Hey my artistically inclined friends (including musicians, writers, and creative people of all sorts), how do you deal with a near total burnout? Not just a slump but I’m talking about possibly years of having no inspiration because you feel like you’ve exhausted your abilities and you’re not even sure you want to do this anymore? It’s been nearly 3 years since I’ve completed any worthwhile effort. Negativity drove me into the shadows after a great idea went belly up. Thought I just needed to heal, refresh and come back swinging like so many times before, but this time it feels like I might be down for the count. Every time an idea pops into my head I remember all the effort that went into the last one and the catastrophic results. Whatever your reasons are, how do you kick start yourself after the muse has gone cold?
I always try to separate business and pleasure... When it comes to my art (guitar as it were...) the very same applies. I take breaks from music, and really only play to keep busy every now and then. I'm not in production, ever, and I don't play with anyone else/am not in a band. That being said, I don't have to try to write something now. I know my way around, and because I'm not shooting for anything in particular when I put something together, it's easy. What I do is take inventory of what I know... "okay...", I say, "I know A goes with C, and I know that I can get a B7 in there for color...", and, "I can play jazz, and I can play blues", and also, "this will sound good with lead", and then, "If I'm playing lead for awhile in pentatonic, I can make this same progression simpler with fewer chords and then take the lead into something Lydian. That's going to sound good." I take this inventory. Here we see: A, C, B7, Jazz, Blues, lead, pentatonic, and Lydian. Even if you only know two or three things in your artistic discipline, take inventory! It's going to help you see that what you have is adequate, or if not then at least come to some conclusions about what you still need to learn. There's no absolute finite skill set that is required to make art functional. You can make it work with very little, and if you're passionate it's going to sound good/look good.
Awesome, I'm a musician too! My projects are usually short films or animations with music. And I totally see what you're saying, it's sorta like taking a rational, quantified approach to creativity. For some reason that reminds me of the scene in Amadeus when his life is falling apart, debts piling up, wife arguing with his father, and Mozart sorta blocks everything out and goes into his own mind to compose. I've tried that and chipped away a little, but the problem with taking inventory & rationally planning things is when you realize the colossal effort that's required (when you realize your inventory doesn't measure up), and that's what sinks me back into a slump. For example, I'm ok planning out the chords on paper but then I know I need to record it, set up microphones, tune the instruments, make sure all the equipment is working, battle with the software, and even after it's recorded that's only half the battle because it has to be mixed, mastered, AND then I have to move on to the animation process. It's a nearly impossible job, and the only reason I try is because I know I used to be able to do it 10 years ago (when I had much more spunk). You helped me realize that my problem boils down to getting old & tired. You know the feeling? Like you can no longer keep up with the ambitions you once had. Have you ever had to deal with that sort of burnout?
Yes! Mozart is an amazing tool for inspiration as well! There isn't a better model. I've studied music software too! I'm 41, but I think I know what you probably mean.
Well, if you don't know what to do, never hurts to return to super basic things, feed them and see if that helps. So, that goes to super basic stuff. And I would start with physical health. Nothing is so draining to inspiration as medical problems, pain etc. So, whatever we can do in that area is only going to help everything else. And super key there is probably sleep. Way too many of us simply don't get enough sleep and lived sleep deprived. That is a huge burden on the brain. Can only make inspiration far worse. So, that is really looking like sleeping 7 or 8 hours per night, every single night for at least a few months straight. I would think that alone is going to return some inspiration. And then? You know, all the basic life stuff. Going for long walks in nature. Meditation. Hatha Yoga relaxation. And maybe even some counseling issues. Eat good healthy food. All that basic kind of stuff. And then? Might want to attempt a different art form. Even if we stink at it. You know, learn to play guitar if you never have. Just get that creative brain working, generally. Do some foodie stuff and cook some gourmet meals. Maybe a different kind of creativity will get the brain going again? good luck
This is fabulous advice. I suddenly realised that I've been getting lousy-to-no sleep. This I further attributed to drinking way too much coffee (ironically in an attempt to stimulate creativity... yakno the Balzac diet ). While stimulants may work short term, eventually ya gotta pay the piper. I'm still not back in creativity mode, but I've been sleeping again which is a 1st step. Also cleaned up my diet significantly, trying to get back to 75% raw foods like when I was most productive. We'll see where it all leads. Thanks for the tips!
and give it time. At least a couple of months. Any changes in diet / the body chemistry, could easily take a couple of months to take hold.
