I go through all kinds of highs and lows being a creative being and sometimes I hit a roadblock. My emotions sometimes feel like a roller coaster. Didn’t I get enough as a teenager? It’s so not fun sometimes!

With this in mind, I thought I’d share some tips/realities/and coping mechanisms for dealing with the moments when you are feeling less than creative and how to hopefully overcome those feelings!

5 Ways to deal with the creative blues:

1. First and foremost, don’t get upset and out of sorts cause you lost your creative mojo. Adding stress to the situation only makes you more blue! Look at creativity kinda like your life, there are definite highs and lows and a lot of in betweens. You have to go through the bad to appreciate the good. Own the moment and accept it for what it is. If you are feeling low, maybe it is the best time to channel them into your art. The pain can lead to a new discovery, even if it is atypical of what you normally do. A perfect example of this is the sad love song, from pain comes beauty!
2. Look outside yourself.  When you focus so heavily on your creative emotions, it can really weigh you down. Sometimes it is best to let go of them and step outside yourself! You can achieve this in a variety of ways. Read a book or watch a movie and empathize and become engrossed in the storytelling and characters. Volunteer your time locally and get to know the lives’ of others and their stories. When you build a connection with others and think beyond your walls, you are opening your mind and ultimately learning more about yourself! You’ll be able to have fresher perspectives that you can use to freshen up your creative spirit!
3. Rest, relax, and rejuvenate. With our busy schedules, personal lives, and time spent in front of a computer screen day by day, it’s easy to get in bad habits of staying up late and making unhealthy food choices for the sake of time. BTW, I am VERY guilty of doing this. When you find yourself doing this, step away from your craft for a bit and focus solely on your health and well-being. Go to be earlier, make a healthy dinner for yourself, exercise, meditate, etc. This is the best way to get in a good frame of mind for amping up your creativity!
4. Moderate how much time you spend on outside inspiration. If you are on Pinterest, you should know exactly what I mean by this! I am seeing a lot more people these days scanning Pinterest and other popular sites and blogs for inspiration. The internet is a wealth of inspiration, but don’t fall into the trap of letting others’ wonderful creations stifle your own. You can easily be sucked into this inspiration and you find yourself comparing yourself to others or getting so bombarded by ideas that it leaves no time for you to create! Give yourself a set amount of time that works for you to browse for inspiration, but remember to step away from the computer to discover and develop your own ideas.
5. Record everything! Make a point in your daily life to capture things that engage your senses. For example, snap a camera phone photo of a color combo you like at the store or write a funny quip or quote you overhear while getting coffee. Sometimes the smallest everyday moments lead to the biggest discoveries. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked back on my photo library and was reinspired by a photo I had forgotten about! The same goes with doodling or writing in a journal. Start recording those daily moments and spur of the moment thoughts and review them every week or month. You’ll start finding missed connections in your doodles or writings that you didn’t notice before!

I hope this has helped you get over the creative doldrums. I have been suffering myself from a creative rut over the past few weeks and I’m doing my best to take my own advice! Do you have a favorite from above?

Originally featured on The Swell Life from Alexa Westerfield. Republished with permission.

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