Feeding the Creative Soul

As a creative, we give of ourselves each and every time we create something.  Call it soul, call it spirit, call it energy, call it Henry -- the fact of the matter is we can feel its loss when we spend time creating.  Yes, there's the joy and euphoria of making something new, that joy of creating that keeps us coming back and coming back, but there's also a deeper part of us that feels worn out and tired from the exertion of the creative process.

It's not unlike what a runner feels after a hard training session -- there's that euphoria, the runner's high, that makes them glad they did it, but there's also the jelly-like feeling in the legs from all the exertion.  The benefit of the euphoria far outweighs the pain from the exertion, but before the runner can run again, he needs to feed the part of him that did the work, usually with protein shakes, pasta, and cheeseburgers.  Mmm ... cheeseburgers.

Most of the time, for the creative, the exhaustion is not a physical thing, but rather a spiritual, mental, and emotional thing.  Our minds have worked hard making new connections, our emotions have run high as we've fretted that our ideas won't measure up, and our souls have poured our life force into the process.  Usually all that's needed to get our mind, heart, and soul back up to speed and ready for the next day is a good night's sleep.

But what happens to a runner when he runs all-out, every day?  After several days, just that full night's sleep and two hours at the all-you-can-eat pasta bar aren't enough to get his legs going again.  He needs something special, something extra, be it a massage, extra vitamins, or a long bath.

Massages are nice for the creative, but they're usually not what we need in such a case.  When we've worked long and hard and our spirits are weak, we need to take extra measures to help our creative selves recover.  Here are some ideas to help you rejuvenate your creative center:

• Try an "artist date" -- It her great book The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron tells the artist to take a weekly "artist date."  An artist date is time by yourself, exploring something that interests you.  It doesn't need to be overly artistic, but should be something that gets your mind thinking in new directions and connecting to new thoughts.  It's a time to refrain from thinking about what you're making, and a time to appreciate and relish what others have created.
• Take a hike -- You don't need to literally go to the state park and pick a trail, but time spent in solitude and in nature have an amazing revitalizing effect.  The house where I did most of my growing up had at least two hundred trees in the backyard, which wasn't all that big.  Just standing among towering trees decades older than me was a humbling and awe-inspiring experience.  You don't need to camp out or spend hours and hours -- a good half hour in the quiet of the country or the presence of nature's beauty are enough to help.
• Meditate -- This is a good idea for quotidian use.  Simply sit and quiet the mind while focusing on the breath.  There are hundreds of "flavors" of meditation, but at their root they all come down to clearing the mind and focusing entirely on something (I chose the breath because it's always with you, unless you're a zombie looking for creative help, in which case, I might suggest you've got worse problems to worry about than how to meditate).  Fifteen minutes of quiet meditation are enough to make me feel like I've had a couple hours of deep, peaceful sleep.
• Play a game -- It's all too easy to spend evenings before the TV and call it relaxing.  The problem is, for the creative soul, this is like hunkering down, battening the hatches.  What your soul needs isn't retreat, it's nourishment.  Simple card games, board games, puzzles -- even some video games -- can give the creative center that nourishment it needs.
• Play some music -- If you're not musically inclined, this can be as simple as putting on a CD of your favorite music and just listening for the pure enjoyment of listening.  If you are a musician, playing some music just for fun can be wonderfully therapeutic.  So much of my music-making is done because I'm getting ready for something -- a church service, a concert, a recital, or some other sort of performance.  When I just sit down and play for the joy of playing, I always come away happier, and more refreshed and ready to create, than when I sat down.

There are hundreds of ways to feed your creative soul -- these are just some of mine, and are merely the tip of the iceberg.  Feel free to add your own -- in fact, please post them in the comments section.  These are great things to do when your creative tank feels empty, but you don't need to wait until your creative soul goes into hiding to do them.  Beat creative exhaustion to the punch and play a game or walk in nature tonight, before the weariness creeps in.  That way, you'll be ready to get up tomorrow and make something with your life.