I’ve been struggling at blogging this past week. I guess I would call it something like losing my mojo. Every idea I had, I didn’t want to execute and all my ideas just seemed kinda stale or kinda lame. Nothing excited me.

I guess I see a blog kinda like a blank canvas, you have to come up with content that you feel is worthy of reading. Personally, as a blogger, I feel like I have to come up with content that ilicits comments or page views. I don’t know that this is a healthy means for blogging, but this is what I do. I put a lot of pressure on myself to come up with good and original content. Most of the times it is something I find satisfying to write about, but sometimes it’s not.

So, I feel like I’m at a point where I need to push past this fear of the blank canvas and move forward. And how am I going to move forward? Part of it requires me thinking outside of myself and taking on another perspective. I hope this helps me, and I can help you too when you feel in a rut, cause I know we all go through these moments as creative people.

Anyway, here are my thoughts…

Set a Challenge
One of the things I think I do well at is being faced with a fun challenge. For example, there’s a group called Iron Craft that do weekly craft challenges. The other night, I was about to participate in their “Gold” challenge, but I fell asleep before I could get to the project (that’s another story). The thing is this: I would never approach a topic like Gold if I wasn’t challenged to do so. It’s not something I would gravitate toward, but the minute that the option of a challenge presented itself, my head was spinning with ideas all relating to Gold. So I guess I was going for the gold, huh? Sorry, bad pun. By exercising my brain in challenge form, I think outside the box of what I normally do and flex those muscles. Even though, I didn’t do the challenge, I think it would be cool, if I maybe kept a challenge jar of ideas for me to pull out when I’m in a rut on a variety of topics. It could help spark an idea!

Do SOMETHING rather than NOTHING
Ya know? I do this all the time! I think, “Oh, my readers won’t like this” or “That’s not original enough!” Sometimes it doesn’t have to be the most original idea, but at least you are doing SOMETHING rather than NOTHING. I had this very thought tonight when I took pictures of my cat. I thought, “Hey, I can post these!”, but then I decided not to. I don’t think I go crazy with the cat stuff on my blog and I’m not even sure you’d mind. It was me overthinking rather than just posting or acting on the idea. It’s better to just get that idea out and onto the page than to worry about not coming up with the “most grandest idea ever!” Sometimes the little things work cause they are short, sweet, and simple and what others can connect to!

There’s always more canvas to fill
So if you don’t make your mark and that canvas goes empty, then that’s just kinda sad. True story, the canvas I’m holding above is one I bought 3+ years ago and I have yet to paint/draw/glue anything on it. Fear is holding me back cause I’m afraid I won’t create something amazing. Sometimes you just have to realize that yes, you will have less than stellar stuff to say. More than likely, though, you will create something that will lead to something that is really stellar! It takes several tries to get to that masterpiece. So fill that canvas and the next and the next! It will be much more satisfying! It just sometimes takes that initial leap!

OK, that’s about all the personal self help I can give myself tonight. I’m exhausted. Heehee.

Let me know what you think and if you deal with this problem too! I may just have to come back to this post from time to time to learn from my own advice!

Oh, and I have a real canvas to go fill! Expect that in the next blog post! I promise!

Until next time Swellions!