Finding creativity when all seems lost.

You know me. I’m all hard work > inspiration. That’s how I write my books. Fuck, it’s how I get out of bed in the morning. A person doesn’t need to be inspired or motivated or excited, they just have to do the damn thing, whatever the thing happens to be. That’s great and all, but when it comes to creative pursuits, it doesn’t apply.

Creativity is important. Art has been said to be a uniquely human thing. It underpins culture. Creates understanding. Devil’s advocate says there is a type of fish that draws artworks in the sand on the floor of the ocean and that humans are arrogant. The bower bird, if he could read this, would tell me to flock off. Prejudice aside, creative pursuits can bring us closer to divinity. They are important to mental health and emotional wellbeing. Sometimes when we lose ourselves, creative works help us find our way back.

But when the sky is grey, when it’s been years, when your skills are rusted, when you’re just not feeling it… then what? How do you proceed?

Sometimes just pushing through will stoke the fire. This is often my reality as an author and content creator. It’s literally my job to entertain people. Beyond that, it’s important to me to spread positivity. This world is fucked up. The least I can do is offer a bit of refuge from the storm (alongside guiding people on how we can all go forward and create meaningful change) and I have to do that regardless of if I’m “feeling it.” Sometimes I have fifteen ideas for blog posts. Sometimes it takes fifteen hours to make one idea coherent. Either way, I write. Don’t feel like making something pretty for Instagram? If I’m lucky I’ll have something in my camera roll to fall back on. If not, I force it. Most of the time I have an outline, a plan, or at least a scribble on some scrap paper that I can use as a jumping-off point. Most of the time forcing myself works a lot like clutch-starting a car. Unfortunately, that’s no fail-safe. I had three great ideas for this blog post yesterday, but I didn’t write them down. I had to use the techniques I outlined here to get out of my funk and carry on!

So here are three ideas beyond “just do it” to get your creative juices flowing. (Gods that’s an awful saying though. Ew.)

1) Use a template. I love visual arts, but I’m not artistic. Or, I should say, I’m not patient. I could probably learn the skills with time and dedication. But I don’t have the passion for it. So for the bulk of my papercraft, I use stencils and stickers. The arrangement of the pieces gives me a creative outlet, I can make my project reflect my soul, but it doesn’t require the skill or time commitment of starting from scratch. For other mediums you might start with a colouring-in book, a paint by numbers kit, a fairy garden kit… in fact, most forms of creative expression can be found as a kit these days, and they provide an easy jump-start to help you remember why you love craft and give you a safe space to practice those skills

2) The buddy method. Having an accountability partner who will show you their (potentially terrible) art and ask to see yours can be super motivating. Or start a project with one of your kids, if you have them. The nagging power of children should never be under-estimated.

3) Consume media that gets you riled up. Music works for a lot of people, but for me it’s the true stories that light the fire. And really awful books. I’ve been known to get out of bed at midnight and go work on my novel after DNFing something terrible. What makes you angry? What would you change, if you had the power? You DO have the power. You can reach them with your art. And no, you don’t need to be supremely talented to reach a wide audience, if that’s your goal. Look at the work of Nathan W Pyle. Simple style. Simple premise. Wildly popular. The Coffee Monsterz Co is another example. Simple art, but people go crazy for it. I’m not saying you should monetize your art, but I am saying that people will care. Never think that your art isn’t good enough to create.

4) Witchcraft. There are several herbs, crystals, oils, scents, and colours that stimulate creativity. You can also leave offerings to the muse. Muses were once considered real sipirts that helped creatives out. Maybe they are. Leave them an offering of wine, chocolate, or whatever you believe they will like.

Below is a list of correspondences. If you charge these things with your intent, their presence can awaken the creative dragon within you. Remember, many of these things will come in more than one form, for example, grapefruit might be used in its whole form by ingesting the fruit, or it might be used as a scent or oil.

• Fluorite
• Citrine (particularly is you’re learning or relearning.)
• Purple
• Turquoise
• Yellow
• Apple
• Bay leaves
• Violets (Heartsease)
• Star Anise
• Moon water
• Bells
• Wind chimes
• Tangerine
• Grapefruit

Miriam Cumming doesn’t have time to write a fun bio today, she has to make lunch for her youngest goddess, Elen. If you want to know more about Miriam’s work, you can stalk her on Instagram, Facebook or sign up for her newsletter: It’s basically a secret club.