Dr. Seuss & Creator's Block

Do you ever have those days where you feel like you are either living in, or should be living in, a Dr. Seuss story?

Yep, that's me today. Possibly today's title would be, "Oh, the thinks you can think." A very surreal place, filled with nothing but nonsensical rhymes, overwhelming cats in hats, and Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Let me pause here for just a moment and share my absolute dislike for the twin Thing's! They are wicked little Things!!!! I didn't even like them when I was a child - they were messy and rude, and seriously needed a time-out!

However, the Things, and every other imaginative character Dr. Seuss came up with, filled me with creative wonder.

This is my head today! Overwhelmed with creativity. You would think that was good, right? I mean, I have a Studio, have to practise my lettering, have things to make, need to figure out what to feed my family for dinner - creativity is a good thing.

There have been books written about Writer's Block. (Isn't that irony at its finest?) Not often do you hear about Creator's Block or Maker's Block. Since creatives aren't always authors, I guess no one thought to write about it. Since I am working on Step 2 from yesterday, I guess I will write about it.

I met a sweet lady through my IG adventure. (If she and I could hang out in the real world, I believe we would and we would be great friends!) About a week or so ago, she posted a sad post about not feeling her 'creativity'. Creator's Block, my friends!

Creator's Block is walking into your Studio, or craft space/area/room, sitting down and having absolutely no idea what to do. So you sit. Then you think, the way to get started is to start going through your stash (if you are not artsy/crafty, our stash is a literal hoard of paper, paint, fabric, stamps, ink, markers, tape, glue, parts, baubles, metal, whatever. It makes us happy.)

So, you go through your stash. There is that amazing paper you found at an event, got it for a steal and planned on adding it to a handmade card! But you don't 'feel' like working on cards today. Away it goes. There is that great new pen you wanted to try for hand-lettering that is ALL the rage right now. But you don't 'feel' like lettering. So you sit; and sit; and sit.

Finally it is time to make dinner, or move the laundry, or do something. Cleaning would be preferable right now, because sitting in your Studio, looking at your stash, and not 'feeling' it is actually a miserable place to be.

Creator's Block is what I imagine it would be like to have the twin Things show up in the middle of the afternoon when the kids are finally napping & you have the 'DO NOT ring the doorbell' sign posted!

Today though, I have the opposite - Creator Overload. I am living in Dr. Seuss land, filled with idea after idea of things I want to do and try and make and, and, and.... Imagination on steroids. This level of creativity ends up generating its own version of Creator's Block.

When there is so much you want to do, and so many ideas, you can't even begin to start one of them, because you can not decide where to start. This would be like the kids not even bothering to nap in the afternoon in the first place.

I think the best way to cope with Creator's Block is simply to walk away. De-clutter your stash, clean your Studio, take a nap, go for a walk, have some chocolate, take a bubble bath, find some balance. Write down ALL the idea's, then walk away. Find some space just for yourself, just to be. It will refill your soul, refresh your spirit, and you may just see or hear or find that thing that re-ignites your passion and creativity.

Better yet - go read a Dr. Seuss book! One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is great & filled with color!!