What's the single biggest issue you struggle with in being more creative?

[Dan Goodwin]

What's the single biggest issue you struggle with in being more creative?

Is it procrastination?

Trying to make everything perfect, constantly wrestling with your inner critic?

Coming up with new ideas or developing existing ones?

Focusing on one creative project, and actually finishing something?

Finding enough (or any!) time to create?

Something else?

Let us know what's blocking your creativity most right now, that if you could overcome it would mean your creativity would soar to new levels...

[Darlene Barr]

My barrier is defnitely perfedtionism. And perfection being impossible, I always find fault, resist embarking on a project, and have trouble finishing because while a project is unfinished I always have the out that just a little more work will produce perfection. Perfectionism also prevents me from sharing my fumbling by joining plein art groups or even submitting my work to juried exhibitions. I am working on an art quilt which my landlady will give her granddaughter for graduation. She only wants to pay $75-100. I cannot stop making it glorious - which really should demand hundreds of dollars. In the meantime, with this commitment, I haven't the time to produce something wonderful for my own daughter's completion of graduate school in a few weeks! Yes, pefectionismis choking me. Darlene

[Darlene Barr]

p.s. How ironic that I misspelled perfectionism twice!

[Shayla]

misspelling it is probably a good sign ;)

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Ha! The Universe works in mysterious ways~! We overlook a lot here, as long as we know what you're talking about :)

[Dan Goodwin]

It is a good sing, it shows than none of us can possibly be prefect all the time... : )

[Dan Goodwin]

Darlene,

It's a trait that seems more prevalent in artists. Take a look at these articles and see how they help:

How To Give Up Perfectionism in 7 Steps

How To Be Creative: 5 Ways to Give Up Perfectionism

Dan

[Shayla]

Dan, I was reading the "How to Give Up Perfectionism in 7 Steps" and wanted clarification. For number 3, "Identify Your Biggest Perfectionist Habit" could you give an example? Great Article.

[Dan Goodwin]

Hi Shayla, sure, all of this is about noticing your own patterns in creating and how you prevent yourself creating.

Say your chosen art form is collage . With perfectionism, you may have habits like not seeing a collage as good enough if it has a tiny visible drip of glue in one corner. So rather than accept that as part of the piece, or re-do that particular corner, or make a feature of the glue drip, you dismiss the whole piece as worthless because of that one perceived "imperfection".

So here your perfectionist habit is writing off whole pieces of artwork because of one tiny part you see as a flaw. Make sense?

Another example might be a borrowed sense of perfectionism or ideal. For example if you write poems, but read somewhere, or someone told you that "real" or "proper" poems have to rhyme at least every other line, then you could be writing gorgeous tumbling poetic works without the kind of strict rhyme structure you read about, but dismiss them as imperfect poetry, or not "proper" poetry, based on this held belief that "proper" poetry has a very specific rhyme and form.

There are many other ways of using a perceived vision or belief of what's "perfect" to sabotage and belittle our work. That part of my article -"Identify Your Biggest Perfectionist Habit" - is about finding the one that does most damage. I hope that's more clear Shayla?

Awareness is the first step to overcome any habit or behaviour that compromises or limits our creativity.

Dan

[Shayla]

Thank you, Dan. That's clear and helpful.

[Shayla]

There will be a bit of repetition here, the part about organization struck a chord. My senses get overwhelmed (I guess that's common with visual people) so piles of clutter kill my creativity. If the supplies are all organized in bins, easy to access and see storage, then I find it much more pleasurable and productive.

Too much pressure, as mentioned before, is another issue. I don't think it's a good idea to book a show before the work is made. Brings out the perfectionism big time.

The biggest factor is fatigue. Health issues have been limiting. Lastly I've had to switch to a new medium and I'm not proficient at it. Feeling like there's no room for mistakes is paralyzing- especially since right now I'm making a lot of them :D

[Dan Goodwin]

Hey Shayla, do you feel though with the "mistakes" comes a learning, a progression, a step forward?

The clutter issue I can relate to as I'm sure do many others. A certain degree of organsisation is essential, however abstract or messy your artwork itself is...

Dan

[Shayla]

I know I should accept that mistakes are part of the learning process. It's logical and can't be argued with. So far that's still a big hurdle for me. Mistakes are just as important as "success" aren't they? It's hard to get that thought to stick.

Thanks, Dan. Next time I go to the studio, it will be to make some "mistakes" ;)