Monday Memo #9
Make something.
The Monday memo is food for thought to fuel your week.
Hi everyone,
In preparation for our next Collaboratory with Bill Keaggy, “Exploring stuckness,” I want to share some of my own experiences in Stuckville. As a creative person I have a kind of binary existence: I’m either engaged in a creative project, inspired, in the zone, or I’m “in between projects.”
That in-between space, if it’s brief, can feel refreshing and rejuvenating, like a vacation. But if it drags on too long, it becomes a slump. And if the slump drags on, I start to feel depressed. I’ve had slumps that lasted for years, where no creative project seemed interesting enough, life seemed meaningless, and I felt like I was just going through the motions of life.
There are so many ways to be stuck. You can dig yourself into a hole. You can feel like you are lost, in a fog or a dark wood. You can be locked in conflict, stuck in a kind of entrenched enmity with a person or forces beyond your control. You can feel like you are waist-deep in quicksand, mud, or some viscous liquid, like everything seems to slow you down and the smallest things take a lot of effort. Sometimes you can’t even summon the energy to get out of bed. For me, it felt like being on a vast gray featureless plain, stretching away to infinity. Like nothing was interesting or worth doing.
Advice, ugh.
When you feel that way people give you advice. Even though you understand the advice and agree with it, you can’t seem to summon the energy to do it. But I’m going to share some advice anyway, because eventually you will have to do something.
When that time comes, there are three things I’ve found that can help.
The first is physical exercise. Get outside. Go for a walk.
The second is socializing with friends. Reach out to someone who cares about you. A creative friend. Tell them you’re stuck. Every creative person can identify with that. Or just check in with them and ask how they’re doing. When you’re stuck, you’ve got nothing to do anyway. So you might as well listen.
The third thing is to make something, your exercise for the week.
This week’s exercise.
Apply yourself to a random project, whether you find it interesting or not. Simply make something. Anything. And then publish it. Show your work.
This exercise is about getting out of your head, which, if you’re stuck, isn’t doing you any favors, and getting into your body. Thinking with your hands. When you’re stuck, anything different that you do is a path that could lead somewhere interesting.
Let it be boring. Make a sculpture out of paper clips. Make a soufflé. Make a doodle. A paper airplane.
A key here is that when you are done, you must publish the thing you made. Showing your work is a part of it. Put it out on TwitterX or LinkedIn or TikTok or Instagram or Facebook or whatever your preferred thing is.
Did you take my advice last week and start a mailing list? If so, good for you! Now make something and publish it to your list, even if you have only one subscriber.
Why is showing your work so important? When you’re stuck, it’s not your own point of view that’s going to pull you out of it. It’s what others see that will help you shift your point of view. Make something, show your work, and see what happens.
Updates.
Our next Collaboratory is Wednesday, February 21st, from 9-10:30 AM Pacific (Noon-1:30 PM Eastern, 5-6:30 PM GMT). Our topic will be “Exploring stuckness” with my longtime friend and colleague, Bill Keaggy. When Bill told me he felt stuck recently, I asked him if he would be up for exploring this with us, and he agreed. Here’s a TED talk by Bill on noticing.
On March 6th, we will hold an “Open House” Collaboratory where you will be able to preview some of the courses that we currently have in development. Get ready to hear from some of your peers who will be launching courses in the School of the Possible in coming months!
Collaboratories are held on the first and third Wednesdays of every month. They are free for members. Members, your joining instructions are “below the fold.”
If you’re stuck (and also if you’re not!), consider joining one of our Friday Campfire calls. They’re free to join, anyone is welcome, and we talk about creative projects and what’s fueling our creative energy. I enter these calls in all kinds of moods, but I always leave them feeling energized and inspired. If you’d like a personal email invite to hold this recurring meeting on your calendar, just reply to this email and let me know.
Become a member by upgrading your subscription, or you can buy a one-time ticket for the February 21st Collaboratory here.
As of this week we have 42 members. The first 100 members will lock in the $20/month rate forever.
If you’re already a member, thank you. You’re making this possible.