THE SECRET TO DITCHING YOUR CREATIVE FUNK

For the last few months I have been wildly uninspired. I’m not talking about a creative funk — I mean SERIOUSLY uninspired. Barely able to get out of bed in the morning. Seeing my art as a job instead of a passion. Not getting excited about new outfits or potential collaborations. I found myself in a toxic cycle of comparison and telling myself that I wasn’t good enough for my job since the passion was gone.

I know that at some point we all go through this. Even people who love their careers find themselves questioning their love for it when they've had a bad day. But for me? Three months with no natural creativity? Having to force art when before an idea would strike and I would jump head first? Sounds crazy. To me, it was crazy. 
So what did I do? What was my breaking point? When did I come to the realization that this is just a bad day, not a bad life. How was I able to push aside all the fears and anxieties? Tap "read more" to find out.

Above I mention the quote, "It is just a bad day, not a bad life." Literally today those words came to mind as I started thinking about this phase in my life. Although this "day" was actually months long, the quote still had the same meaning in my head. I've always been the optimist of the group. Sunny side up. Always reminding others that this is just "life" and "better things are always coming." My enneagram type 7 literally calls me The Enthusiast. 

We have named this type seven personality, The Enthusiast because Sevens are enthusiastic about almost everything that catches their attention. They approach life with curiosity, optimism, and a sense of adventure, like “kids in a candy store” who look at the world in wide-eyed, rapt anticipation of all the good things they are about to experience. They are bold and vivacious, pursuing what they want in life with a cheerful determination.

So with personality test results calling me "the positive one," how exactly am I supposed to just "cope" with depression lingering over me like a dark cloud. My anxiety taller than the Empire State Building, and my comparison issues crippling me to the point where I am unable to even do a post on instagram without wanting to immediately delete it. Heres the deal. I came to the realization in the shower this morning this statement: 
"The world needs what you have to offer."
It is such a simple sentence. So much power. We were all individually created with passions, love, talents, abilities, ideas, visions -- All unique to us. To our stories. We are all capable of creating beautiful art, it's all in us. It is already inside of us. We must believe that we can achieve it.
​Our minds are the only thing stopping us. 

Now I know... Even though that is truth, it still is not tactical tips to help you in every day life.

So here is the deal. This is what you need to know:

1.  Never compare your inside to someone else’s outside. Someone brilliant said that first, but I’m not sure who it was. This practice of comparing how you feel about your life on the inside to how someone else’s life looks to you on the outside is dangerous. We live in an active world of comparison at our fingertips simply due to what we see on social media. Heres the truth, you don’t know the whole story. It’s not an accurate comparison and the process results in feeling like you aren’t good enough. You are more than good enough, and with practice, you can replace comparison with gratitude. Appreciate what you have, your individuality, who you really are, and encourage the best for everyone around you.
2. Focus on what you love, not what you hate. This one is big for me. I found myself talking more about what I despised more than what I adored. How whack is that? Each time I find myself doing this, I instantly "call myself out" and try to recognize the reason I naturally gravitated towards those feelings. Once I started this process, I found myself retracting statements said in my head and following up with a comment of gratitude or appreciation. One day, positive affirmations towards everyone and everything will become a second language, but only if you are accurately able to recognize where the negative feelings are coming from. 
3. Who is inspiring you? What attributes do you love from that person? This practice helped me so much in dipping my toes back into my creativity while still filling my head with positive traits that I desperately needed. I grabbed my Spellbook (you can grab a blank sketchbook) and got to work. I cut out images from my favorite instagrammers and pasted them in my book. Beside each image, I wrote words that came to mind when seeing their photos. What inspired me. What attributes from them that I wanted. Not only does this help you easily weed out the people you are following that are bringing you down, but it also helps you create a vision board for You 2.0. You will come out of this funk a new person - with new intentions and new traits that you want. 
4. Surround yourself with words and music that encourages you. This is my personal favorite because I love words of affirmation. It's perfectly okay for you to create a playlist FOR YOURSELF and fill it with songs that remind you of who you are. Songs that encourage you. Songs that make you happy. I will link my Spotify playlist here.

Lastly, do your art. This one is the one I've dreaded talking about simply because there is fine line after healing your heart that one is able to jump back into creativity without it feeling like the end of the world. For me, it was getting back in front of the camera. Constantly comparing myself to women on instagram who had rapid growth in their followers, and yet I felt like I was doing everything I could to gain more. I never felt like my content was good enough. Instagram turned into a numbers game instead of a digital scrapbook where I shared my life, my clothes, and the world around me. This afternoon, I did my first photoshoot in what feels like 3 months. I got dressed, I played music I loved, I encouraged myself to be creative and feel the shoot instead of just taking photos. It took a while for me to mentally allow myself to get back in front of the camera, but once I did I got the overwhelming excitement of "getting the shot" just like I did the first time.

​ I know that at the end of the day, this is all easier said than done. This feeling of "not good enough" on a social media platform is real. It happens. To all people of all ages. I hope that as you read this blog post you find reassurance that its not just you. You are seen and heard and there is always better days coming. Speak it into existence for yourself. Manifest it. Your life is fully up to you and you will make it beautiful. I am sure of it. 
Always, Brittany