I've been in a bit of a creative rut this week. Often when this happens, I get sucked down into the interwebs and have to claw my way out. In this case I did a bit of that, but happened to run right into this great "Ten Paths to Help You Emerge from a Creative Slump" post from Alyson Stanfield on her ArtBizBlog. Hooray!
I jumped right in with #1 on the list: Wallow. Yes, that's right — wallow in it just a bit. I wallowed while devouring a great book, The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food and Love by Kristin Kimball, which I would highly, highly recommend.
I tried out #4 and had a lovely lunch with a pal at Earthen Jar with the added feel-good bonus of supporting a great restaurant suffering a bit because of the massive construction on the street where it lives. I also fell for #9 and watched a terrific, yet angering documentary called The Art of the Steal about how a multi-billion dollar collection of art you've never heard of was in essence stolen after the collector's death. Ack!
And so now… having wallowed and read and talked and visited and watched, I'm moving on to #3 on the list: Get out! With so many great things happening this weekend in town, I will be out and about lifting the old spirits:
FRIDAY, April 29: In honor of Arbor Day—today—Arbor Brewing Company is serving up spruce ale and $1 from every pint sold will be donated to Ann Arbor's Adopt-a-Park program! The money will be used to plant trees at local parks. So drink up!
SATURDAY, April 30: Come on down to Blue House for a spring trunk show! Six of us—Courtney Fischer Jewelry, Deid Goods, Brown Joey, Little Sister Jewelry and Tinkerdot Designs—will be hanging out with our wares and soaking in some spring time crafty goodness whilst the UM folks graduate across the street! We'd love to see you there!
SUNDAY, May 1: First — head over to the lovely Pot and Box and sip a little coffee. And then head right up the hill for the Water Hill Music Fest. This one-of-a-kind music festival from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.will feature residents of the Water Hill neighborhood performing on their front porches and yards for other neighbors and anyone who happens to wander by.
Wow!!! If this doesn't perk me up creatively, I don't know what will!! Have a wonderful weekend!
Thanks for the post, Nicole! It's reassuring to be reminded that even the best of us can slip into a creative slump sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThe Dirty Life is great, isn't it?! You have probably already read these, but I also recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, Farm City by Novella Carpenter and Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich. :)
-Crystal
Thanks, Crystal! I forgot to mention that a sunny day helps immensely, too, this time of year! And thanks for the book recs — I loved each and every one of them. I also recently finished The Bucolic Plague and would recommend that as a fun one, too! Have fun making tees on Sunday — I knew there was one more activity I wanted to mention.
ReplyDeleteIt must be in the air. I was in a rut too, until my trip to D.C.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a post about it here - http://www.bestlaidscheme.com/?p=1305 -- if you are interested.
Your fix and my fix for ruts are very similar. Stepping out of the everyday routine, getting out of the pattern, always helps me, too.
Thank you so much, Glad — I really enjoyed your post and am slowly starting to make my way out of the slump!
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