Okay, I’ll admit it straight away! I’ve been in a creative rut lately. It can happen to all of us, and instead of fighting it, I decided to start being kind to myself.
I allowed myself to stop posting on Instagram, stop writing blog posts, stop being active on social media.
Traveling has been my cure for literally anything; it allowed me to break free from any mental chain I found myself in; it inspired me and taught me so much. Traveling has opened so many doors for me, and it taught me to see the world through different eyes. However, that door suddenly shut this year, and with that door, all my plans fell apart.
There are a few things I’ve learned these days:
Let it go
This pandemic situation has taught me that we can try to make our plans, but nothing is ever entirely in our control. So why force creativity? Why cling to anything we cannot control?
I finally understood the lyric “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,” I finally understood why non-attachment is so indispensable in Buddhist teachings, and why attachment is often viewed as the main obstacle towards a fulfilled life. Let’s say you’re irritated by someone, which makes you feel annoyed because you expect them to behave in a certain way. When you don’t get it your way, it makes you angry and upset. And that causes you pain.
It’s the same with our plans, not getting what we want is frustrating to us, so frustrating that we forget to see the silver lining.
Bad things don’t disappear on their own; we have to make the conscious decision to focus on something else.
There is freedom in restraint
I heard this lately so many times; it almost sounds like a cliche. But whether we like to admit it or not, there is some truth to it. Isolated in our homes, we all are free from social norms, free from having to be somewhere we don’t want to be. There is more time to learn new skills and to expand our interests.
I always wanted to learn and master Photoshop but never made time for it. When this pandemic hit, I felt the need to distort the world we live in, and I finally took the learning more serious and focused on a result. Art is freedom and also the highest form of hope.
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There’s no growth in your comfort zone
Traveling has taught me to get very comfortable outside my comfort zone. From traveling solo in a country I don’t know anything about to paragliding and seeking adrenaline, I started to enjoy the feeling of not knowing what will happen next.
But what do you do when you’re in the middle of a pandemic, forced to stay at home where nothing seems to change?
Do you know what’s even scarier than jumping from a cliff?
Re-evaluating your goals and making a shift if needed.
What are the most interesting things you learned from this pandemic?
xoxo
Claudia
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