Stuck in a Rut?

Ways of rekindling creative connections

Here comes the buzz. A hornet’s nest of obligations mounting again. Things to do, e-mails to answer, domestic demands, problems to resolve, etc. The buzz grows intolerable and grows louder while in your body, a visceral volcano of stress mounts. Days turn into nights. Nights turn into days. In the recesses of your mind, you hear a voice, “I need things to slow down so I can get back to my projects.”

Eventually, you manage to find the time to return— to climb back into the creative womb where it’s warm, magical, and nothing can disturb your peace. Ahhhh… In these moments alone, you set out to photograph, to paint or to gather things up for that project— or wherever you left off before the craze of circumstances smogged your soul.

Yet, you find yourself disconnected. There’s no “mojo”. You feel you’ve lost the flow of the project, or can’t conjure a single note on the piano, make a decent photo, or even muster the energy to get out the door!

Creative “ruts” can last for weeks. They leave you feeling like you’re wasting precious time.

In my journey, I’ve adopted a couple of powerful strategies and am currently working on a third. These have helped me recover my “mojo” and rekindle my creative energy, so I wanted to share them with you.

Rename It

It feels bad in the moment to realize you’re feeling stuck, but I’ve tried on a new approach. I rename it. “It’s not a rut. It’s a reboot.” Just like when a computer reboots, it’s an opportunity for a fresh start. Renaming it helps change perspective and lessen the grip of pressure.

Reframe it

These periods of dry deserts of creativity can be a great time to think passive, rather than active. I say to myself, “Time to reframe” and that’s my way of accepting that I need to go into receptivity rather than activity. Being receptive means signing up for an online class, watching an art house film, or watching a YouTube series where I am witnessing others create or share their secrets. These help me reframe what’s happening into a conscious connection with art, even if I’m not the one creating. On the internet alone, inspiration hides in multiple places! (However, my favorite reframe is going to a movie).

Retrain it

Sometimes I’m in a rut because of stress or other kinds of personal challenges. I used to just allow the feelings to take over and reject any efforts to do anything different. These days, I’m trying something different and so far, it’s been challenging but works.

If I’m feeling angry, sad or apathetic or “fill in the blank”, I try immediately jumping into anything that involves creative pursuits. For example, I will go out for a walk with my camera… or start playing piano, sing…whatever it takes. Basically, I just pretend “as if” I were completely free and uninhibited. The first few minutes are difficult. However, within 20 minutes, I’m reconnecting with that art form and making progress. The results have been amazing!

Here’s a sample set of photos taken recently right after a difficult morning where I could have stayed frozen at home. I literally forced myself to drive to an event and to make it intriguing to myself, I decided to take my Nikon Zf, turn the switch to black and white and put on a vintage 50mm lens. With no autofocus and no other lens choice, I had to slow the day. That part wasn’t difficult. What was difficult was convincing myself to go.

With a little warm up, my connection was made. Now, each time I’ve tried this, it’s gotten easier because my mind is getting retrained to expect a positive change.

East Atlanta. All images ©juliettemansour.com

How about you? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve for rekindling your creative connections?

FYI: I find it interesting that the word rut comes from the Latin word rugire, which means "to roar". A “rut” is often an annual state in which certain male animals (such as deer or elk) demonstrate breeding behaviors.