“I’m too tired to write!” I said with tears streaming down my face. This wasn’t ages ago, in my youth. This was yesterday! I’d forgotten that creativity is the key to energy for me…for a moment. Then today I remembered and doodled for a while, took a walk listening to Kundalini chants, and I came back to my desk and met three deadlines.  In fact, the best way to tap into your Muse is to learn how to find your inner, core energy. Here’s how to boost up creativity to feel more energetic, and vice versa:

Be Calm.

Yes, first and foremost, Be Calm. I can’t say it enough. We have to be calm to hear our inner voice. So many of us think we have to suffer, even bleed or resort to drink, to create. This is not true at all. Suffering is anything but calming. Drinking blurs our Muse. Juggling too much while trying to meet deadlines results in substandard work and/or missed deadlines. I was crying, and that’s ok, because that’s how we release. But we can’t stay in that emotional wasteland because that is the opposite of creation. Breathe out. Release. Breathe in. Inspire yourself, so you can inspire others. It’s a rhythm. Just like life.

Put the horse in front of the cart.

I like to write by the seat of my pants, then organize, then edit. Many will disagree with me, but if I try to organize first, I end up sounding either robotic or a know-it-all. My writing becomes too scientific if I organize before I have a semblance of a draft. That’s because we use a different part of our brains to organize than we do to create. So if your Scrivener cards are getting you nowhere, meditate, put on some mood music, and write from your heart. Your heart is what gives the energy to anything you create, just like the horse pulls the cart. The main message here: Find your passion and follow it. Do what works for you, not what works for everybody else.

Look how other artists create.

I love to look at what others are doing for a relaxing break. I enjoy browsing art on etsy.com or Pinterest posts. I search out music that might not be popular yet and read poetry at least once a week. I’ve tried many different types of dance forms in my life, and nothing makes me more creative than going to a Broadway play or following a photographer around a shoot. Go to an artists’ market, studio space, a museum, a photography exhibit. You’ll leave inspired, and you’ll leave with some tips and new ideas for your own work. Then I repeat, use that inspiration, to create YOUR passion, not someone else’s, or something you think might sell like hotcakes.

Collaborate.

This may seem to negate what I’ve said above, but it doesn’t have to. I have a wonderful Slack group that I collaborate with. We have very different styles, different genres, even use different media. One of us in an artist, not a writer. Yet that shared support and idea sharing creates a dynamic energy that stays with me all day long. You don’t have to use Slack of course to find your peeps. I haven’t tried this yet, but there are group offices where you can rent a regular work station. If you enjoy no commute at all, try a Meet Up group, workshops, Masterminds, or Facebook groups. Hire people who do something that takes you hours but they can accomplish in a few minutes. Read, Network, Write, Revise, Recycle.

Exercise while you write or draw.

So much attention is paid to the time of day we create, or our artistic space. I do have a room of my own, but I find that getting back into my body helps me create better than having a schedule, a certain number of words to write, or even the space I’m in or the tools I’m using. I’m not denying any and all of these things can help with creativity. They all can, and we’re all different, so what might work for one of us might not work at all for someone else.

Yet getting up and out…moving…is the most important thing I can do to stimulate my creative mind. It gets me back to Earth, grounds me, gets me back into my body instead of up there in the clouds. It gets my brain organized enough to figure out what I’m trying to say in a given piece.

Singing and dancing is my energizer. They use both kinetic physical energy and artistic form to express themselves. That energy increases as you sit down afterwards to create. If you don’t believe me, look at the Sufis. Look at Sufi poet Rumi’s collection of work.

So if you’ve tried stream-of-consciousness creation (where you write without picking up your pen), observed other artists, and collaborated to ask questions and stimulate ideas, and you’re still feeling slugglish and stuck, try a simple yoga routine, a walk in nature, or even moving around the room between brushstrokes or paragraphs, maybe in rhythm to a little music that meets the environment your art inhabits (which might be much different than your office).

Or send me an email letting me know how I can help.

Kathryn Ramsperger, MA is an intuitive life coach and award-winning author.

If you’re struggling with blocks to your energy and creativity, please email Kathy@groundonecoaching.com for a free consultation to explore some more creative routes to heal your life and enrich your art.