The one trick I use to "hack" my creativity...
This tip may change your life!
Happy Friday! Hope you're doing well.
A while back a dear friend sent this article to me and it completely blew my mind!
"What a load of absolute horse shit!" I screamed aloud, after reading this hot garbage, almost slamming my phone on the floor. "Who would ruin a perfectly good sleep like that? That sounds like TORTURE!!"
Now that I have your attention, I can inform you that my dear friend sent me this article so we could laugh at Dali and talk about what a stupid idea it is. I’m not even going to link the actual article because it’s so dumb, but tl;dr: Dali would try to nap while holding something in his hand and as he was dozing off, he’d drop the spoon, which would wake him up and he’d somehow be more “creative” right after.
Honestly, I’d just be pissed if I woke myself up from a nap, then I’d roll over and try to go back to sleep.
The thought of going through some bizarre ritual of interrupting your own sleep or whatever the hell else people think creatives do to themselves to make themselves more creative makes my brain melt out through my nose.
The myth of the tortured/crazy/starving artist is one that I'm tired of and I don't want to hear about it anymore. Ever. I'm so sick of it. I hate that people put this kind of craziness on a pedestal. I don’t care if it ““““ACTUALLY WORKS”””” I’m not here for it.
I've had my own struggles throughout life and I've gone through bouts of hardship, depression, anxiety, Very Dark Thoughts, sleeplessness and so on and I can honestly say that those have been the most unproductive times of my life. During periods of sadness or worrying about how I'm going to get by for the next month, I can't function at all.
Grief, worry, untreated mental illness, other such hardships, or just doing weird shit doesn't "build character" and make people "more creative".
So here it is. I'm going to reveal the actual secret to how I personally manage to stay creative on a consistent basis:
BE AS NORMAL AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE
I make sure to get 8 hours of sleep per night. After decades of battling with insomnia, 8 hours is my sweet spot. Any less and I feel tired throughout the day and any more and I can't sleep the following night.
I eat food when I'm hungry, usually resulting in 3 meals a day. It’s just whatever I'm in the mood to eat. There's no special "creativity food" here. Just normal human food.
I spend time with my friends whom I love and appreciate. Whether it's meeting in person to grab lunch or chatting online or playing online games, or even just sending texts/memes back and forth, my friends give me life.
I'm most creative when I don't have to stress out about finding the means to pay my bills. Go figure.
Yep. That's it. Just having my basic needs met is enough to be creative.
What I'm trying to say is that creative people are people. They're not some magical beings that thrive off of hardship, self-induced suffering, poverty, schizophrenia and other such things that no human being should be subjected to. This myth needs to die. Like, yesterday.
If there's a creative person in your life, please let them know that they're appreciated. Something like a simple comment or shout-out can go a long way and maybe it will even help "hack" their creativity!
Thanks so much for reading
Have a great weekend!
-M
Speaking of creativity, you should check out the Kickstarter for this gorgeous hardcover collection that I can’t wait to get my hands on!
If you know me, you’ve probably known about Tart long before you found out about me because Kevin Joseph is a good pal of mine and my unofficial Fairy Comics Uncle.
There’s just a few hours left to go on this one, but late pledges will be available after the campaign is over and it’s absolutely worth it. If you like historical fiction, demon hunters, time travel and GORGEOUS art, treat yourself to Tart!
Also, Sacrimony #9 will be launching in January of next year, because things are complicated right now, but it’s never too early to start following!
Here’s a link to follow the campaign so you can be notified when we launch!
Yes! I always thought these weird "hack" were so full of it. It's also just another way to disconnect yourself from other people, which is not healthy. Just good sleep and good eats are all you need to live that creative life, not stupid diets or weird sleep tricks or waking up in the middle of the night.
Good sleep is absolutely the most important thing. Going without sleep or dodging sleep in order to push on and be more 'productive' to satisfy the demands of job, society & etc will always end in disaster. Pulling silly tricks with sleep in order be more inspired and creative is plain daft.
I have severe type 1 narcolepsy which means that I fall into REM states, micropause episodes and I just plain sleep far more than most other humans do. It's no good fighting it and there's no cure. As a writer I've found all kinds inspiration for stories in my dreams, but you don't need to have narcolepsy to do that. Plain ordinary healthy 8 hours of sleep a night will do that for you too.