Creative roadblocks suck, plain and simple. They are often overwhelming, fear inducing and self-perpetuating. Have you really run out of brilliant ideas or does the blame lie with external influences and circumstances? What causes these villains of the creative world to rear their ugly heads anyways? Let’s take this one creativity killing monster at a time.
The First Monster of the Creative Apocalypse:
Stress!!!!!
what was in my bag by Evil Erin
Ah, yes, the stress monster. Sometimes he is unavoidable. He crashes into your life uninvited and unwelcome, flails about, makes a mess of things and always seems to stay entirely too long. Fye on you, stress! Fye! What exactly are the primary causes of stress? You might be surprised at the answer. It isn’t always negative situations that create it. If your boss is mad at you, you overslept for your psych 101 midterm, have had a death in the family or are going through a breakup then you are, quite obviously, stressed…as well you should be. Did you know happy events can be equally stressful? Oh it’s true. And contrary to what you might think, your body cannot distinguish between good stress and bad stress. Weddings, births, promotions, they all create stress which impacts your body and that beautiful, brilliant brain of yours.
The Side-effects Of Stress
So we all know what causes stress in our lives, but do we know what it does to our bodies and minds? How do those effects impact the creative process and our productivity?
Stress can have a significant impact on your health. The effects run the gamut from headaches and memory-loss to high blood pressure, a compromised immune system and mood swings. Not good. How could you possibly expect yourself to be creative when you’re combating all that yuckiness on top of the stress you’re under? Cut yourself some slack!
How To Manage Stress
Since just about everything in the known universe seems to create stress, how can you escape it? The bad news is, you can’t. The good news is you can lessen its effects using several stress management techniques. Here are a few things you can do to help alleviate the effects of stress:
- Get a massage. This is a wonderful way to alleviate stress. It makes your muscles and mind melt. If the idea of a stranger touching you while your most private bits are covered by nothing more than a sheet makes you cringe, fear not! You can opt for a chair massage (which is done fully clothed) or you can discuss your concerns with your therapist. You don’t have to get naked. You can leave your skivvies on if you like…even your pants. A professional massage therapist will work within your comfort level.
- Take a bath. Light some yummy scented candles, put on some relaxing music, add bubbles or lavender scented Epsom salts..whatever is going to make you bliss out. An added bonus to this one: you can make it as inexpensive or as decadent as you like. It’s entirely up to you.
- Exercise. I know we hear this one all the time but it’s absolutely true. I know I get some of my best ideas during a good yoga session or quiet walk. So get out there and get moving!
- LAUGH!!! Invite over some friends or get your favorite snuggle buddy (mine are my husband and my cat, Mischa), make some popcorn,pop in a funny dvd (I suggest anything with Zach Galifianakis or Bob Hope) and get your laugh on!
- Have a good cry. I know this contradicts number 4, but sometimes a good cry is order. Getting those feelings out will help kick that stress monster to the curb…and you’ll probably have a great night’s sleep to boot!
- Sleep for crying out loud! Do I really need to explain why this is important for your mental and physical health? I thought not. However, if you’re so keyed up and anxiety-ridden that sleep is becoming a precious commodity, try taking melatonin about 30 minutes before bed. It’s what your brain creates to make you sleepy. It is typically well tolerated but be forewarned: it can cause uber-crazy dreams and night terrors for some people…And don’t forget to talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking any new supplements. Just because a supplement is over the counter doesn’t mean it’s safe for you to take. There’s always the possibility of a drug interaction so better safe than sorry.
There are billions upon billions of healthy ways to alleviate stress. These are just a few suggestions. Whether you laugh, talk, dance or meditate, just do what you need to do to get it out and let it go…or at least get all that yucky junk off your mind for an hour or two.
Do you have any tried and true tricks for managing the stress in your life? Feel free to share your tips in the comments section below.
Next week we’ll tackle the monster known as Inspiration…or to be more specific, the lack thereof.
Kisses & Chaos,
Alli Woods Frederick
PS- Want to read the rest of the series? You can find them here:
The Culprits of Creative Slumps 2: Inspiration?
The Culprits of Creative Slumps 3: Self-Doubt
The Culprits of Creative Slumps 4: Perfection
