{"id":55057,"date":"2016-10-20T06:00:36","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T19:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypoppet.com.au\/makes\/?p=55057"},"modified":"2016-10-21T00:44:25","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T13:44:25","slug":"musings-creativity-recent-lack-thereof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypoppet.com.au\/makes\/musings-creativity-recent-lack-thereof\/","title":{"rendered":"Musings on creativity and my recent lack thereof"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been lacking inspiration for a while now. At first I thought it was just physical fatigue, I recently suffered with a bout of Dengue Fever and my energy levels have been on the low side of the spectrum. But it\u2019s been weeks and weeks since my hospital stay and I\u2019m technically fully recovered, so it isn\u2019t that.<\/p>\n

\"Thoughts<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not short of ideas (or ideas on what \u2018needs\u2019 doing), my head is full of them. Ideas that rattle around in my brain and stop me from getting to sleep at a decent hour. Ideas that start off as manageable projects, but in my mind grow so large that I am overwhelmed before I even begin. Ideas that never see the light of day because they get put aside on the ‘too hard’ pile to be tackled later, but never are.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I want the things I make and do to be so polished, that the thought of presenting something less than perfect is hugely disappointing to me. So the inspiration goes and nothing gets made.<\/p>\n

They<\/em> say – A blogger is only as good as their last post – and don\u2019t I feel it! That little hamster wheel I run and run on, working hard but staying in place. The pressure to always be fresh and new, but still \u2018on trend\u2019 and relatable. It\u2019s the cause of my inspiration flat line.<\/p>\n

Physical fatigue isn\u2019t my problem, even though I\u2019m always tired. My lack of energy stems from my lack of creativity. I get all my motivation and drive from creative projects, so I seem to be in a little self perpetuating negative cycle at the moment: no energy = no creativity, no creativity = no energy!<\/p>\n

What to do?<\/p>\n

Today I had the pleasure of attending a media preview of the new NGV exhibition \u2018VIKTOR & ROLF FASHION ARTISTS\u2019<\/a>. During a Q&A with the curator Thierry-Maxime Loriot and Viktor & Rolf, much of what they spoke about really resonated with me.<\/p>\n

These guys march to the beat of their own drum. They don\u2019t bow to trends, or in most cases even make their \u2018fashion\u2019 practical to wear. They see their work as art for the body, making every piece a statement with social commentary in every collection.<\/p>\n

When they found themselves creatively drained from the pressures of the fashion industry which expects designers to create up to 16 collections a year they said NO very literally.<\/p>\n

\"Viktor<\/p>\n

Read my review of the exhibition here<\/a><\/p>\n

And later as I wandered though the gallery, I realised that, I put a lot of arbitrary pressure on myself, and it’s time to give me some space to just be.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s ok if every photo isn\u2019t perfectly edited, or blog post fantastically written. I don\u2019t have to re-invent the wheel with every craft project, or even make things that are useful. I have issues with making things that serve no \u2018purpose\u2019, it\u2019s a silly, self imposed restriction that is stifling me at the moment. I\u2019m not making anything because I don\u2019t need anything, I mean, do we all really need all the stuff that surrounds us?<\/p>\n

But VIKTOR & ROLF seem to have gotten past the limitations of fashion\u2019s expectations of utility and elevated their work into art, so maybe I can take a leaf from their book and incorporate some art practice into my work too.<\/p>\n

I need to think about why I make and blog and get back to the essence of what drives me. I need to think less about visitor stats, social shares and if readers will like what I do, and focus more on liking what I do.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if this is the answer to finding my inspiration again, but maybe I\u2019ve just found the path that leads in the right direction. There will be missteps, but if I just keep going at my own pace, I\u2019ll get to where I need to be.<\/p>\n

Will you come along for the ride? <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been lacking inspiration for a while now. At first I thought it was just physical fatigue, I recently suffered with a bout of Dengue Fever and my energy levels have been on the low side of the spectrum. But it\u2019s been weeks and weeks since my hospital stay and I\u2019m technically fully recovered, so it isn\u2019t that. I\u2019m not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":55060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[125,230],"tags":[19],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n