Creatively stuck? A moodboard
Gentle wisdom for sensitive souls
There’s a certain voice I hear in my head whenever I’m creatively stuck.
It’s loud and sounds like Batman.
“Just do it,” the hyper-macho gravely voice barks, “do the work.”
“Ah great thank you Batman, I hadn’t thought of that! Wow, problem solved.”
My head is full of this ‘suck it up and do it stop being a baby’ advice and I gotta say, not a fan!
Don’t you see, I am a baby. A sensitive lil baby who longs to share his sensitive little thoughts with the world. Isn’t that basically the point of art?
Take this meme that instructs you to do ‘it’ even if you’re scared. I mean…maybe? Certainly not always.
“Consistency is the key,” Batman screams, but consistently doing what, exactly? Consistently beating myself up when already deep in the caves of my own self-loathing? Yea, no.
Not doing it can itself be doing it.
Not doing it can also just be not doing it.
Not everything has to be done as a means to the ultimate end of “creating something.”
As the Tao Te Ching says, “Do nothing, and everything gets done.”
We need advice that points toward a different path. A gentler way for the sensitive souls.
Note: I am in no way saying that pushing through struggle is categorically bad! It’s just not the only way. Both are true, as a sensitive lil guy once said.
To see all the ideas I gathered in making this collection, check out the Sublime collection I created for this post, everything, in time - creative inspo when stuck.
But busyness has a way of stealing creativity from you. Generative work, like art and writing, requires long periods of nothingness: it’s only in that wide empty space that ideas emerge. Long runs, hot showers, commutes that don’t involve harried Slack messages and listening to podcasts at 2x speed. Sitting at the edge of a dock, listening to the ocean breathe. Novels that make you daydream.
source: the scenic route by
To see all the ideas I gathered in making this collection, check out the Sublime collection I created for this post, everything, in time - creative inspo when stuck.
Comments!
How do y’all feel about this gentler approach to creative work? Is it helpful or, as I fear, just an evolved therapy-speak way of procrastinating lol.
What helps you when creatively stuck?
What other topics do you wanna see us make moodboards on?
Moodboards Galore
Speaking of, here are some other moodboards we’ve created in the past.
My moodboard for building a business
The world would be better if there were more software companies focused on quality, craftsmanship and longevity.
I’m still wrestling with how to coherently describe what I mean — and to be clear, this is very aspirational — but here’s my moodboard for building a business.
Anxiety + work
In 2023, I was rejected for every job I applied to, save for one: a real estate course company that sold $5,000 courses run by HGTV influencer host guys.
I was like sure yes I will do this stupid job I have no interest in no problem. Sure I’ll do this ‘case study’ where I have to write in the voice of the ‘brand visionary’ to accompany a video of him dressed up like an actual wizard. Sure I’ll lose all the Gandalf jokes because you think that’s ‘too niche’ HAPPY TO.
Storytelling
Stories are the currency of our time, but how do they work? I find formulas and structures to fall flat in capturing that ineffable essence at the heart of stories, so then what can? Why do some stories resonate and other, almost identical stories, feel forced?
The more writing and storytelling I do, the less I understand how it all works. That’s okay. A good thing. But still, a mental map of the space feels important. Here goes.
Check out the rest here.
I’m torn because sometimes I tell myself I just need to suck it up and write, because I’ve only got a certain amount of time available to me in a day. But other times I just wish I could be sitting on a veranda in the Italian countryside with endless time and inspiration in front of me. I think I would operate better creatively in that scenario, but it’s a luxury few of us have. Most days I treat writing like going to the gym — I’m always resistant to it at first but once I do it I feel sooo much better!
A gentler approach definitely works for me. I loved your mood board; so many of the quotes resonated with me. A favourite was Ralph Emerson's.
"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."
To get inspired or out of a rut I visit another part of my city which has a completely different vibe.
And, if I'm feeling brave I chat to strangers and sometimes get answers to my questions.
I'd like a mood board on "keeping humor alive in a very serious world"