While I would have been thrilled to travel to a new city a few months ago, now it just sounds like the pits. I’m burnt out, tired, at times even bored of where I am and what I’m doing. I’ve felt uninspired by the very things I used to love dearly about this place. On a psychologists graph of mood vs time, my state of mind could be found crawling out of one of the troughs, somewhere just past the middle. I always manage to find my way out of these creative ruts. I’m not worried, I’m confident, I’m even learning through this.
It’s during these times that I often turn to the work of others for inspiration. I admire, I gawk, I even envy these photography wizards. My own work turns sour, I recklessly delete, change, and criticize my own work. Eventually I hit rock bottom. Afterwards the way I feel about my own work inevitably changes from judgement to acceptance to love. None of this is new to me, only the length time spent in each phase changes slightly. You know what, I don’t care, it’s mine. I own this work. I’m currently on the upslope but far from out of this rut. Don’t worry though, I’ve been getting out there, and I’ve brought my camera with me every time.
Enjoy
Peace,
- Joel
Joel, I appreciate the rawness and realness of your posts! Keep on keeping on...you're doing it! :-)
ReplyDeleteKristina,
DeleteThanks for your support, I always enjoy your comments.
- Joel
Brother you're on a path I never thought possible, a side of you I never met. So my words of wisdom to you will be simple, just a single question you will have to answer. How do you fill in a rut?? If you were a farmer, I would say to plow your field and drag the dirt into it. If you were a road worker, I would say fill it with asphalt. But neither is going to help here. For you my Friend, I suggest another approach to Ruts. Mother nature can take a rut and turn it into a mighty river and use it to create a massive canyon, so embrace your ruts. If you allow them to open wide, you may find they flood with creativity and become your mighty river..
ReplyDeleteScaggs,
DeleteHolly cow man, haven't heard from you in a long time and you drop this mind trip of a question on me. Well let's see, getting out of a rut can be tough. Time and time again my emergence comes from slowing down and remembering to stop and smell the roses. The world is a beautiful place but sometimes we move through it so quickly we miss the smaller things. Staying busy, while trying to find new stories from familiar scenes is how I'm working out of this one. Good to hear from you, I hope the adventures of your life have treated you well.
- Joel