Creativity on Demand

There are so many tools at our disposal, so many things to choose from, and yet with everything at hand sometimes there is still nothing coming out. No ideas, no thoughts, nothing comes to mind. It can be tough to be creative on demand. Sometimes it just isn’t there.

My nephew had the day off and was going to do something creative. Sitting with a blank page in front of him and tools all around, he wanted to be creative. Yet creativity isn’t a light switch we can turn on and off, it doesn’t always work that way. The will to create is present but the ideas don’t seem to come. It can be frustrating to want something to happen and nothing shows up. All you see and feel is blank. Most creative people have exercises or methods for getting warmed up, and with that warm up there is hope that a spark will be ignited and an idea begins to form. But that doesn’t always work, and then you are still left with blank.

It is important to know your own creative process, to know when and how you work best. Maybe you need to work on something else and let your mind relax and process in a regular old way, and poof an idea hits and you are off to the races. Maybe you do warm up ‘things’ to get the juices flowing. Maybe you read or watch your favorite inspiring movie, or you flip through pictures or magazines to spark your thoughts. Maybe you play with your tools and let the idea form from there. Maybe you sit in silence or take a nap. Any of these things might work, or none of them might work. That is the risk in asking creativity to show up on demand.

So what do you do when nothing still comes and the paper is still blank? Maybe this is the time you have to wait it out and try another day. Rather than force it, let it go and give your mind time to process without the pressure of producing. When you are least expecting it, the idea arrives in full force and you can’t work fast enough. The blank paper overflows with ideas and the dry spell is gone.

Be patient, know yourself and how your mind works, and let the idea come to you. Sometimes my best work is done when I have no pressure to create. No one likes being told what to do, and I guess creativity is that same way. Let it bring the idea to you, then work like mad to get it completed.