When Artists Lack Motivation



An artist asked how to fill his time when he didn’t feel particularly motivated or inspired to make something? I know that many artists sometimes struggle to find inspiration.

I suggested that he use this time to inhale.

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? How much time do you spend finding inspiration?

Physically, spiritually, creatively?

As artists, we need inhalation.

It’s called inspiration, and it’s a vital part of an artist’s 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 when you need creative inspiration.

And don’t worry about what other people think or what your list of things to do is saying. Remember, balancing inhale and exhale is the key.

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.

And my life begins to look a lot different, and 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.

There are times when we need to be alone with our creativity, just as we need to be alone with our partners. Finding motivation for artists requires that alone time.

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, nor expectations.

It’s about being the caretaker of your spirit. Why?

Because you are.

Your life is your greatest work. Your life is your source of creative inspiration.

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.