Creative Process

I've been thinking about process a lot these days, especially as mine seems to be stunted somehow. It's not that I don't want to make anything, because I do, it's more like I just don't have the energy. So that brings up the question of what is it that I need in my environment to enable my creative process, and where is it now?

There's the usual, get plenty of sleep, eat right and exercise. Sleep needs work, but I've been making the effort to eat better and to get more exercise. That, right there, is part of my current problem: I'm not used to regular exercise and have been dealing with a certain amount of muscle strain lately. So yesterday, for example, sitting at the computer just reading was a study in pain so art-making was not going to happen. My hope is that I'll sleep better with regular exercise, but I really don't think sleep is contributing to the current creative drought as I haven't slept well since 1984, and I've certainly been creative since then.

No, I think this is psychological. At the moment I'm waiting to hear about an application to an Art History grad program, so I'm on pins and needles to see if I'm in or not. Waiting patiently is not something I'm good at. The problem is that if I don't get in, I need to come up with something else to do this spring. I'd rather not do that because I really want this program. There are other Art History departments in the SUNY system, but I like this one and it means I won't have to move. So there's that pressure on me because I find not knowing very stressful. Then there are plumbing problems in my apartment which are taking forever to fix, which is a whole other set of stressors.

What I think I'm going to have to do though is just jump in and get started on something. The last thing I need right now is to get stressed out over being stressed out. Once I actually start making things I'm hoping I'll get caught up in the flow and, hopefully, that will take on a life of its own.