it is okay , we are allowed to have off-days. If the blockage continues though, maybe it is time to try the next and last trick - Put yourself out there.
Remember, we are creative beings and we meant to be creative. Be patience and be kind to yourself.
- With Love, Vienna
P.S.: This magical two minutes trick was inspired by Atomic Habit author James Clear (read his article here).