For those of us who are gifted/cursed with a creative mind, we can often feel as if our mind is stuck in the mud. We see too much suffering or negativity, and we are able to imagine all the sides of a problem. Our minds take in everything we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. When this happens with positive things, we are able to solve world problems, make wondrous sculptures, inspire others with our words, etc. However, when we do this with the negative and destructive things which are prevalent in our world, then our minds get “stuck in the mud”. So what can you do to prevent it or get unstuck? Luckily our greatest problem is also our best weapon against the mud.

Prevention is blissfully simple, figure out the kinds of things that drag you down and avoid them as much as you can. I don’t watch the news, read a newspaper, or pay attention to celebritrash. I avoid quite a few things that the average American consumes in copious amounts. Anything that bogs my mind down or wakes up my rage gets put on the ignore list for my life. You can do the same thing. It will feel strange at first, and you may suffer some withdrawal. That’s right, I said you will suffer withdrawal symptoms from avoiding things you don’t like in the first place. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll find your mind getting stuck less often.

Needless to say, even if you do your best to prevent the negative feedback loop, you might still get caught in it. There are a few ways to get your mind unstuck, and I’ll share a few of mine.

Look around you and find an object that you rarely interact with. Think about that object in a different color or made of a different material. Imagine the object in a context which makes no sense at all to the average person. What if your hairbrush was made of zebra striped cream cheese?

Think of an animal, a duck perhaps. Now think of a color or pattern. Maybe you have a plaid flannel shirt you like. I bet you’re imagining a plaid duck now aren’t you? Congratulations, you just unstuck your mind.

You can also just walk outside and enjoy a nice breeze, or watch a squirrel frolic. The point is to remove yourself from the things that stuck your mind.

If you can’t get away from what you are doing, try reading something for a little while. I highly suggest comic strips or anything you don’t normally look at or read.

A warning for those of you trying these methods. Be careful of the things you let your mind wander off into, you may find yourself thinking about things you haven’t before. Wouldn’t it be neat if your cat could talk?

I hope this helps those of you who “get it”. If you don’t get it, then try harder. Everyone is creative in their own way.

dracoselene

I'm an artist, writer, ordained interfaith minister, veteran, spiritualist, androgyne, and piles of other labels that never seem to fit. I'm following my passion and attempting to make myself and the world a better place. I think that through compassion and understanding we can all become one unified race of human beings, and life is better when you remember to play.