3 Ways to Help Your Creative Soul Take a Breath

Hello, lovelies. I hope y'all are having a wonderful day.
Life is a beautiful thing, is it not? We get to breathe, see amazing things, drink coffee and sleep. And sometimes we get to spend all day in our pajamas. I mean, come on, who doesn't like that? But life can also be really stressful. We get caught up in school, work, family and probably all the extracurricular stuff that we do. Then our artistic work gets pushed to the back burner. And we wear ourselves out.

On a day to day basis, people are faced with problems, with hardships and with really busy schedules. It's easy to wear down and wear completely out. We've all been there. Been in the place where that blank page is just that. We can't see the words, we can't see the painting or drawing. It's just a blank canvas and will be nothing more. In our mind's eyes at that very moment, we can't see the possibilities. Our busy lives have crowded out everything else that is important to our souls.



Stop. Take a deep breath. It's time to let your soul breathe. To beat busy, to calm down and to ultimately help yourself.

Be Productive

A lot of times when I come home from a long day of work or when I get done with my school, all I want to do it sit down with a cup of coffee and watch something from BBC. Most people, right? TV and tea or coffee or hot chocolate. Seriously sounds amazing, right? And then there's that nagging thought at the back of your head. The one that keeps getting louder and makes you feel guilty. You haven't written or drawn or practiced your instrument today. 

Gosh, I have this problem all the time. Where all I want to do is relax and I convince myself my writing is too emotionally and mentally draining and there went any motivation to create. But the truth is: writing is hard. Drawing is hard. Dancing and playing an instrument is hard. In the end, though, those creative things are what we are. We live and breathe our art. I live and breathe my writing. And in the end, writing does indeed help me relax. Despite the fact that I can watch TV and write at the same time, that isn't always productive. 

So. Grab a cup of your favorite hot or cold beverage (during the winter I get coffee, during the summer I get iced chai. Random fact. Do with as you wish.) and sit down. Don't just stare at the white pages or the sheet music or in the mirror at the dance studio. Get something done.  You'll feel a lot better after you do. You can fix terrible, you can't fix blank. 

Do Something New

If you're stuck on a certain drawing or novel or music piece, do something new until you're able to come back with fresh eyes. I took piano lessons for about nine years and have been playing the piano for almost eleven. One of my piano teachers would tell me when I got stuck on a song to move on. Pick a new song to focus on for a while and then come back and try the song I got stuck on. It would always help. Now, I use that technique for my writing. When I get stuck, I take a break and write a short story. I step away from my novel for a few days and then come back with fresh eyes.

When you're working on things like epic novels or a whole comic book of drawings, sometimes it's best to take a break. Look at something new for a while. Doodle instead of sketching, write a short story instead of your novel, play a different song or work on a different dance for a little bit. It's better than getting frustrated, stressed out or even discouraged. I worked on a novel for almost a year. I started it and got half way through it and was done. I just wanted to quit it. It wasn't working out the way I wanted it to. A few months later I came back and started completely over and was able to write then entire 95,000 words in about two months. Not everything will be like that, but it helps to do something new for a while.

Get Someone Else to Look at Your Work

I rarely let anyone read my writing. I have a blog for my poetry and occasionally post stuff there. When I'm stuck and discouraged, though, I email my friend excerpts and ask for her opinion. I'm on a writers' forum, but often times I don't want feedback from other writers. I want feedback from someone who cares and someone who will actually be honest. My friend gives her opinions in all honesty as a reader. Not as a writer. 

When you're having a hard time expressing your art and creativity, get someone you trust to look at your work. Yeah, it's great to have another painter look at your painting and give critiques. It's helpful to have other writers give me critiques. But sometimes that isn't what we need. Our souls are thirty for honest opinions of our audience. My audience for writing is a late teens and early twenties. When I post on a writers' forum and have thirteen year old's give their opinion, it might not help me. I'm not saying it's nice to have feedback from anyone. It is. I love it when people give me their honest opinions on my work. But if you're audience for you writing, drawing or even your music isn't with your normal peers, search someone out that you trust and have them give you their opinions. It honestly helps me more to have the opinions of a reader, than another writer. So much so, that when I post work on a writers' forum I rarely ask for detailed critiques but rather readers' feedback. 

This won't always help someone. Maybe you need detailed critiques. And those are great! But not always does that help your creativity thrive. If you're already stressed out or discouraged then perhaps a page full of red ink over your writing, or a list of things wrong with your drawing isn't what you need. Those critiques will help develop you as an artist. If the people critiquing are doing it the right way, then they'll tell you what you're doing right. Be discerning. Don't drain yourself. 

What about you, creatives? What do you do to help your soul take a breath? What are some things you do to help yourself be more productive? I'd love to hear from you all. Seriously. Leave a comment. Feel free to share.