Damien Hirst Butterflies from Telegraph
Momentum is the thing that magic is made of…and as you plug away, riding a wave of inspiration, the world feels like an endless well of raw material to create with. Until, that is, the day comes when you have nothing to say. its 2:48 on a day when I usually have done about 4 blog posts, wrote streams in journals, Instagrammed intermittently, and logged another twenty or thirty ideas in a book I carry around….all before even talking to clients. So, what happened today?
I hit a wall. And I realized that it wasn’t a bad idea to share the litany of ways I plug back into creativity when my mind is a sieve and the dreamy-technicolor of my imagination runs grey. For all of you feeling creatively thwarted, HERE IS MY BASIC RE-INSPIRATION LIST!
Andy Warhol's Rorshach. A little note: don't get too self-analytical and psychological about what is happening to you when you have burned out. You need to rebuild, then realize what happened so you can prevent it from happening again & again!
1. Sleep. drop everything and sleep as much as you can. If you can’t sleep any more than you have, take breaks or allow your head to wander off in useless daydream nothingness. In other words- don’t fight your blank zombie brain, embrace it. This is the water element of your personality needing to wander, rest and germinate fresh ideas.
2. Drink up. Most of us could double the amount of water we have and still not drink enough. Drink more water than usual. If you rarely have any, please take this seriously. Without water, our physical bodies (70% water!) can not be molecularly creative!
3. Go get something fabulous to eat. I know, you are on a diet. A giant salad qualifies as something fabulous to eat. Try to add a shot of wheatgrass juice, extra greens, some superfoods or even a vitamin pill if all else fails to your daily intake. Creativity requires a ton of energy to sustain itself. Try to make this a habit, not just a one-shot deal!
4. Observe nature. Don’t observe it from a window, unless your window if filled with live plants. Look for insects, see if you can find birds, running water or just about anything that is wild and alive.
5. Call upon your friends. “I am boring right now.” is my favorite line to call my friends with. At which point a list of ideas spills forth, I remember how many exciting things I have on my plate, and the games begin again!
6. Escape in art. You know, this is my #1 way to find my life when I lose it, creatively. Even art-browsing online can conceptually, visually open the floodgates!
7. Move 27 things. There it is. The 27 things again. Move them. 27 things. Move ‘em around one room in your house that is feeling blah… or throughout your whole home or office. Nothing specific has to be moved, just re-place 27 objects. It gets things going.
8. If all else fails, take the day off. In life, we can’t always call in sick. But, if you can. its worth it. Its not worth it if you plan on being depressed. It is worth it is you plan on working your way down this list 
xoxo Dana
May 2, 2012 • 0 comments