This is What's Killing Your Creativity
Respectfully, fuck being original.
Dear friend,
Nothing has decimated my creative energy as effectively as the pressure to be “original.”
I think we often use the word creative as shorthand for ingenious, novel, new.
And yet I’ve realized that more often than not, creativity is actually an act of collecting and repurposing. The grist of life gets polished, reshaped, and rearranged into something akin to a collage of all we’ve brushed up against.
In that way, everything in our life has the potential to be a source of creative inspiration.The way a stranger’s hair curls around their ear might inform your next watercolor, the lilt of someone speaking a foreign language may leak into the composition of your new song.
In the last few months I’ve become almost obsessive about collecting my ideas and inspirations. It’s from this practice that I’ve realized the most important thing I can do is to respect my ideas.
Respecting my ideas is different from taking them seriously. Many of my ideas are not the least bit serious, and yet I respect them enough to record them—to text them to myself, or scribble them on an index card, and to look back through them regularly.
What I’m still working on is attuning myself to the sensation of inspiration. For me, this feels like a momentary rush of buoyancy. As something hits my ear just right from an overheard conversation, or a smell triggers an important memory, I make sure to capture it.
All the world is our muse. Coy, laughing, sometimes nearly begging to just be noticed. As a living being on this planet, I feel I’ve made a promise to bear witness to what unfolds around me. To gather what rings true to me, and fashion it into something only I could make from the scraps of the world I collect.
This isn’t to say we’re meant to go around extracting all the meaning from the people and experiences around us.
But from the grist of pain and the exhilaration of human connection, what do you notice about the way you’re changed or inspired?
Inspiration doesn’t have to come from muses on high. It can come from the muck of our lives. The people we know, the challenges we go through.
And yet I know this is easier said than done. So I’ve decided to launch the Itty Bitty Art Club—a month-long collaborative project to help you get back in touch with your creative practice via 30 teeny weeny creative prompts that can be used to inspire any form of art-making, whether you’re a poet, quilter, singer, chef, dancer, whatever. We start in July, you can sign up for the waitlist here!
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In honor of today’s newsletter topic, I’ve decided to source all of this week’s Creative Input and Output prompts from people I’ve loved. Exes, situationships, best friends I no longer know… enjoy!
***The following are two pieces of creative input. Consider them inspiration to refill your creative cup. I encourage you to give your inner artist a sweet treat this week—even when you don’t think you deserve it, even when you’re hesitant to call yourself a creative person.
Hasta Que Te Conoci by Juan Gabriel, performed live in Mexico City
will bring you to your knees and then back onto your feet to dance. First showed to me by the worst person I’ve ever dated (lol), it remains one of my favorite live performances on earth. Gabriel is electric throughout this performance, confirming his icon status as one of the most influential Latinx artists of all time.
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Swirling peanut butter into your ice cream
is hands down the best salty-sweet combo on the planet. My best friend in high school had a penchant for peanuts, and used to mix them into everything. PB takes any ice cream from cloyingly sweet to decadent, complex, and far more satiating than it would dare be on its own.
***The following are three ideas for creative output. Consider them as prompts for creative living in action. Because you have every right to get out there, practice your craft, engage your innate human creativity, and have a fuckin’ good time doing it.
Give your hobbies the science fair treatment
by focusing on neutral observations over harsh judgements. A couple of years ago, I wound up dating a guy who had been my most significant crush from ages 12-18. He worked a no-frills job of physical labor, but filled his free time with niche interests. He grew his own magic mushrooms. He fixed up bikes in his spare time. He was learning to paint.
And I noticed that he treated all his favorite hobbies with a careful detachment. He tracked his mushrooms’ growth in a little notebook. When he messed something up during a bike repair, he made notes on what went wrong and went back to the drawing table. He stacked his paintings alongside one another to watch his abilities develop.
Next time you’re drawing, gardening, or playing the guitar, see if you can bring a little scientist energy into the session. Can you give yourself enough emotional space to observe rather than judge? Can you see the process as an embodiment of scientific method rather than a tool to bludgeon your self worth with?
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Hang upside down
to jolt yourself back to life, get fresh blood pumping, and feel energized yet calm. While traveling through India I met a wonderful man who used to do headstands any time he got annoyed, upset, or angry. He wouldn’t say a word—he’d just hop to a corner somewhere and pop up on his head. A minute later he’d come back refreshed and feeling more positive.
There’s actually science behind this. You don’t have to do a full headstand, either—I like to throw my legs up a wall while laying on the ground, or hang from monkey bars at the park every once in a while for the same effect.
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Keep it all in one notebook
to let your ideas flow more freely and remove the (often unhelpful) compartments from your brain. A former friend of mine once told me that when she turned in her sketchbooks to her college art professors, she’d tape over any personal sections she didn’t want them to see. Her sketchbook was more than a place where she completed art assignments—it was her journal, her planner, where she kept track of every word and doodle that occurred to her.
I’ve since stopped trying to keep a billion journals for a billion different things, and have noticed that I feel freer in my creativity. I’m also way less likely to lose track of my thoughts and ideas, as they’re all in one place. This week, I challenge you to keep everything in just one notebook or journal, and see how it feels to not compartmentalize your creative practices.
That’s all for now, friend.
Talk soon,
Katie
P.S. If you missed the announcement up top, the waitlist is now open for Itty Bitty Art Club! A month-long collaborative project to help you get back in touch with your creative practice via 30 teeny weeny creative prompts that can be used to inspire any form of art-making, whether you’re a poet, quilter, singer, chef, dancer, whatever. We start in July, you can sign up for the waitlist here!
I like the single journal idea. Simplifying things is not always my strong suit. Will give it a go.