I’m an artist and I have been for as long as I can remember. I can’t imagine myself having noncreative interests or hobbies or thinking about things in a logical non-expressive or imaginative way. From a very young age, art comprised a big part of all I really knew. I absolutely love being a creative individual and I wouldn’t trade my passions for anything. However, I will admit it isn’t always easy.
Art is not reliable. So committing yourself to it, can really take a toll on your self-esteem. No matter what it is you’re passionate about -- whether it’s visual art, prose, photography, there really is too many creative outlets to name -- as long as you devote yourself to one of these, there will always be times when you feel uninspired. I often go through a few weeks where I feel really creative and inspired productive. All I really want to do is lock myself in my room and draw, paint, or write. But shortly afterwards, months and months will pass, where I’m left staring at a blank sketchbook, completely empty, unmotivated, and fresh out of ideas. It’s always been frustrating and still is. I often get upset because this is the one thing that I’m actually supposed to be good at and I often feel like I fail at it. You would think after 19 years I would have learned to deal with it by now. But, honestly, it hasn’t gotten any easier.
People who aren’t creative don’t really understand it, but those that are know exactly what I’m talking about. I’ve learned to accept that it’s just a part of who I am and it’s always another hurdle I will have to jump. However, this past week, one of my best friends said something to me that I keep going back to. I shared with him my frustration about not committing as much time as I should to art, as I have recently been so busy with school and other projects and endeavors. He said to me that artists, like trees, need periods of dormancy. It sounded funny at first, but I quickly saw he had a good point that I had never considered before. See, trees don’t consistently produce fruit all year long. There are harvesting periods where there are large amounts of fruit being produced. But there is also a point when trees must go dormant in order to prepare for the spring ahead of them. This idea seems to be universal in nature.
Like trees, we can’t expect to constantly produce paintings and poems and prose and the like. We must respect the law of dormancy and recognize the idea that when we are in a dormant period creatively, it is simply our way of preparing for the spring ahead of us, where we will begin to blossom beautifully once again. So next time you feel unfulfilled or uninspired, remember that you are simply in your period of creative dormancy and there is undoubtedly a masterpiece building inside of you, waiting to be created.
