When creativity hits a mental block
Mental blocks come and go with time.
Anybody who has created enough stuff eventually hits a mental block where the mind simply goes to mush, unable to think or more accurately, create more stuff!
Why do we hit mental blocks?
Although everybody hits mental blocks for different reasons, whether stressful events in their life or the lack of them, change in weather or sleeping patterns or sometimes, for no reason at all. Mental blocks are rather evil when you have a deep passion for something but the mind seems to have other goals than your own. They seem to come and go… and last as long as they want. Many authors and artists have hit deep mental blocks that lead to deep depressions and even suicide but what I find particularly interesting, is once these mental blocks go away, they usually lead to an incredible boost in creative juices.
How are mental blocks caused?
Although nobody knows 100% why they happen, I think, personally, mental blocks are simply the re-organization of the brain to over-stimulus. Neurons get stronger and more efficient with use, like roads, the more you use them, the more maintenance and resources are alloted to them. The problem comes when these neurons, or roads, are suffering traffic jams in which they have hit peak capacity and can no longer “grow”. What is the brains solution? Well, time to put the “under construction sign” and do a major upgrade to those associated neurons. During this time, traffic is detoured and limited, leading to a fundamental change in how the creative parts of the brain work. No matter how much you try to fight this change, you keep getting detoured. Now, this can take a few weeks, months, years or even decades to happen but when it does, it tends to take a little while for the renovations to be complete.
How to solve mental blocks?
At least for me, I tend to hit them rather often, hence why I am heavily diversified in what I do throughout the day. If my brain cannot think anymore about creating wooden items for one of my sites, I simply switch to another company, go for a hike or weight lifting etc… basically, mental blocks are the stop sign in my life telling me to shift course. This works for small blocks but for more enduring ones, you need A VACATION! I am not talking about a weekend stint, other that is nice, I am talking about leaving for a few weeks to a month! Completely changing your environment is a fantastic way, at least for me, to allow the mind to completely refresh itself, especially the creative parts!
Mental blocks are part of life
I believe mental blocks are part of life, you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously nor these blocks… the more you think about them, the worse they seem to be. If you hit one while, for instance, writing a book… trying to work through it does nothing but produce sub-par results. If you need to take a week or month off doing other things, then do it! The worst thing you can do is try to fight because that is when, I believe, depression and anxiety begin to seep into your life. Brush off your mental blocks, go do something else and in no time, you will be back creating at an even better rate!
The Bottom Line
Roadblocks are part of life, especially the mental ones!
Buzvia: Stinkyandsticky.com, WoodMarvels.com
