Creativity rollercoasters and slumps

I teach creativity, and yet, I’m in a creativity slump. Yep, even creativity teachers go through creativity slumps.

On top of my actual work teaching creativity I’m not writing much poetry, my novel is at a standstill, and I’ve all but completely dropped my pandemic hobby (learning to play the piano).

It sucks. And it’s okay.

What I’m trying to remember to do is— instead of beating myself up for not feeling particularly inspired — focus on the nitty-gritty my normally distractingly bubbling-over well of creativity absolutely loathes.I’m getting my business and legal paperwork set up, building my website (hi there!), and doing creativity-adjacent activities.

For instance, I’m not writing poetry, but I did take a poem I wrote four months ago and I pitched it to a local outlet, even though I hate pitching with the passion of a thousand suns. (The poem, FYI, will be published this Sunday. My poem! Published! Holy crap!) I haven’t worked on my novel in even longer, but I applied for (and got accepted) to a two-week writing residency this winter. If my creativity doesn’t come back before then, I have a built-in alarm clock waiting for me.

I owe a friend an article about how to find your mojo at the end of a pandemic. It’s three months overdue. He gets it.

What are you doing, a year and a half into a pandemic that might literally never end? If you’ve managed to find your creativity lately, let me know.