Anyone with an artistic outlet can probably tell you about creative blocks, it’s an unpleasant experience. One day you’re on a roll, outputting work that makes you feel inspired, alive, fulfilled and then the next day… crickets. You’re stuck, maybe for days, weeks or god forbid months at a time.

For me it’s usually when I’m trying to make music and it’s very demotivating. I just can’t get that melody out, or that drum pattern, I feel flat and uninspired. If you’re writing, maybe you’re out of topics or can’t conceptualise your ideas into words. All creatives can relate in some form, so what do you do about it?

I think the root-cause of a creative block is expectations. The point of art, despite what many capital-minded folk would have you believe, is just to make the art, just to do it. To paint the strokes, to play the notes, to write the words, even if it’s shit. It’s not about what comes out at the other end, it’s not about the money you might make or the fame you might garner. It’s the act of doing the art that inspires, that unlocks the innate human ability to tap into a world beyond ourselves and let flow out whatever may come.

When you tie yourself to expectations (and in fact this extends beyond just the context of art), you lose sight of the process. When you lose sight of the process, you’re greeted by that good old block.

I see this in spades comparing the experience of jamming with mates versus trying to produce a song on my own. When jamming, we don’t know whats coming out the other side and we don’t care, someone just plays something and then the others also just play something that fits and before you know it you’re all in the flow state of music, together. When I’m working solo creating parts and composing, it’s too easy to attach myself to the expectations of results and then that block starts creeping back in.

If you take anything away from this brief ramble, I hope it’s inspiration to go take action in your art and focus on the journey… forget about where it’s supposed to be going because art is subjective anyway, who the fuck cares?

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