Artist, What To Do When You Don’t Feel Inspired?

An artist asked me how to fill his time when he didn’t feel particularly motivated or inspired to make something. I suggested that he use this time to inhale.

Now — what did I mean by that?

In breathing, the inhale is as important as the exhale. But in life, we spend most of our time exhaling. Showing up, performing, producing.

But how much time do you allow yourself to inhale?

Physically, spiritually, creatively.

As artists we need inhalation. It’s called inspiration. And it’s a vital part of an artist practice — yet it makes us feel guilty.

Don’t apologize for needing to inhale. Give yourself permission to take the time to be inspired as often as you need.

Allow yourself the time to inhale, and don’t worry about what other people think, or what your list of things to do is saying.

What happens when you slow down

For me, the inhale allows the opportunity to focus on being in the moment — accepting what is, and to stop focusing on what isn’t.

And that’s important. When I allow myself to slow down and inhale, I realize that I spend way too much time agonizing over what I don’t have.

Like money. Like time. Like opportunities. Like the perfect this or the perfect that.

But when I slow down and do something I enjoy — something that feeds my soul and inspires me — I begin to focus on the magical things that happen every day.

My life begins to look a lot different. My energy begins to look a lot different. And I start making new connections in my work and in my life, because I gave my creativity the space to create those connections.

Alone with your creativity

There are times when we need to be alone with our creativity — just as we need to be alone with our partner sometimes, to connect, to get in touch with one another in a new way.

We need time to engage with creativity in a deeper way too. In a way that has no agenda, no project, no expectations. It’s about being the caretaker of your spirit.

You are your life’s greatest work. Your art is how you express it.

Sometimes I take vacations from my work and I only inhale. But mostly I try to inhale a little bit each day — whether that means going out and finding inspiration, or discovering it at home.

The point is that we spend too much of our lives exhaling. Showing up, producing. Life constantly pulls from us. It’s exhausting, and we demand too much from ourselves, and then wonder why we feel burnt out.

But life can also feed us — if we remember to breathe it in and inhale.

Written by Crista Cloutier, artist mentor + founder of The Working Artist. (learn more about Crista here)