When I was younger, I was far more creative. I think this is usually the case for people. As we age and follow our paths in careers and personal lives, creativity often takes a backseat, and sometimes it gets ejected or jettisoned completely.
I've slowly come to realize (or maybe I'm just finally willing to admit) that my creativity has nearly died. I don't have the desire to create or play around that I used to have. I feel stunted, and it feels like a part of me is missing.
In the past, I've dabbled in writing, music, and some visual arts, and even in the dramatic arts. In my final year of high-school (fifth year), I had a course load consisting only of the arts.
I'm more in tune with writing and music than with visual/spacial things (with the exception of photography, which I absolutely loved to do), so they were always more interesting to me. Well, today? I'll be damned if I can even get inspired. Inspiration comes rarely, but it's not that I do anything to encourage it. And I certainly don't do enough to exercise my creativity. Now I know that waiting for inspiration isn't the right way to go, and that real work as a mainstay is required, but I'm at a stand-still here: I have neither.
I want to start writing again. I was never really one to write fiction or non-fiction much. Maybe the odd short story. I do love that format. But I tend to want to write poetry, and I'd also like to expand my capability as a guitarist and get into songwriting one day. It would be nice to learn how to sing properly too.
So....
- How does one rekindle one's creativity?
- What do you do to get the juices flowing?
- What do you do to keep your chops up?
- How do you get yourself out of a rut?
- How do you know where to begin?
Share you experiences, strategies, and tips, no matter how uncanny. I know everyone is different, but I'm sure we'd be surprised to know how much we're the same.