Ever been in a slump? A slump in your business? A slump in your creativity? 

Not to be negative but slumps come, especially in creativity. As creatives we often times find ourselves experiencing slumps where our creativity seems dry and quite frankly boring. This can particularly true if our business has slummed. We begin to question ourselves and our ability. We think there must be something wrong with me that’s why I’m not getting jobs. We focus on making money instead of creating which is exactly why people hire us to begin with.

Having personally faced this and knowing how I will  get depressed, self-loathing, and a host of other useless, counterproductive emotions that destroy creativity. So what did I do? I hired myself. Instead of sitting around complaining about what I don’t have going on or to do, I created for things to do for myself.

This morning I read a comment that stated your dream job does not exist, you have to create it. I love that statement. We spend too much of our lives waiting for someone to come and hand us our dream, when the truth is we have the power to create our own dreams.

For myself I started a list of projects both for my website and some just for the sake of shooting. For example I have always loved the human form in art so part of what I’ve been doing is exploring that in photography. This isn’t work that will go to my site so since I wanted a creative outlet for it I created a new website to feature artwork that doesn’t fit my normal work. I also started working on new work for my main site such as Evil Housewives of the 1950’s (See tomorrow’s posting for details). I gathered around me other creatives such as models, wardrobe, and make-up artist to create shoots that I might typically would never shoot. I started doing what I was meant to do and that is create art, regardless of a paycheck or not.

I’m a firm believer that if you pursue your passion and are always working to improve that passion, the jobs will come. I once had a employer that called it “stirring the stardust,” its that aspect of doing what your passionate about and not focusing on the negatives. I’m not saying that networking, marketing, and client follow-up isn’t important, but don’t allow the task of seeking work keep you from working.

Regardless of what type of creative work you do spend time creating. Graphic artist? Create logos and designs even if its for a fictitious client. Artist? Draw, paint, or sculpt. Writer? Start posting stories on a blog, create a weekly series that ends on a cliffhanger. Photographer? Pick up that camera and create some pictures.

Of course you could do the alternative and that’s sit around doing nothing. Complaining about what you don’t have and wishing you were as creative as that other guy. Then again where is the fun in that?