3 Ways to Tap Into Your Personal Source of Creative Energy

As a writer, it’s not uncommon for me to sit blankly staring at my laptop. I’ll be quite honest, most of the time I can literally just sit down and type like a mad-woman as the words just flow out of me, but sometimes it is nearly impossible seemingly no matter what I do. And I know it’s not just writers who experience this discouraging sense of being disconnected from your own creative well.

So, what is going on exactly when this happens? Usually, it is just a matter of something else entirely having our attention, other than that which we are trying to get inspiration from. If we are trying to beat our best lap time in the pool, but can’t stop thinking about that awful fight we had with our boyfriend or girlfriend, then chances are we will not succeed.

Another factor that can play into how much or how little we are feeling creative and inspired is how we feel about ourselves personally. In other words, where are we at regarding our level of self-esteem and self-love? When we truly do love ourselves (just as it goes when you truly love another), it is near impossible to do something that would prevent you from attaining a goal, or make you feel bad about yourself, or not practice or dedicate the time that you need to excel at your current target (no matter if this is a promotion at work, losing that last 15 pounds, etc.)

And lastly, how we feel in general about others and about the world and life play a huge factor I believe in how strongly one’s creative juices will flow. Although this one is two-fold and I will explain. If we feel safe in the world and connected to people generally on a friendly level, then it would be safe to assume we live a generally peaceful and happy life as we wouldn’t see the world through threat-colored lenses. And this could inspire one to open the flood gates of creativity as the greater we feel connected to people, the easier it is to open up to them and show love. And I cannot think of any greater creative force than love.

However, if one sees the world as a threatening place or dark and dangerous for the most part and has a solid core belief that people are “bad” and cannot be trusted, well fear, angst, resentment, etc. are all wells of creative force and inspiration as well, just an entirely different type of energy. I can recall in my teenage years just how dreary and depressing my poetry was. And all of my short stories were like that of the beatnik writers’ style in their “eff the system-esque” prose, and anti-government undertones.

So, as we can see creativity energy isn’t all flower fields and rainbows. And I bet if you stopped for a moment and looked back at your own life, you would say that the time you took the biggest chance or turned your life around in a big way, etc. was after something really hard happened to you. Something where you felt tested and had to be strong and came out more experienced, wiser and yes, of course…stronger than ever! It’s the human condition to have to hit rock bottom sometimes in order to ever even be able to turn around, look up and remember there’s a beautiful blue sky up there, over a world just waiting for us to show it our awesomeness!

And how exactly does one find his or her own awesomeness? Look. Within.

You cannot NOT be awesome. It’s an impossibility. Just for you being who you are, where you are, when you are in the fabric of time/space makes you innately AWESOME! But sometimes we don’t always know how exactly to get all this awesome “out” of us, and this is exactly what imagination and creativity are for. This is why some of us rock at the drums or guitar, why others can do complex math in their head, and yet others are simply the best listeners and therefore some of the best friends you ever had. We are ALL ingrained with our own individual awesomeness and once we learn how to tap into the pipeline, well…that’s when things really get cool. 🙂

METHOD 1 (FOR DISTRACTIONS)

First, if we find we are lacking inspiration because we simply cannot stop thinking of something else, I’d highly recommend meditation in this case. Sometimes all we need at the moment is just to slow down and really listen to a few deep breaths. Hearing yourself breathe; there’s just something about it when you really are paying attention to it and take it into your heart-space. For me personally, I feel like a video game character that just had their mana restored. It literally feels like recharge and feels even better the more that you do it. So, if you are struggling with overpowering thoughts when you need to focus, practice, write, paint, etc. simply take a mental time out and just breathe!

METHOD 2 (FOR SELF-ESTEEM/LOVE)

When we lack self-esteem and/or self-love, we tend to put things on the backburner even if we know they are beneficial to our growth, well-being, health and overall happiness. We tend to self-sabotage when we don’t think so highly of ourselves, don’t we? And this can for sure put a damper on your creative juices! If we can’t get inspired because we simply aren’t feeling “good enough” then we will convince ourselves that even if we do follow through, we will fail, so we convince ourselves to not even bother. Or we will convince ourselves that no one will like or support the outcome (a book we are writing, painting, etc.)

We can tell ourselves a million stories, but a good reminder is to know that we always have the choice of which ones to believe. And my suggestion for when you are lacking creativity when you are perhaps just stuck in a rut with a case of the “blahs”, is to remember why you are even doing this in the first place. When you truly love something, it never feels like “work”, so if you are not enjoying it, it might be time to revisit what you are doing, or it might be time to just start being nicer to yourself as well. And all that support you might be seeking from the outside; give it to yourself first, and then see how the outside world shifts right along with you.

METHOD 3 (FOR FEELING DISCONNECTED)

For times we feel disconnected from our audience so to speak, what better way to reconnect than to dive into the crowd? If you are an artist, go to an art museum or gallery. Talk to other fans of art and spark conversations. Or host a show of your own showcasing past work and get people’s opinions. You NEVER know where creativity will spark and a simple conversation can lead you down a path you never imagined you go, painting things you really enjoy that you might otherwise have never discovered a love for within yourself.

Whatever the case, get out there (or online for us hermits lol) and get talking to your tribe!!! None of us are ever alone, no matter what we are into. There is always someone we can relate to if we are truly looking to do so and sometimes all it takes is having one single conversation or getting another’s perspective on something to perhaps change your perspective and open blocks you had preventing those creative juices from flowing.

My last piece of advice is to just keep an open mind at times. Like I said you truly never know where creativity might strike and it actually often does strike in some very strange places and with/from some of the last people on Earth than you might expect.

Whatever your passion, never give up and stay inspired…the world needs your awesomeness!

Tamara Rant is a Co-Editor/Writer for CLN as well as a Licensed Reiki Master, heart-centered Graphic Designer and a progressive voice in social media activism & awareness. She is an avid lover of all things Quantum Physics and Spirituality. Connect with Tamara by visiting Prana Paws/Healing Hearts Reiki or go to RantDesignMedia.com

Tamara posts new original articles to CLN every Saturday.

Follow Tamara on Facebook, Twitter and Google+