Sometimes we need silence in order to create. I don’t mean just silence while we are creating. I mean deep silence, meditative silence where we connect deeply with ourselves. I know this looks like laziness to people who aren’t creative. Let me just suggest that this is the very reason they aren’t creative: because they don’t spend time in silence.
You need to unplug deeply at times. You can go on walks while you do this. You can do Ironman training and races or marathons or hiking. Or you can knit or crochet or clean the house while you muse. Or you can just sit in a comfy chair and think. Yes, you are doing important things. You are thinking deep thoughts.
I don’t always love silence, by the way. I will admit this up front. Sometimes I want to keep noise in my head at all times: Netflix, audiobooks, podcasts, friends. These are distractions from talking to myself. And I sometimes lean toward them because I don’t want to talk to myself. Because myself is in pain or isn’t someone I like very much right now. These are the parts of yourself that you need to make art from. These are the parts of yourself you’re hiding from the world and yourself and you need to stop doing that.
I love words. But sometimes the only way to get to the words is through the silence. When you sit staring at a blank page long enough, when you sit with yourself long enough, words will eventually come. I trust this for me and I trust it for you. If you feel like you’re burned out, like you have nothing left to say, try silence. It’s a great cure for creative problems of every kind.