How to transform creative block into flow
on getting unstuck.
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Hellooo, my friend!
I am dreaming up a workshop. A workshop called…
—GET UNSTUCK: Transforming Creative Block into Flow—
I’ll probably run it in the fall, but right now it’s got my brain chewing on the road blocks we face when cultivating our creative voice & style & instincts.
For me, creative blockage feels like a heavy fog.
My mind feels sluggish, every thought dragging and labored. There’s a tightness in my chest, a knot that refuses to untangle. Colors seem dull, sounds muted, everything coated in a gray haze. It's an oppressive silence, a deafening void.
But you know what the worst part about creative blockage is?
When I decide it’s a problem and treat it as such. I feel sapped up, stopped up, empty, dry. So I turn in on myself, belligerent.
Why can’t you make something, anything? Just put your pen to the page, your hands to the keyboard, and fucking MAKE something.
Ahh, yes, because verbal abuse has always been highly effective in motivating the most sensitive parts of my psyche.
These days, the first step when I’m feeling blocked is to free the hostages—aka myself.
I put the pen down. I back away slowly from my desk and then run outside. To the grocery store. To the river. Anywhere but the place where I’ve marked myself the villain in my own story—the woman who refuses to cooperate with my plans of creative productivity.
Essentially: I have learned the importance of not shooting the second arrow.
“The parable of the second arrow is a Buddhist parable about dealing with suffering more skillfully. The Buddhists say that any time we suffer misfortune, two arrows fly our way. Being struck by an arrow is painful. Being struck by a second arrow is even more painful.
The Buddha explained:
‘In life, we can’t always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. The second arrow is optional.’”
And so I ask:
What if we could engage with our blocks? Have a little friendly conversation? There’s no need to bludgeon yourself emotionally. No need to run and hide.
The first steps to transforming creative block:
Begin with stillness.
The world is waiting, just beyond the fog of our minds. We stand at the edge, feeling the weight of our unspoken words, our unwritten lines, the art that sleeps within us.
Sit with the fog, let it wrap around you like the morning mist. Resist the urge to push it away, and instead, lean in. The fog is soft, and within its veil, there is room for questions—questions that do not demand answers, but invite exploration:
What are you trying to protect me from?
What are you asking me to pay attention to?
What would happen if I allowed myself to create badly, without pressure or expectation?
What would happen if I stopped resisting you and just let you be?
Remember: the fog does not spell doom.
Embrace the stillness that creative block invites. Ask your questions, and trust that clarity will come when the time is right. Your creativity is patient, after all—it’s simply waiting for you to listen.
***The following are three 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.
1. Listen to The Problem with the Solution,
an old episode of the Invisibilia podcast. It’s a thought-provoking exploration of how our instinct to solve problems can sometimes create more issues, all through the lens of a small town in Belgium that embraces mental illness in a way most of the world doesn’t.
This episode challenges the idea that problems always need fixing, showing how a shift in perspective can transform what we see as obstacles into opportunities. Just like in creative work, sometimes the best approach isn't to solve, but to see the "problem" in a new light.
2. Read this article about creative block
for 10 different artists’ takes on how to best get unstuck.
Some are an eyeroll (like the guy who casually mentions he trekked to the world’s largest cave in Vietnam to get the creative juices flowing?? I know, there’s irony in the fact that I’m using pics from when I was last in Vietnam in today’s essay. But this is the sort of guy whose self importance allows him to say, and I quote, “I have a need to observe the chaotic, natural processes of our Earth.” Gag me—but I digress.)
Besides that guy, many of the answers are pretty insightful—and the best ones revolve around the same theme: that creative block isn’t necessarily a problem you need to solve ♡
3. Enjoy some Japanese psychedelic funk
by Shintaro Sakamoto, the former frontman of the underground Japanese rock band Yura Yura Teikoku. The link above is my favorite song by him—Don’t Know What’s Normal. Here’s a little taste:
この小さい町にも奇跡はあり得る
Even in this small town / there's miracles叶えたい夢など果たしてあったっけ
Dreams I wanted to come true / did I really have any?
俺に 頭痛い出来事 まともがわからない
Vexing things happen to me / I don't know what's normal
嘘みたいな人たち 悪いジョークなんだろ
These people look like a bunch of lies / it's gotta be some bad joke
まともがわからない
I don't know what’s normal
Dig deeper with his music videos for By Swallow Season and From The Dead.
[Lyric translation courtesy of Durmain on Reddit.]
***The following are three ideas for creative output. Consider them as prompts for creative living in action. Because you have every right to practice your craft, engage your innate human creativity, and have a good time doin’ it.
1. Stop consuming and start creating
It’s not news baby, I know, but it will work wonders for your confidence and creative self expression. Sometimes creative block doesn’t actually come from a place of stuckness, it comes from a place of overwhelm.
So remove the distractions. Delete your social media apps (just for the weekend!). Turn off your devices. If you dare, don’t even play any music. See what comes up if you just make yourself really fucking bored for a little while.
What ideas bubble to the surface, now that you don’t have big screen/medium screen/little screen blasting blue light into your face?
2. Research your favorite artist’s daily routine
and try emulating it for a day. I shared this graphic in last month’s Ask Honey and it’s been on my mind ever since.
What would happen if I made like Kafka and wrote only in the wee hours of the night? What about if I committed to my craft as hard as Voltaire, working on creative projects for 13 fucking hours a day?
Only one way to find out!
3. Eat al fresco
at every meal that you possibly can. It’s August, my friend—these steamy days and long nights are coming to an end. Soon, the cool rush of autumn will sweep us up in its red and gold splendor and it’ll be too chilly to enjoy your brekkie in the great outdoors.
Now is the time to bask in the sun while you eat your morning parfait or your summer grilled veggies. This weekend, I challenge you to eat at least four meals outside—particularly breakfast and dinner, when the light and temps are nicest.
That’s all for now.
Talk soon,
Katie
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