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It’s been a few years since I’ve had to spend a winter in Toronto, and the last week I’ve been struggling to figure out how to stay creative when I can barely muster up the energy to take the dog for a walk.
The last two nights when I’ve had plans to go out with friends, I huffed and puffed as I brushed the layer of snow from the car windshield, and switched to shallower breaths while walking outside so I didn’t have to feel the icy burn of the winter air in my nostrils.
The sky has been grey, and I miss the colorful orange and red hues of the leaves during fall.
Now I could continue to complain, but that’s not why I write. My goal is to make sure that you finish reading this post feeling inspired, liberated, and ready to take action on how to stay creative—if of course you are an artist, writer, etc. such as myself. And even if you aren’t an artist, I bet you too often find yourself feeling in a dreary slump in cooler temperatures.
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I’m going to start this post about how to stay creative by sharing a little piece of writing I was inspired to create while on a walk (more on walks and creativity shortly!).
A Blooming Rose in the Frost
There’s a white icy frost covering the rooftops this morning—a sheer white blanket softening the black tiles underneath.
It’s nearly December. My morning workouts are now indoors because I can’t tolerate the numbness in my fingers and nose while box-jumping onto the retaining wall.
When I take the dog out for our walk, I put on his knitted sweater, and break out my toque for the first time in years.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a winter in Toronto. I grudgingly zip up my parka and pull down the toque over my ears. I don’t wish to be back in Erbil, but I also don’t wish to be in Canada during the winter.
Stewart pulls on the leash as always. He doesn’t seem to mind the cold.
Most neighbors have already exchanged their Halloween decorations for Christmas ones. Somebody dressed up the giant skeleton on their lawn in a Santa suit. Skeletons get cold too.
Most flower petals fell to the ground weeks ago, swept away with the fallen tree leaves.
The ones that haven’t catch my attention.
I notice pink and yellow snapdragons near the park, that are still tender to the touch and open their mouths with a pinch of my fingers.
Old garden roses have stuck it out too. Deep reds, light pinks, and soft oranges—their petals appear unscathed by the dropping temperature and torrential cold rain last week.
I notice one with a cluster of buds yet to bloom. The tight, tear-drop-shaped bundles, are wrapped in thin tendrils of green leaves, waiting to burst open to show the world its colorful petals.
I wonder if the rose feels cold like the skeleton, and would prefer to be indoors, comforted by central heating like me.
Perhaps it does feel cold, but persists and blooms through the wind, rain, and frost anyway.
Aren’t beautiful things worth enduring hardships?
Carrying a new baby into the world.
Weeding and pruning the plants in our gardens.
Bringing our written words to life on published pages.
We know going into these situations, that pain and difficulty are inevitable.
We choose to take them on anyway.
The thorns of life are just part of the package of the rose.
Like the rose, even when it gets cold,
when the frost is telling you to stop blooming,
we can still bring color into the world.
How to Stay Creative—Find Color:
"Find something that evokes an emotional response"
Often I find those moments of feeling writer’s block are not caused by a lack of focus, but rather a lack of inspiration.
My first advice on how to stay creative would be to ‘find color’ somewhere around you.
When I say color, what I mean is find something that evokes an emotional response within you. It could be joy, frustration, love, hope. The emotion that arises doesn’t matter. The point is to open your eyes to your surroundings in order to trigger the emotional response.
During my walk, my emotional trigger was seeing the roses still blooming despite the frost building in the mornings.
Perhaps you feel excited to get back into skiing this season when you feel the crunching sound of your footsteps in the freshly fallen snow.
Maybe the familiar tune of ‘Silent Night’ playing on the radio takes you back to Christmas’s spent with family, and you’re overwhelmed with a sense of belonging and love.
The truth is that you can find inspiration in many different places, even without stepping away from your desk, it’s a sense of awareness of our surroundings or mindfulness that can help.
The key to finding color in life is being receptive. Once you’re receptive, and have allowed in the emotional response, your mind is ready to create!
Tips on How to Stay Creative—Even on Dark Snowy Days
So you might be thinking now, “OK I get it I need to be receptive, but I’m still not seeing anything.”
That’s fair. Sometimes when I’m in a bad mental space, it’s hard to convince myself to start seeing the world around me in a new light. Here are a few ways you can help find some color.
Change your immediate environment.
You can do this by moving your work space. Say if you are at your desk, you can try sitting on the living room couch. Even less than that, maybe face the window rather than the wall. A change in your visual field can help show you something you hadn’t noticed moments before.
Go for a walk.
Exactly as I did in my short story, going for a walk outside combines some physical movement and a change of scenery that can help move your mind to a calmer state that is braced for creation.
Possibly one of the greatest tricks for how to stay creative is to recognize how long your body has been stagnant.
Move.
Whether or not it’s the walk outside, or a quick five minute stretch break, physical movement is a great way to get creative juices flowing.
Often when I’m struggling to decide on titles for my stories (who’s with me on this being the hardest part of writing?) I go out for a walk and brainstorm, or think about new ideas while I vacuum. It sounds counterintuitive to step away from the computer in order to work on your writing, but for me this is a huge help.
Lastly: Engage in a different activity for a designated amount of time.
It doesn’t have to be a whole hour break, I think that even ten minutes would suffice. For me these quick breaks are often a little dance break where I’m improvising new tidbits of choreography to songs I enjoy. Why this works? Engaging a distinct activity from your current task is likely to evoke a fresh emotion and energy within you.
For me dancing can make me energized and happy (depending on the song though) which helps me feel more focused and happy to get back to work once my dance break is over.
If you’ve found yourself in a slump and have been looking for ways on how to stay creative, I hope you try to incorporate these tips into your day.
Let me know what works for you in the comments? Curious to learn more about other ways people stay inspired.
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Keep creating my friends, and keep exploring.
Much love,
Danika
