ONE TO CONSIDER
I’m currently in the creative trough. That’s what I call the period of time you enter after completing a big creative project (or two). It’s the creative lull you sink into before you take on something new. This can be either a really relaxing moment, or it can be, well, kind of draining.
I’ve diagrammed it all out on this axis here, where the X-axis is the Creative Project Lifespan and the Y-axis represents your given Contentness Levels with said project. As a project gets started your Contentness Levels are naturally fairly high. There are the ups and downs (usually many more than the three pictured here) and eventually, you reach the “long slog” where the project becomes almost unbearable. This is generally when you swear at people and begin to rethink all your life decisions.
Then! You get closer to the finish. The end comes into sight. You begin to feel a renewed sense of pride for the project and you start composing clever Tweets and Instagram posts in your head to share/promote it. Then it’s done! You Tweet. You Insta your brains out. This little germ of an idea has grown and become a thing and now it’s out in the world and yay you feel so good and then…you enter the Creative Trough. The hangover of the creative process. It always comes so fast.
If at this time you find yourself feeling like you have nothing interesting to work on, or to look forward to, or you’re just struggling to find the energy to do something else, I have a few tips. First off, recognize it will pass. You have to remind yourself of that. You’ll have a new project soon. Best just to allow yourself to relax for a second and fully experience the brief pause.
When that doesn’t work (and if you’re like me it won’t), try this. It’s a tip I learned from New Yorker writer Tad Friend when he was giving a talk at my journalism school years back. I forget his exact wording but it was something like: When I don’t feel up to the task of writing, I look back at my old work to remind myself that I can actually write. It was his own little method for boosting his self-confidence. I remember him joking that it sounds kind of pathetic and his therapist would surely have something to say about it, but it actually does work.
Next time you find yourself in the creative trough, take a quick gander at your past work or portfolio and allow yourself to be proud of your work for a second. It helps reorient you into a productive mindset. Then afterward, get back to work.
And if that doesn’t work, make some bread.
LINKS
I remember buying Box of Rain, the book of Grateful Dead lyrics when I was in eighth grade. I still have it. Few other bands have such rich lyrics as The Dead and its thanks to Robert Hunter who tapped into deeper vernacular textures to create his own uniquely American lore. He will be so missed. Robert Hunter's Words Helped Bring Life To The Grateful. (NPR) and read Hunter’s letter to Garcia, he wrote a year after he died here.
Big Divides on the Great Divide. This woman lives in Montana, makes maps and writes the occasional newsletter. It’s very good. (Amelia’s Newsletter)
This profile of Disney CEO Bob Iger (New York Times)
Expeditions Unpacked: What the great explorers took into the unknown (Geographical)
I miss my bike edition: “On Any Sunday” Director Bruce Brown’s 1967 Triumph Mountain Cub (Silodrome)
LISTEN
Damn. Brittany Howard. She sounds like the soulful love child of Billie Holiday and Al Green on her new album. I like this short and sweet little track:
GEAR
Get organized and get some Field Notes to keep your creative projects on track. These ones are park-themed. I’m partial to Acadia.
FRESH ON THE SITE
I finally got my waterlogged hands on a vintage Nikonos Camera and just shared a few photos on the site. Click here to read more about the cult camera and see what all the fuss is about.
WATCH
In an alternative universe, I too live in a shack in the Far North Coast of New South Wales and surf and play guitar all night. What about you?
Thanks as always for reading.
Yours etc.
John
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