keeping up

My creative motivation is constantly changing. I go through cycles of brilliant inspiration, self-doubt, and just plain laziness when it comes to photography. I am currently in the lazy phase, which also happens to coincide with my inability to keep up with what everyone else is up to these days. Between Flickr, Facebook, Pinterest and a million amazing blogs, I often wonder how everyone does it! It seems like the whole photography community is participating in a project to keep themselves inspired through the winter or even the entire year. It can be a bit overwhelming for me, which sometimes translates into a feeling of inadequacy. Why can't I get it together and be inspired like everyone else?

But one of my New Year's resolutions is to take it easy on myself. I sometimes need a reminder to keep that internal dialogue to a minimum and to just go with it. I'm not perfect and I'm not like everyone else. So I am giving myself permission to pick up my camera when I feel like it and to let my creativity come and go as it pleases.

Do you ever go through cycles of creativity? And if so, how do you deal with the ups and downs?

Comments

[Valerie]

I find I have to embrace inspiration whenever and wherever it comes. Here are some recent photos from a day at the amusement park with my toddler, although you'd never guess that by looking at the images:
http://journeyleaf.typepad.com/journeyleaf/2012/01/winter-sky.html

[Jade]

Yes, constantly. I'm a photographer and illustrator so sometimes I feel it double-fold. I get through it by taking breaks. Sometimes it's important to walk away for a bit: read a book at a coffee shop that you haven't been in awhile, visit friends, go to a museum and refresh. Not only can you come back to creative projects with a fresh perspective but you also have had the opportunity to miss is and want to do it again.

[Marcie]

Like you - I feel the impossibility of 'keeping up'...and keeping my creativity flowing. Sometimes - i just have to step back and sometimes push thru the resistance...but - no matter what - it always finds me:
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/home/2012/1/6/impatience.html

[Katie Schomberg]

I completely hear you!!! I did the December Photo Project this year...a picture/s each day up until Christmas...and that was, well...whew! And now enters...the lazy phase. I do however feel like this can be a good thing...I think we have to allow ourselves some "recharge" time or we completely burnout! You know???!!! ...at least I do! I love photography...thank goodness...because I own my own business, but we all have to have a little "siesta" now and again:) I think life is like this too...so cyclical. For everything...there is a season. I pray I can hear and pay attention to the seasons of life...and that photography is a way for me to remember them...when I feel like it...hehehe! Happy Weekending...this mama is off for a wonderful day of pampering! Yay!!!

[Sherri B.]

Everything in life has an ebb and flow, even creativity...I try to remind myself of this when my muse seems to disappear. Looking back, I see that she always returns. Like you, I try not to be hard on myself. I look at other people's art, listen to music, take walks, and just wait patiently...before I know it, the spark is back and I'm inspired again!

[Susan]

I just had to let you know how much I love this image! Looks very creative to me and so sweet.

[Erin @ Sew Abundantly]

I love your honesty here. Yes, yes, and yes! And even after jumping into those commitment projects meant to stretch and inspire you I sometimes wonder why I thought it was a good idea. Sometimes we do just need to give ourselves a break. None of us is perfect. But I think if we were all honest for just one moment, we'd admit that we feel just like you.

[koreen]

Wow. You're saying exactly what I'm feeling! I'm going through the same thing that happens every winter... inspiration is scarce and the business of people asking you to take pictures slows down. There's a lull for a reason: take a break. I started out thinking that this is the time to push through it, much like any other block. So I started out a 365 inspiration project (http://www.flickr.com/photos/koreenphotography/sets/72157628665483875/), but then I took my camera in to the camera doctor for recalibration and cleaning, figuring that no one is asking for photos, so now's the time! Not good planning on my part, but it's the best thing for the camera and my photography overall. So now I'm taking this time to relax about it, read read and read! about photography and the photography business, get other things in place that I often neglect, and give my inspiration a chance to recharge itself. I know I'll have to rent or borrow a camera at my son's karate belt ceremony, but that's okay. I'm relaxed about it now, and that gives me a chance to recharge.

[Leslie]

I'm being lazy these days by using my iPhone more than my "real" camera. I'm more likely to keep taking pictures if I can do it spontaneously and don't have to worry about setting up a shot and really working on it to make it perfect. I will definitely keep the DSLR in the mix but for now this is keeping me motivated and connected.

[Maery Rose]

I like your photo. It's eye catching in that the focus is not on the adorable baby, yet you can still see the cute expression. I am very familiar with the feeling and thoughts you describe. I have entered the 2012 rudderless and overwhelmed and like you, marvel at how others seem to be keeping up and doing inspirational work. My way of coping is to forgive myself for my somewhat shoddy work right now and consider whatever I can accomplish practice for the awesome stuff I'll be creating later this year.

http://cowgirlbyproxy.blogspot.com/2012/01/once-again-good-thing-shes-cute.html

[Katie]

You are not alone! I read this post while nodding in agreement to most sentences.
For me right now I think it's more about quieting myself and my actions because something bigger/deeper is changing in my life. I'm clicking so much less these days yet at the same time I'm clicking so much more. It's good.

[Sylvia @ From the Heart]

I go through crazy phases of awesome inspiration and then end up in the black hole of creativity. It's frustrating but I wait it out. I continue going through my days with my eyes wide open. Then suddenly, when I least expect it my photography antennae picks up on something and my creative inspiration retuns as if it never left.

[shirley]

I let the process ebb and flow, but there are certainly simple things to keep the creative juices flowing. After two years of P365's, I took last year off. It helped, and this year, I'm doing a P365 with my iPhone, because it is easier and simpler. I'm loving it so far!

http://www.shirleybehindthelens.com/2012/01/p3651-week-one-starts.html

[Diane M. Schuller]

sure I have and you need to know your inner being is telling you not to try keeping up with all those other online pursuits! That's the key to reinvigorating and feeding your creativity. Take time away from all of it. When I did that, it made a huge difference in my entire life. I began to really see and feel the world -- to experience it again, from my own inner being. I found _myself_ again. I felt alive again. Today I'm 'checking in to Shutter Sisters -- the first time in oh about 6 weeks. It's great to see what is posted, and maybe even read a post or two but instead of making me feel guilty that I should be 'keeping up', it's affirmation that I'm doing well on my own by experiencing life and simply flipping through the online pages the way I would a magazine on a Sunday morning. Try it.

[Carrie]

I've been in a rut for a long time now and am seriously having to reconsider the way I think about life. I'm not mentally well enough to work so I get into the misconception that everything I do with photography or art journals or my blogs ought to be classed as work. In that case I am completely failing and am about to be sacked any day.

I really need to find a network of people with whom I click (no pun intended) and can gain encourgement from and find inspiration in. Instead I run around a million blogs and Pinterest etc and feel so left out and overwhelmed. Big sigh. I guess I am just going to have to accept my limitations and start to focus on less and get enjoyment in a community setting. People more than projects!

[georgia]

what an absolutely precious photo. with a six-month-old boy of my own, i look at this and think... oh, why didn't i take a photo like that? hahaha... there i go thinking like what you are talking about in this post. if you are anything like me, it's beyond difficult to keep up with your own photography and blogging, much less anyone else's, when you have an infant to watch and care for. so i try to be kind to myself and say "it's not laziness... it's just a shift in priorities". if you recently took this photo, then i would say you are in the middle of your brilliant inspiration phases, rather than lazy. to me, photography is about capturing your world the way it is at that specific moment. if you are busy, then you are far from lazy to take the time to capture this photo and depict a life that speaks of care and nurturing and priorities. this photo is amazing! it's that little heart in the spoon that got me. gerber would be wise to buy this from you and use it for their advertising. it's so simple and sweet... and brilliant!

but i know what you mean. i guess i've gone through the cycle you talk about enough times to know that i will eventually "get back on the horse" and not worry too much or try to hard to be inspired again... just knowing, it will happen when it happens. and when it does. it will be good. in fact, the lulls are what make the highs so high. so i've come to welcome them! that said, i'm in the same place as you... i'm just gonna take it easy on myself this year. love this post!

[hi kooky]

Just remember: there are not ups without the downs. Ebb and flow. Value the quieter times - they are the way our spirits seek to restore balance. No one can go full tilt all the time. It's the Great American Myth.

Enjoy the productive creativity of the ups, and respect the downs for what they are - balance and rest. I don't know whether your are religious, but God rested after his period of great creative productivity and firmly advised that we do the same. That's how I see it, anyway. :) (p.s. resting has nothing whatever to do with adequacy!)

[shelbi]

this post really spoke to me... inspiration ebbs and flows. it has it's cycles. the creative spirit within is like a little garden. sometimes, it needs to be watered, tended to, and sometimes, just left alone to rest. yet, it needs all of these cycles and seasons in order to grow that unique vision that only we have to share with the world outside of us. you are doing the right thing by listening and allowing the flow within you. xo

[Kelly]

This could have been me writing this...From the looks at everyone's entries, we all go through the exact thing....I hate the self doubt phase and could do without all that!
I quit FLICKR as I just couldn't keep up with my life and things around me sort of fell by the way side. I'm always re-evaluting my priorities....but family ALWAYS comes first. Letting FLICKR go was one of the best things I did for ME...cleansing really. Just give yourself permission to disconnect for a bit...it's ok...it's all good! Hang in there Paige....you have a whole network of "sisters" that know exactly what you are going through.
:-)

[PHope]

I agree... for me my day job is pretty intense & nonstop so photography is such a release for me. I am always so excited to see how things turn out.

A couple weeks ago, I visited a friend and her children, and a couple of these shots felt magical to me.

http://petinahopephotography.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/portrait-the-m-family/

[DebC]

Exactly!

[Spyros Heniadis]

I think that kind of ebb and flow is natural. I often go through droughts where I take very few photos, this past year was one such drought. 2011 was very light on photos compared to 2010, however I didn't feel any less creative, it just manifested itself in different ways.

I used to feel bad about not, but I've found my sweet spot for taking photos and not forcing myself. I know that I want and need to always be growing in my photography, but I don't make it a chore for myself.

[Tori]

I've got four words for you: this too shall pass. I didn't take a photo from July through Christmas. I picked up my iPhone Christmas morning and it was like riding a bicycle. We can't beat ourselves up for being drained, for the drought will last that much longer.

[rene]

the photo combined with the post interests me - does it not speak heart all over - the self doubt, the sweet baby and the spoon with the heart cut out with the light behind. Oh my goodness. Be gentle on yourself. You are right where you need to be :)

[Rachel]

I am having a hard time this winter. The light is short but the days feel long.

[Helene]

Yep, I'm in the lazy mode. But, I think I'm there because I'm doing too much. Well, that's sort of contradicts. I'm overwhelmed with so much stuff that, when I do have a moment, I collapse. I have not blogged in days! Hopefully I'll sneak a vacation day in and the only thing I will pick up will be my camera! Wishes, wishes, wishes!

[Shay]

I LOVE THIS SHOT!

[dfas]

http://www.topbagsui.com/gucci-handbags-gucci-messenger-bags-c-157_203.html
ys! Hopefully I'll sneak a vacation day in and the only thing I will pick up will be my camera! Wishes, wishes, wishes!

[Maria]

I think that sometimes it's good to take a break, like others have said, and lay off the pressure. But other times --and I don't have a specific rubric for when this should be so-- you just need to plow through and try to remember what it is that you love about the creative process until you get it back.

Thank you for your honesty. I often feel lost about my own process.

[claudia]

Ugh, no kidding, I don't know how everyone manages their time to keep up! In Sept when homeschooling started I had to take a break or my kids were going to suffer. But I knew that things would level out and winter was coming...
And yes, creative ebb & flow, over time I've learned to just ride the low waves and wait for my mojo to reappear ;) If you think about it everything has cycles why not our creativity. Sweet pic btw :)

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[Ralf]

Hooray... I'm not alone with my doubts and my frustration about the tons of great pictures in the web. But: I must go on, I love this hobby.
Thank you for your open words.

The picture is brilliant :-)