[Se] Losing "the spark"

[King sns]

I agree. Just put aside a couple of hours a day to paint or what it is your preferred mode of expression is and just do it no matter what the outcome. Make a pact with yourself not to criticize whatever comes out at that time. Learn to enjoy doing just for it's own sake. Maybe you'll find in time that your passion's returned.

I have been doing that with writing..
Sometimes reading them a few months later it's really laughable and I can delete it.
But passion has come back for it, it's really good advice.

 

[garbage]

Geez. I know how this is. It's why I end up with quite a few unfinished projects.

Thinking about "a whole freakin' book" or "a whole freakin' painting" can be pretty daunting. Often, I try to break down what I want to do into segments, modules, or parts--be it a book chapter or a particular software dialog/engine. Not only does getting one part done mean that you have actually done something, it's also pretty motivating when you want to tackle the next part. If you lose motivation and want to come back to it later, you've already got something finished that you can build upon.

I know it's completely tangential to the topic, but there it is. A Te approach to art

 

[Kitsune413]

Thinking about "a whole freakin' book" or "a whole freakin' painting" can be pretty daunting. Often, I try to break down what I want to do into segments, modules, or parts--be it a book chapter or a particular software dialog/engine. Not only does getting one part done mean that you have actually done something, it's also pretty motivating when you want to tackle the next part. If you lose motivation and want to come back to it later, you've already got something finished that you can build upon.

Thats an ENFP thing. Get the big part done then lose interest. Come back months later to finish something. Its an enfp flaw but maybe it would be a good way to deal with what they're going through.

I remember when I was younger I was worried that my daydreaming would go away some day. Like I would grow out of it. That didn't happen.

I wouldn't worry to much about it.

 

[Santosha]

So do any of you guys relate to this fear of "losing the spark"?

In my own way, yes. The difficulty for me and art (and this is the shit that makes me question my E/I) is that it seems like no matter how much Ne I have, no matter what object i take from the external and rework into my own creation, it goes through this Fi process and leads back to the same internal meanings, over and over and over again. An outsider might look at my art and see it as very different from the last piece, with an entirely different external concept.. but when I look at it, i get bored with myself, because I am always saying the same dam thing! So sometimes I feel like to be a better artist I need to tear down my internal framework and build it again..(which isn't all that difficult as e4's are self-renewing) but It does seem to become harder with age. I might just be going through an unhealthy spot too, or atleast this idea comforts me.

 

[Stanton Moore]

Oh! I found the spark! The cat had dragged it under the bed. She has been summarily punished for this infraction.

 

[xenaprincess]

All the time. It's become a more frequent concern as of late, since I haven't painted in almost a year. I've doodled and done little things here and there. I've heard the whispers of my creative self from time to time, but nothing like it was in college. Nothing where I was overwhelmed on a near constant basis with a desire to paint. It's like, one day it was there, then it just slowed down to a mere trickle. I don't know what's wrong, but I think there's something broken on the inside. So, I spend a lot of time listening to the inside of my head trying to find out what's gone AWOL.

If you can develop your own voice without beating yourself up, that would be ideal. Look at yourself as a fragile being. If you painted in the past, try something completely different that doesn't have such connotations of self-worth. Maybe you go back to painting, later on. Maybe you find you're much better at pottery or printmaking or ballroom dance?

I suggest this to the OP too, to have a 'back up' creative thing, which can inform the major creative thing, if you have the time.

btw, I can relate with this whole thread. I used to be so ambitious and idealistic about myself and my creative abilities. It is really sad how much that has crumbled. I'm going thru ups and downs now. (mostly downs)

 

[ReflecTcelfeR]

Figure out how to get it back. It was there, it is not there, but it is not nowhere, it's just somewhere else. Follow it.

 

[Winds of Thor]

I've always had a worry about some vital part of myself fading away. The best way to describe it is that it's like a constant awareness of inner death. You can feel yourself leaking out of you.

Something new always comes in to replace it, but it's depressing when you try to revisit some earlier time when you were inspired, & you can't quite make the connection. That's the hardest part about doing art for me, it's impossible to get back to what you used to be feeling. You have the memory, but the vitality is always lost, & you can't get it back.

I think I focus on this unnecessarily. I'm terrified of becoming a boring, unimaginative person & I've noticed it tends to make me do ridiculous things every now & then.

Does anyone else feel like they're always 'going over the hill'? I mean, I already felt like I was old when I was 20. I felt like I'd seen it all even though I'd barely had any life experience at that point.

So do any of you guys relate to this fear of "losing the spark"?

No.

 

[Winds of Thor]

I've always had a worry about some vital part of myself fading away. The best way to describe it is that it's like a constant awareness of inner death. You can feel yourself leaking out of you.

Something new always comes in to replace it, but it's depressing when you try to revisit some earlier time when you were inspired, & you can't quite make the connection. That's the hardest part about doing art for me, it's impossible to get back to what you used to be feeling. You have the memory, but the vitality is always lost, & you can't get it back.

I think I focus on this unnecessarily. I'm terrified of becoming a boring, unimaginative person & I've noticed it tends to make me do ridiculous things every now & then.

Does anyone else feel like they're always 'going over the hill'? I mean, I already felt like I was old when I was 20. I felt like I'd seen it all even though I'd barely had any life experience at that point.

So do any of you guys relate to this fear of "losing the spark"?

It's cause you're focused on the loss, the fear. Think good things, cultivate those thoughts and do things focusing on life.

 

[charisma]

I think everyone goes through phases in life where they look back and envy the energy they had in particular situations. As we move on in life, and things change and things happen, our insight changes and so do our perspectives. Maybe something happened that made you have a bitter resentment against certain people or towards certain places. Maybe a rough patch with no work, school isn't all that great, making friends is challenging and you can't get a date. This can send us into downward spirals which make us contemplate who we were before this dark POV. This may not apply directly to your situation, but I know that i've experienced what I've described more than once. In fact, I'm going through a total self evaluation; I want a change, I want to be different, noticed and have all these friends and connections that these bright, vibrant people have.. but it just doesn't seem to work out that way. I get discouraged when trying to be creative and give up on the imaginative side of my brain, taking up a hobby definitely helped me to access this part of my self again and express the inner art that I possess.
Good luck to those of you having trouble with this ! We can't control life, but we can control our thoughts. <3
Best
-H

 

[CzeCze]

[MENTION=13370]FunnyDigestion[/MENTION] Just wondering but how old are you?

 

[FunnyDigestion]

[MENTION=13370]FunnyDigestion[/MENTION] Just wondering but how old are you?

In tha profile

I've been told I seem young on the forum. I guess I focus on being a goofball a lot of the time here, so that's probably why I seem below my actual age.

 

[Trunks]

I'm 31, but I didn't look like 31. I think people at various age tend to like me because of my 'childish' tendencies. I never have boyfriend which is older than me..

 

[Winds of Thor]

I think everyone goes through phases in life where they look back and envy the energy they had in particular situations. As we move on in life, and things change and things happen, our insight changes and so do our perspectives. Maybe something happened that made you have a bitter resentment against certain people or towards certain places. Maybe a rough patch with no work, school isn't all that great, making friends is challenging and you can't get a date. This can send us into downward spirals which make us contemplate who we were before this dark POV. This may not apply directly to your situation, but I know that i've experienced what I've described more than once. In fact, I'm going through a total self evaluation; I want a change, I want to be different, noticed and have all these friends and connections that these bright, vibrant people have.. but it just doesn't seem to work out that way. I get discouraged when trying to be creative and give up on the imaginative side of my brain, taking up a hobby definitely helped me to access this part of my self again and express the inner art that I possess.
Good luck to those of you having trouble with this ! We can't control life, but we can control our thoughts. <3
Best
-H

Just sayin..made me think of this..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cGMwmFnLsk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[bluestripes]

i both can and cannot relate to this. i do feel i lack something essential. when i remember the way i used to be before i turned sixteen or so, it feels as if i was whole then - or as if my "self" then was the real one, that which i was really supposed to be - but now i am not. or i don't feel i am. it is like having a huge gaping hole inside, with wind blowing through without meeting a single obstacle. the emptiness feels wrong, but there isn't much i can do about it.

on the other hand, i don't feel comfortable with the references to aging. i don't feel old at all - closer to the opposite. it's more as if something vital has been severed and i haven't had the time to grow used to this.

(i feel tongue-tied when i try to describe this, more so than usually. this impacts everything else i do or experience, but it is also incredibly difficult to put into understandable words)