Containers and Voids

One thing creatives all have in common is the need to feed their soul. Okay, that's more of a human condition in general, but what makes a creative type more capable of pumping out work and staying busy is largely dependent on filling an endless void.

Everyone has a container, a capacity for satisfaction to overflow. However, a creative often doesn't have that. Ha, I guess that probably sounds ridiculously sad, to say that the capacity for satisfaction is somehow slimmer, but it's not quite that pathetic. No, inside that void, where ideas are endlessly poured and just as quickly syphoned away, the creative just has to make waves, to catch those juicy streams and shoot them over the brim. So rather than dribble down the glass, as a full container might, a creative becomes a sort of tamer of dreams. 

Of course, forcing those pieces to become something means it takes a lot more control to gather them to fill the audience's containers. Much like working as a waitress, I have 50 ideas in play (or 50 drinks to refill) and it's become more than just filling glasses, but finding the ones who wanted them to begin with.

Nothing is worse for a creative than a void that is simply a vacuum. Which is why it's just as important to find enough outside of our heads to throw into it. Turn it into a blender and find more to gather from. It doesn't mean you HAVE to travel or party every night. Sometimes it means just laying on the floor and playing with cats or watching the rain slap and slither along your windows.

Spending too much time unloading into a word processor or sketching lines... Sometimes, those things just stop flowing and, as a creative, it could cause a panic. Shouldn't the thing you love come, good or bad, as easily as breathing? Of course, no one actually thinks it's easy, but productivity often suffers for lack of those inspirational connections.

As I've said before, writing and drawing are my primary focal points, but I have a lot of hobbies, things I simply enjoy to keep things going. Sure, some people have that one thing they tend to stick to, but the most prolific creators I know are the ones that don't hit full panic mode when that one thing isn't what they want to do. They tend to immediately realize that they have other aspects of their life to work on: a 5 mile jog they wanted to do, a book to read, animals to pet. Some even have sporadic hobbies, things they might also be great at, but definitely just enjoy, if not. Maybe they only connect with it a few times a year, but even if it's work, it refreshes them like a vacation might.

So I guess this is the best time to segue into what made me want to build up with that: doll making. I'm not particularly amazing at it, if only because I'm not a terrific traditional painter or fashion designer. It falls under the category of something I sometimes enjoy. I get a lot of compliments on my second book cover:

Yep, this one...

And I've always wanted to start doing a custom build on a 1/3 scale doll. I've done customs on Barbie sized dolls (which are 1/6 scale) and it's pretty tough working with a model that small. I saved up some money and finally bought the doll parts I liked. Although I had the face pre-painted and the fishnets will be pre-made, I decided I'd craft and sew the other elements myself. And that includes wefting the wig and molding armor this time around.

I'm really excited to attempt to recreate her. It's a project very likely to get me back into my own blender state that inspires writing and drawing more again.

Not that I ever go cold turkey with writing and drawing. I'd just like it to fill more of my day again, but I just haven't been hyperfocused on it. Reconnecting is often about the very intricate nature of inspiration.

So I'm never really trying to fill the void nor trying to attain overflowing satisfaction, just keep the muse twisting around in ecstasy, wherever we meet.