Let’s face it; everybody experiences them. A creative slump can creep up on us out of nowhere…and often at the least convenient of times.
As creatives, we are often expected to come up with a new concept or design at the drop of a hat. Only we know that's not truly how it works. Managing expectations and meeting deadlines is about the least sexy thing a creative person can be asked to do – but prevail, we must.
That is why I have compiled my top 10 quotes that have helped to reignite my burnt-out, creative soul so that they might be able to help you as well.
The written word will always hold a special place in my heart. That it can make us, as readers, feel such intense emotions — it is hard to not not feel what the writer is talking about. This can partly be a result of our brain’s chemistry. In an article written about how reading can help us process our emotions, it highlights that when “a person indirectly experiences an event associated with an emotion, the same regions of the brain are activated as if they had experienced the event directly.”
You cry, I cry. You yawn, I yawn. You save the world from impending doom, I — you get the point.
This psychological process is assumed to be why so many people read self-help books. Sparing you the process of reading a 250-page self-help book, these quotes will give you the same recharged feeling so you can kiss that creative slump goodbye.
So, get cozy, put on your favorite playlist, light a candle or two, and spend the next few minutes reading these quotes. Do it slowly. Intentionally. Maybe even go back and reread them — and in the words of Sarah J. Maas, “to the readers who look up at the stars and wish.”
10 quotes to spark your creativity:
1. “Art and love are the same thing: It’s the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you.” — Chuck Klosterman
2. “The human spirit lives on creativity and dies in conformity and routine.” — Vilayat Inayat Khan
3. “What if the very reason you were created was to be creative?” — Michelle Dennis Evans
4. “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” — Albert Einstein
5. “Perfection is shallow, unreal, and fatally uninteresting.” — Anne Lamott
6. “Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” —Dorothy Parker
7. “What keeps life fascinating is the constant creativity of the soul.” — Deepak Chopra
8. “Fear tricks us into living a boring life.” — Donald Miller
9. “Everyone has a creative impulse, and has the right to create, and should.” — Patti Smith
10. “The ability to look deeply is the root of creativity. To see past the ordinary and mundane and get to what might otherwise be invisible.” — Rick Rubin
At some point in your creative slump, you might have begun to question your talents and ability to make art. I hope these quotes can bring comfort in a time of uncertainty. Your work is a gift you share with not just your employment or university but the entire world. The world is a better place because of your willingness to let your imagination manifest itself.
Inspiration is all around us. You can find it in your 78-year-old neighbor who drinks coffee on their porch every morning. That book you’ve been putting off reading. The whisper of the soft wind that creates a melody only you can hear. An interaction between two strangers at a grocery store… the possibilities are endless. It is when you surrender yourself to the world around you that you truly notice it is brimming with endless inspiration.
“To the stars who listen — and the dreams that are answered.” — Sarah J. Maas
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