What Do When You Feel Like Your Creative Flame Has Seriously Burnt Out
Anybody in a creative field will be all too aware of the dreaded burnout and the fear that goes alongside it. We’ve all probably experienced it at some point where we feel like we’ve created every single thing we can think of and have no idea how we could possibly dream up anything else. It’s something that I know I end up going through every few months and naturally, I always get through it but at the time it feels like my little online world is imploding and I’ll never be able to do anything good again. So just in case you’re currently going through a little lull, here is everything to get that creative fire burning once again.
REMEMBER WHY YOU STARTED
Once you’ve been doing something for a long time, and even more so when it becomes your job (which of course absolutely amazing) it can be really easy to forget why you started in the first place. And it’s something that I know I’m incredibly guilty of as and it’s something that I have to constantly remind myself of. Especially when I’m having maybe an off day or maybe I’ve got a shitty e-mail and here are the reasons I write this blog and share images through Instagram;
To be able to put someone else’s mind at ease when writing about mental health.
To let people know that they’re not alone in something they’re feeling.
To share things that make me happy and love.
To share things that might be of use to someone else.
To create things that I love and make me happy.
To create a conversation around certain topics.
To create an online portfolio of what I’m capable of doing within the photography field.
From Roses was born when I transformed a somewhat unloved photography blog into a place where I could write about anything I wanted. I’d just got to the end of the second year of my photography degree and it was when I really wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to continue my studies. Having a space where I could share photographs of whatever I liked with no real purpose or brief to work was what kept me going with my degree. And that is something that I seriously recommend to anybody doing a creative degree, have something that you just do for you and for fun as those briefs can really get to you. As soon as I started creating the things that I felt really passionate about it helped me hone in on my style and know how I wanted to use my degree. Which is something I was really struggling with, I felt pushed and pulled in so many different directions when I wasn’t quite sure what I should be doing.
WOULD YOU STILL DO IT IF THERE WAS NO CHANCE OF AN INCOME?
When your creative endeavour has turned into your job and how you make income, like I said it is, of course, wonderful but that doesn’t mean it comes without its problems. And when you’re feeling truly down and out with your creativity something that I always think about is if I would still do it if there was absolutely no money involved. The answer is always yes, without even a second thought and when I really break down what I do online the majority of it is unpaid and that’s how I like it. Working to briefs is something that I thoroughly enjoy but when you’ve done a lot of briefs in a short period of time then having the freedom to create something on your own terms feels so incredible. So often in the online world now there is so much focus on income, and whilst there isn’t anything wrong with that it can lead us to believe that everyone wants to only create something for a profit but that simply isn’t true.
getting offline and living life is the best inspiration
For me, the biggest inspiration for my creativity has always been getting outside and just living life. There is nothing worse than trying to think of a brilliant idea and sticking yourself behind your desk and not allowing yourself to move until you’ve thought of it. Even when I wrote about beauty products 3-4 times a week I still got my best posts ideas from real life and I think that’s the way that it will always be for me. Some seek their best ideas from the internet but for me, it simply doesn’t work as when I rely on the online world to fuel me creatively I find that I start to creating things that are just my own version of what someone else is doing which isn't what I want to do. Although saying that I will always enjoy Pinterest to keep my ideas coming visually as there is such a huge variant of styles over there. As my main aim with what I do online is to appeal to the everyday human making their own way through life it makes sense that my inspiration comes from the everyday stuff that life has to throw at us.
take the pressure off
If there is one thing that I know for sure it’s that you cannot force your creativity and even if you manage to force something out the chance of you absolutely hating it is pretty high. We’re all our own worst enemy when it comes to the pressure we put on our work, granted when there is a deadline there, of course, needs to be some element of pressure. But if you’re simply doing it because you enjoy it then piling on the pressure is never going to end well. It’s something that I’m completely guilty of, if I’ve not posted on Instagram in a few days I start to worry that I’ll completely drop off everyone’s radar and feel the itch to create something. Not posting on social media or your blog for a few days is never going to be the end of the world and no-one is going to forget that you exist so there is no need to post something you’re not truly happy with or for the sake of likes.
my favourite ways to keep the creative flame lit
Listen to a variant of podcasts.
Take my camera out with me without any plan to shoot.
Get outside daily with Josie & Edie.
Consume a variant of content, I find that way I don’t get into an echo chamber of what I’m interested in.
Follow people with different lifestyles to mine.
Read.
Watch documentaries.
Conversation with loved ones, some of my best ideas have come from a conversation with my dad as he has such different viewpoints to me.
