Incubating Ideas Or Creative Block?

21/10/2014

Incubating or Creative Block? Wild West paper doll holding pocket-watch

I’m sure you’ve had the experience of incubating an idea?

You allow your subconscious to mull over the best way forward, confident that soon a flash of inspiration will hit and you’ll be on track.

The problem is that incubation and creative block look very similar on the surface: We reach a hiatus with our work and we are unable to move on.

So what’s the difference?

And how can we know which we’re experiencing?

What Idea Incubation Feels Like

I don't know about you, but when I'm incubating, I can sense that my subconscious mind is at work.

I don’t feel anxious.

I trust that a solution will present itself soon.

Take this week for example: I worked on lots of creative projects and I could feel my energy building.

Then yesterday I enthusiastically got stuck back into my latest piece, Out of the Box.

Incubation had done it’s job and the ideas were flowing.

Process images for Out of the Box 1. Scaling up from original drawing 2. Experimenting with dried flowers 3. Making faux frames

The Horrible Empty Feeling of Being Blocked

But when I start to slip into a state of creative block, the feeling is different.

I don’t sense anything moving below the surface.

There’s just a feeling of horrible emptiness which manifests itself in a myriad of ways from shoulder-shrugging, devil-may-care, to plate-hurling frustration.

So Which Is It? Blocked or Incubating?

“Looking at it from afar like this, it’s easy to recognise that you’ve got a monolith blocking your way but sometimes, up close, this mass is strangely difficult to recognise.”

Cherry Jeffs, Blast Your Creative Blocks

So next time you feel blocked, take a little time to analyse whether you really are stuck, or whether you simply need a bit of time for your incubation process to do its magic.

That way you can take the appropriate action!

Get Unblocked Double-quick!

Fortunately these days my creative block is pretty much non-existent as I've developed a host of tools to nip it in the bud.

Since I live to share a good thing, here's a FREE Quick Unblocking Workbook to, nip incipient creative blocks in the bud, and get you speeding along on your creative highway without delay!