What are the signs of creative frustration?
Depression on Sunday nights before the beginning of a work week
Major depressive/psychotic episodes on Monday mornings
Rapid heartbeat during a film
Extreme sweating while reading a great novel.
Oh yeah, and criticizing someone who is artistic because we don’t grant ourselves permission to pursue something.
How do we treat creative frustration?
Well, administer lots of free time, since creatively frustrated people are known to over schedule themselves so that they are so busy, they never get around to creating that masterpiece.
Taking walks in nature, being forced to forget everything that is going on at the day job rife with its power struggles and politics. Also good, is administering walks in crowded public places where we find inspiration for characters all around us.
Warning: Try not to stare too much at random strangers.
And commit to lots of bed rest, as dreams are a great way to conjure up ideas. Writers Steven King, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Shelley, and even musician Paul McCartney were said to receive inspiration for their work from actual dreams.
This very esoteric quote of the week comes from Author Shaun McNiff, who has written the book Art Heals: How Creativity Cures the Soul.
McNiff says "Artists are not always healed people, but they can teach us how to engage the transformative aspects of emotional upheaval rather than experience the madness that occurs when imagination turns against itself."
