Coping with a topsy-turvy, uncertain world, it’s all too easy to have word fail you.
Are you at a loss for how to approach the world right now? Oftentimes, I am.
To say that we are living in “interesting” times is an understatement. What we are living in is perhaps one of the most bizarre, head-scratching, uncertain times in all modern history (post-industrial revolution-era, at least.)
As any sort of artist, it’s usually easy to find ways to express yourself. However, it is also equally easy to be unable to perform your art or express yourself as you normally would do.
I, for one, have never seen this much fear, uncertainty, disrespect, selfishness, and overall insanity on this scale in my lifetime. Social media is positively rife with negativity and bad news. As matters continue not to improve – or worsen – it’s increasingly understandable why it is words fail me sometimes.
When this happens – and from my experience, it will – is there anything you can do to combat it? Short answer – yes. Long answer – there is work to be done.
The first step is mindfulness
Artists tend to be mindful because the act of creating is a mindful act. Your thoughts and feelings get consciously poured into your creations. That is ultimately mindfulness.
Mindful or not, your subconscious is always active. Whether simply keeping air flowing through your body, blood circulating – or your mind thinking and dreaming – your subconscious is always in motion.
Unlike your conscious mind, your subconscious has no filters. It is like a gargantuan sponge – it constantly absorbs all the info it receives. Since it has no filters, it just absorbs and takes everything in.
When you practice mindfulness, you are working from your conscious mind. That awareness puts you directly in touch with your mindset/headspace/psyche. That gives you influence and control to use the filters to remove or work with the material your subconscious mind absorbs.
That control is not hard to find – but requires asking questions in need of current answers.
- What am I thinking?
- How am I feeling?
- What am I feeling?
- What am I doing?
- And other direct questions of this nature.
Asking these questions makes you mindful at this moment. Or, at the very least, opens you up to practice mindfulness.
I’ve found that my words fail me because I have slipped out of practicing mindfulness. Maybe I fell down the Facebook rabbit hole, started seeing post after post about the latest government insanity – and just lost hope.
Practicing mindfulness helps you regain and reclaim control and influence of your mindset/headspace/psyche. But without doing the work your subconscious mind will be doing the driving. FYI – it tends to drive in pointless, endless circles and never reaches an intended destination.
Find another medium
If you are normally a writer, painter, sculptor, chef, singer, or whatever else – take a stab at another form of art. Or, if that’s not entirely practical, work on another version of your art.
Fiction writer? Try writing a blog. Landscape painter? Try painting some still life. Chef? Try bartending.
The idea here is to step out of the box you normally work from and practice some creativity in another vein.
Creativity is creativity. I draw from time to time and love taking photos. I am not a very good sketch artist – and not nearly as good a photographer as I am a writer. But both are creative, and both help me practice art and work with a muse when words fail me.
Take a break when words fail
It may be that you need to walk away – literally. Get some fresh air, exercise, or go distract yourself with a Netflix or Amazon Prime binge. Turn off your brain and do something else.
This might just be a few minutes, a couple of hours, or if needs be a day or two. I know that I tend to push myself to maintain my self-imposed writing schedule. Sometimes – especially if the words fail (or whatever your muse is) it’s a sign that you need a break.
You are not alone right now by any stretch of the imagination. This current reality is challenging for everyone. Some are doing better than others emotionally, mentally, and spiritually – but nobody is superhuman. Accept that you can step back and breathe as necessary.
Do what feels right, allow yourself to be without your muse for as long as you need. You can and will be okay on the other side of this craziness.
You are not a failure just because the words fail. Remember that. You’re another human in the middle of some really unusual, uncertain circumstances. Take a deep breath – practice mindfulness – and see what you need to keep going.
Thank you for being a part of my ongoing journey. Thank you for joining me, and for inspiring me and my art.
This is the seventieth article exploring the creative process. Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
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