Reigniting Your Creative Spark When Burnout Hits

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We’ve all felt burnout from time to time or gone through periods of feeling waaaay less creative than we’d like. Especially if you’ve taken something you love to do and turned it into a business. You know that running a creative business doesn’t mean all you do is sit in a lovely studio and make things all day every day. You also have to promote your work, grow an audience and a shopper base, try to sell things, maintain a web shop, do social media, keep up with bookkeeping, launch new products, etc. I could go on and on. It’s so easy to burn out and be bogged down by all of the other things and feel like you’ve lost touch with your creativity. 

Even if you haven’t turned your creativity into a business, we all have so much going on and it feels like the world is ending. We’re running on a hamster wheel trying to keep up with life and bills. It’s no wonder you’re feeling burnt out. If you need some inspiration to create art when it feels like the world is ending, check out last week’s episode or blog post.

Chances are good you’re feeling burnt out because you have poured too much from your cup without refilling it. You’re going and going and producing and doing without taking moments to take in art, beauty, creativity, inspiration and rest to replenish your cup. As we all know, you can’t pour from an empty cup and you can’t create when you feel you have nothing to give. Today we’re looking at how to reignite your creative spark when you’re feeling burnt out. How to allow beauty and creativity to nourish you and motivate you to keep going. 

Remember your why.

Why did you start creating in the first place? Why did you start this business? Why are you doing this? 

With Crafty Wonderland, when I’m feeling overwhelmed and on the verge of burning out, I remind myself that we started that business to bring together shoppers and artists. We believe in buying handmade and shopping local and supporting artists. We provide a platform for artists to sell their work and make some money pursuing their dreams. And it’s a really beautiful thing to know that our business has a direct impact in the lives of people in our local community. Reconnecting with the heart of why we’re doing what we do gives me the motivation I need to keep going and put in the extra work during the busy times. 

For my jewelry business I remind myself that making jewelry has enabled me to stay self-employed, to buy a house, to take vacations. I can fit it into my schedule when it works for me and I really value the flexibility of that. I also just really love jewelry. I love wearing it, buying it, helping other people buy it. It’s one of my favorite things.

So take a few moments and reconnect with your why. Why do you create? Why do you share your work with the world? And see if that helps you reconnect with your purpose.

Step outside your routine.

Get out of those ruts. Take a new route the next time you go somewhere you always go and allow yourself to see things you don’t see every day. Walk in a different part of your neighborhood. Visit a place in your town where you’ve never been. Endeavor to see something new. My favorite way to see something new is to travel. Obviously, I can’t travel constantly, which would probably be pretty exhausting anyway, and I don’t even travel super frequently. Instead, I try to periodically visit different neighborhoods, walk down streets I’ve never been down, pop into shops I haven’t seen before, go to different coffee shops. 

Surround yourself with art

Look at art. Go to a museum. Attend a gallery opening. Talk to other artists. Look at books of art or ceramics or jewelry or anything. It doesn’t need to be related to what you make or do. Read poems. Listen to music that really moves you. Make a playlist of songs that really move you. You know the ones. The ones you crank up the volume to. The ones that really get deep into your being and feel like they’re moving through you. 

Appreciate Beauty

Take regular moments to appreciate the beauty and abundance of nature. Right now where I live the fall leaves are changing to the most magnificent colors. And they’re different every day. Talk about the different colors.

Notice it. Taking those moments to be present and appreciate what you’re seeing will reawaken you, little by little. 

 You don’t even have to do anything with it. Just let the beauty wash over you. Soak it in. Let it sink into the core of your being. Let it feed you and nourish your soul. 

Get outside and breathe fresh air. 

Breathe deeply. Really smell it. Feel the earth around you and all of the abundance and quiet strength of nature. 

Move your body

Take a walk. Put on some good music and just dance for a few minutes. Get your physical energy flowing. 

Open New Pathways

Learn a new skill. Try a new medium. Make something totally different than what you usually make. Make something just for yourself. Just for fun. You don’t even have to show it to anyone. Make something for the sheer sake of making it. 

Allow yourself time to rest and regroup.

Don’t feel like you have to push through if what you’re really needing is rest. If you think of it like seasons, winter is a time to rest, regroup and recharge. You can have that season for your creativity and your business too. Sometimes taking some time away can be the best way to reinvigorate your enthusiasm for it.

However, I will say that I wouldn’t wait to feel inspiration strike you to keep working on your creative practice. Most artists will tell you that their success has come from showing up every day and putting in the work on their art, whether or not they felt inspired that day. You can’t wait for inspiration to strike. So don’t let your lack of feeling inspired be an excuse not to practice. But if rest would truly be the best thing for you right now, do that.

What are your favorite ways to refill your creative cup? Send me a message on Instagram and let me know! I’m @heybeautifulcreative

You know I love making lists, so my advice for this week is to take a few minutes and make a list of things you can do for yourself when you’re feeling burnt out or creatively stuck. What lights you up? What gives you creative fuel? Keep the list somewhere where you can refer to it if you need ideas. 

Don’t expect to just do one thing from your list and then suddenly feel completely rejuvenated. The goal is to work these things into your days in small bits. Having the habit of refilling your cup as you go will help keep you from hitting empty again in the future.