The Blank Page - Creative Block

After coming home from a meeting I was struggling with what to write about this week. And then it occurred to me that this can so easily happen not just for writers but also for those in ministry, particularly worship leaders and program staff. What do you do when the well has dried up and the ideas just aren't coming?

We're in the post-Easter zone, the seeming down time after the extra services and expectations of Holy Week. But we're also ramping up for Pentecost, end of year thank yous and special events, and of course summer programming like VBS. Particularly for those in educational ministry, the expectation is usually there to produce, produce, produce fun, engaging, exciting opportunities and activities. We feel the usual pressure to compete with video games and other technology and entertainment coupled with anticipating the downturn in attendance as soccer and baseball seasons start and people slip into summer mode.

By this point in the year, our creative juices can have been reduced to fumes. Sometimes the newness and differentness of the summer season is enough to keep us charging ahead, but it can be tough for many to slog it out to the end. What do we do when we're drying up? Here are some ideas:

1. Take care of self-care first. Make you priority number one - getting rest, eating well, and taking in some fresh air and sunshine to restore that vitamin D that depleted over the winter. Catch the spring cleaning bug and de-clutter. Go through and file those things that are now finished, organize what's in progress, and air out spaces that have become heavy and stagnant. Re-commit to your prayer and scripture reading times. Any of these things can lift brain fog, offer new perspective and inspire you.

2. Look at the next few weeks and months and note your vacation time. Start to plan your holidays in detail. Give yourself the gift of anticipation of a replenishing break from the regular slog. Do as much pre-planning for those covering for you and for that first week back as you can so that your time away is as work-worry free as possible.

3. Go to a new place to plan out details of the remaining weeks of programs. Sit on a park bench, by a lake or river, under a tree or in a coffee shop. Let your environment rejuvenate you rather than sitting on your office chair in a cluttered and distracting space. Close your eyes and breathe, intentionally inviting the Holy Spirit to inspire you.

4. Carve out time to read that new book - in tiny chunks if need be, but read it. Capitalize on any resources you picked up in the last few months and threw on the 'look at later' pile. This is the time to check out that neat ministry website, to listen to a podcast of someone you admire, to put that new worship cd on and to read those articles you bookmarked. 

5. Go somewhere with a colleague and have a mini adventure at a great Christian bookstore, a beach, a new church, or a new town neither of you have explored. The destination isn't as important as the road trip and the conversation. It's up to you whether it's just a fun time away from ministry 'stuff' or whether you share your burdens and gain the wisdom of someone else who gets it.

Use creativity or writer's block as an impetus to recharge yourself, to dig deep into prayer and scripture for direction, and to let God use what is around you to restore your passion and energy.