Looking for the Light

I recently found myself back in a very familiar place. It's a place we've talked about here before—more than once in fact. I'm struggling with coming to terms with the direction I want to take The Circular Journey. In recent weeks, I've experienced a creative slump and struggled to find entertaining and inspiring blog topics. My concern is that I'm not excited about the ideas and not proud of the published posts.

Inspiration often strikes when I'm not actively searching for it. Sometimes the best approach is to get quiet and let my mind wander. I believe that my authentic voice and local perspective make The Circular Journey unique, so I trust that ideas will come with little effort on my part.

It is for me a fascinating aspect of creativity! When I say inspiration often comes when I'm not actively searching for it, I'm talking about how my mind often works best in the background.

When I deliberately try to force creativity, I can end up with a kind of mental gridlock—staring at a blank screen and feeling increasing pressure to come up with something brilliant. But my best ideas usually emerge during moments of mental relaxation or when we're engaged in something entirely different:

• During a shower or bath
• While taking a walk
• Just before falling asleep or right after waking
• When doing routine tasks like driving familiar routes
• During exercise when my mind can wander

When I'm not deeply engaged in problem-solving, my brain shifts into default mode. This network helps make unexpected connections between various ideas and experiences stored in my memory. It's why one of my best blog posts occurred to me while grocery shopping!

The default mode is also filled with a majority of negative thoughts so it's wise to be continuously vigilant, especially if you have a mood disorder like me. Need I say that seldom do I get truly worthwhile ideas when Amy is stirred up?

Success usually comes when I put aside the pressure to create and let my observations about local culture, my experiences with film productions, and my conversations with people like Ms. Wonder, Island Irv and yes, even Princess Amy, naturally coalesce into fresh perspectives.

My most reliable approach seems to be planting the seeds of what I'm interested in writing about, then deliberately turning my attention to something else and letting my subconscious work its magic. When I return to my blog, I'm sometimes surprised by the ideas that bubbled up while I wasn't paying attention.

And that's what I'm doing now and I'll keep on doing until it something interesting turns up. Until then, enjoy my latest burst of creativity and, as always, leave a comment or two. I love hearing from you.