Getting In The Mood to Create
by Lisa A. Riley, LMFT
Part of managing the ebb and flow of your creativity is recognizing what helps you get into the mood as well as what dulls your incentive to create. Although we may be more incline to recognize what inspires us to be creative, we’re not always aware of those circumstances or experiences that leave us uninspired. Recognizing what gets us in or out of the mood can prove to be a valuable tool in our creative lives.
Your environment plays a big part in setting a mood to create. Evaluate the space in which you do most of your creative work. Whether it’s an office or studio, are your surroundings hindering your muse from entering? Clutter can easily block and smother your motivation to create. How does lighting affect your mood? Some people feel more inspired by dim ambient light, while others find that a lot of natural daylight activates creative energy.
Sometimes the use of aroma and scent can trigger the creative senses and entice us to do our artwork. Because the sense of smell is hotwired directly to the brain, scent can be a powerful tool to set an atmosphere for creating. It could be the roasted aroma of coffee or a specific essential oil that sets the mood. For instance, essential oils such as Clary sage, Citrus and Bergamot are considered boosters for creativity.
Although solitude is essential for most creative work, long periods of isolation can sometimes leave you feeling disinterested. Placing yourself around a group of other creative individuals who are actively creating in their lives can rub off. Some artists have found it productive to do their work in the same room surrounded by others who were also creating. Others might choose to take their creative work outside the studio or office and to a local coffee house or café in order to be around people.
Observing and absorbing the works of other creative individuals can spur inspiration and also the incentive to create. If you’re a writer, reading a piece by your favorite author, or if you’re a painter, viewing pieces by your most admired artists can be the thing that gets you in the mood.
Many writers and artists have utilized music to cultivate an atmosphere for creativity. Studies have shown that music produces certain chemicals in our body like serotonin (the “feel good” chemical). It has also shown that music enhances the connection between both sides of the brain, which aids the flow of information during the creative process. Depending on your preference of music, whether it’s classical music or heavy metal it can be the switch that turns on your creativity.
Along the same lines, there are circumstances that can do the opposite. Not only drain us of our creative juices, but also deaden our desire to create. Sometimes the weather can have an affect or the lack of a good nights rest. It could be a day job that is mundane and unchallenging that leaves you feeling dulled and uninspired. It could be the result of spending a few hours with a friend who is self-absorbed, leaving you with little room to share. A troubled relationship with chronic tension, can strike your creativity lifeless. Perhaps your will to create is numbed by financial concerns or other life stressors.
Taking the time to identify those places, people, and things that switches creativity on and off for you can be a valuable means of sustaining your creative energy. Having this awareness is just one of many skills when it comes to mastering your own creative process.
