Usually I’m filled with ideas with what to write for my pieces here. I love to talk and communicate, and have a lot to talk about (hence my involvement with the paper). But this week, all of the pieces I started didn’t stand out to me… and I had no idea what to write about this week.
I feel like a lot of students struggle with this, especially during finals time (which, ironically, was one of my original pieces for this week), with a creative block. Similar to writer’s block, creative block is more brutal, with any and all forms of making something artful becomes difficult. Perhaps it’s the stress that’s fogging our minds, making it difficult to see fresh ideas. Or maybe the lack of time to exercise that part of our minds is responsible, weakening our ability to be creative. So what can we as students do to keep our inventive juices flowing?
In my experience, much of the creative block stems from what I stated; stress and lack of time. Making time to accommodate these aspects of our lives is essential. So, although I’m no expert, I hope I can impart some of what I’ve learned to ease any creative block.
Just as we take time to exercise our bodies, we also must take time to exercise our minds. It can be things unrelated to original creativity at all, such as the daily New York Times games (another thing I almost wrote about this week). Another thing is just simply dedicating time to thinking. Before bed, I write down one good thing that happened to me that day, and overall just reflect on what I got done. Whether it be through a form of prayer, meditation, or deep thought, doing a little mental “work out” can really help strengthen the muscles of our mind back to a creative level of brawn.
In terms of reducing stress, it truly is amazing what eight hours of sleep, a sip of water, and taking a deep breath of fresh air will do. It sounds so simple, yet these three things have honestly helped me manage my stress better than almost anything else. Taking a walk outside with water in hand will do you wonders. The exercise, fresh air, and hydration will help clear your mind more during a study break than scrolling on TikTok will.
Hopefully for our next (and final) issue, my creative block will be cured by these tactics, and I will be able to write about something else (other than the fact that I have nothing to write about). Good luck these last few weeks, Hawks. Let the finals grind begin.
