How to fall back in love with your art

How to fall back in love with your art

One of the worst feelings an artist can encounter in their creative life is disenchantment with their own work. There is so much out of your control when it comes to creativity, and so often the thing that keeps you going is the love that you feel for your own creations. This is something I’ve been struggling with as of late; there’s an idea that I’ve been developing for literal years, and I’ve written several drafts of it, but when I reread it there’s no spark. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that it doesn’t captivate me in the way it used to, and I can’t quite put my finger on the reason. It’s made me feel disconnected from myself as an artist. So, for the last few months, I’ve been exploring how to fall back in love with my art.

Connect with yourself

Art is self expression. If you’re struggling to create, or feeling disenchanted with the things you do make, that may be a sign that you need to spend time connecting with yourself. One great way to do this is through artist dates. What is an artist date? Basically, they’re time you put aside for yourself to nurture your creativity without directly engaging in your typical art form. I have a list of artist dates that you might find helpful here. These can be extremely low key if you want; something as simple as trying a walking meditation around your neighborhood could be effective. This probably isn’t a one and done thing; in order to connect with yourself and fall back in love with your art, you likely will need to build time for yourself into your schedule on a regular basis.

You should also be sure that you’re practicing self care. To practice effective self care, you need to know the difference between self soothing and self care, and then find ways to incorporate both into your routine. Self care is the long term practice of caring for yourself, while self soothing is a way to care for yourself after a stressful event. For example, eating well and getting enough sleep are self care, whereas taking a relaxing shower after a difficult day is self soothing. Here’s a good article that gives examples of both. 

You are the secret ingredient that makes your art special. When you take the time to connect with yourself, your art will grow from your efforts.

Determine what made you love your art in the first place

Part of the process of falling back in love with your art is determining what made you love it in the first place. Here’s what I like to do when I’m feeling lost in that regard.

I like to find a private space with a door that closes. I create a relaxing environment; I might light candles and incense, dim the lights, or play calming music. Then, I get out my journal and a pencil and I reflect on this question:

What about my art excites me?

There are no wrong answers here. You could talk about how you love the medium you work in. You could talk about how you love the challenges it poses. You could talk about the specifics of an idea that get you excited. If there’s a specific concept you’re struggling with, reflect on what made you want to pursue that idea in the first place. 

Once you have a clearer idea of what made you fall in love with your art in the first place, you may have a sense of how to create a plan that will help you get excited again.

Don’t be afraid to give it space

Consider a relationship in your life that you value. It can be a friendship, a family relationship, or a romantic one. It’s likely that if you take some time to reflect you can articulate what you value about that person; maybe they offer you a lot of support, maybe they make you laugh, maybe you share interests and values. Likely, there’s a lot of things! I don’t know what makes this relationship so special to you, but I do know one thing: in order to keep it healthy and interesting, you have to have other things in your life as well, and that means sometimes taking a little space.

Your art is a relationship too, and that means you need other things in your life as well. I know I have gone through phases where my art is my singular focus. I work on it all day and think about it as I’m falling asleep. I talk about it with my friends and family. Sometimes I’m guilty of forgetting to feed myself or clean my house. That can feel exciting sometimes, but it’s not sustainable. In fact, it’s a one way ticket to burnout. Just like how you wouldn’t expect one singular relationship to meet every single one of your needs, you shouldn’t expect that one art project will as well. Think about that person that you love so much and then imagine being locked in an empty room with only them and nothing to do other than talk. That would probably get old pretty fast, and if you spend long enough in there you will be sick of them by the time whatever supervillain trapped you in there lets you out!

All this is to say that it’s okay to give your art space. This can mean walking away from a specific project and working on something else, or it can mean taking a break from art altogether. Only you can say if this is the right thing to do, but I strongly suggest making breaks a part of your creative process even if you aren’t feeling disenchanted with your art. It helps, I swear!

Falling back in love with your art is a process, and you should expect it to take some time. Most of all, don’t beat yourself up for not feeling excited about it right now; it’s something that every artist goes through. 

Good luck and happy creating!