A watchmaker's hidden gift

It is a tale as old as time. When you work in a creative job and can art to pay the bills - what can be more of a dream than that? -, to do your job you tap into your creative reserve. Don’t worry, it’s just a sip. There is plenty of more in there to pour into your passion projects. Take another sip, your work deserves it. Maybe a bucket this time, will you? This might be your best work so far!You take, take and take. When you are nearly out of any reserve, it dawns. You have run dry. Burnt out. Blocked.I don’t think people take me seriously when I say this since, oh well, I make video games, not even the noble kind of games, you know? But yes: creative work is exhaustive and depleting. Creativity is not an endless black hole, it’s a pond. It runs out of water and you have to fill it again. It runs out of life, too, if you are not careful.And the (do I dare say only?) way to refill your reserves is to give yourself time to be inspired. Or to get in a zone where you are not worrying about creating, where your body is occupied with something trivial so your mind can wander. Oh, I am not the one saying that. If you ever had contact with “The Artist’s Way” or any other book or course in creativity, you will hear something similar. Picture your creative mind as a house. Sometimes you need to open the windows and let breeze and sunshine in. It takes work to make it a comfortable home.But you know what? I got trapped in self-help notions of creativity for a good part of my professional life and I can say for sure it sucks, don’t do that. Don’t buy in anyone selling you a proven formula to get more creative. There is no formula. I would go as far to say nothing in life is one size fits all. No solution is the only solution, no path is the only right way. We are all creative, we all have our own way to picture our ponds and fill our buckets. If you feel depleted, it’s not your fault. Look around; look at the world we live in. It’s hard to stay creative. Freaking hard.Every week I (try to) take some time to nurture my creative self (did I mention I TRY to?). Sounds fancier than it is, I merely take an hour or two and give myself space to try something alone. Visiting a museum, walking around the woods, dancing. I tend to choose what I already know that clicks for me, but sometimes I force myself to just try whatever, like learn a new sport, or sit by the balcony and watch the neighbors live their lives for an hour straight. The aspiration is that this will be a breathing moment to open myself to the world, to acknowledge what is around and experiment different perspectives. And I don't know how well it works, to be honest. At the very least it feels good to have this sense of effort, like I am doing something to help myself. In truth this exercise is just what I like to call the watchmaker’s hidden gift: making time (bad pun, watch me care). I can’t blame myself for having low reserves every once in a while. All I can do is give it time.-Maíra

October 28, 2021

It is a tale as old as time. When you work in a creative job and can art to pay the bills - what can be more of a dream than that? -, to do your job you tap into your creative reserve. Don’t worry, it’s just a sip. There is plenty of more in there to pour into your passion projects. Take another sip, your work deserves it. Maybe a bucket this time, will you? This might be your best work so far!

You take, take and take. When you are nearly out of any reserve, it dawns. You have run dry. Burnt out. Blocked.

I don’t think people take me seriously when I say this since, oh well, I make video games, not even the noble kind of games, you know? But yes: creative work is exhaustive and depleting. Creativity is not an endless black hole, it’s a pond. It runs out of water and you have to fill it again. It runs out of life, too, if you are not careful.

And the (do I dare say only?) way to refill your reserves is to give yourself time to be inspired. Or to get in a zone where you are not worrying about creating, where your body is occupied with something trivial so your mind can wander. Oh, I am not the one saying that. If you ever had contact with “The Artist’s Way” or any other book or course in creativity, you will hear something similar. Picture your creative mind as a house. Sometimes you need to open the windows and let breeze and sunshine in. It takes work to make it a comfortable home.

But you know what? I got trapped in self-help notions of creativity for a good part of my professional life and I can say for sure it sucks, don’t do that. Don’t buy in anyone selling you a proven formula to get more creative. There is no formula. I would go as far to say nothing in life is one size fits all. No solution is the only solution, no path is the only right way. We are all creative, we all have our own way to picture our ponds and fill our buckets. If you feel depleted, it’s not your fault. Look around; look at the world we live in. It’s hard to stay creative. Freaking hard.

Every week I (try to) take some time to nurture my creative self (did I mention I TRY to?). Sounds fancier than it is, I merely take an hour or two and give myself space to try something alone. Visiting a museum, walking around the woods, dancing. I tend to choose what I already know that clicks for me, but sometimes I force myself to just try whatever, like learn a new sport, or sit by the balcony and watch the neighbors live their lives for an hour straight. The aspiration is that this will be a breathing moment to open myself to the world, to acknowledge what is around and experiment different perspectives. And I don't know how well it works, to be honest. At the very least it feels good to have this sense of effort, like I am doing something to help myself. In truth this exercise is just what I like to call the watchmaker’s hidden gift: making time (bad pun, watch me care). I can’t blame myself for having low reserves every once in a while. All I can do is give it time.

-Maíra