Cycles

One reason that people have artist’s block is that they do not respect the law of dormancy in nature. Trees don’t produce fruit all year long, constantly. They have a point where they go dormant. And when you are in a dormant period creatively, if you can arrange your life to do the technical tasks that don’t take creativity, you are essentially preparing for the spring when it will all blossom again.
~Marshall Vandruff

from a Emu's Debut's post Cycles, balance, and making plans

I saw an article titled Creative Activities Like Baking and Knitting Boost Mental Well-Being and it made me think of a conversation I had with my husband the other day. I was explaining to him that my habit of working on a particular writing project had abruptly stopped a few weeks ago -- I felt as though I didn't have the emotional energy to work on it. I love the feeling of having written something, but I had balked at even picking up my writing binder. Other sorts of creative endeavors, like cooking and making herbal extracts and syrups, were the type of creativity that I was comfortable with during those moments.

It's tricky -- figuring out when to honor wanting to step back, and when to give yourself a push. What are your creative cycles like?

I write a little bit, almost every day, and if it results in two or three or (on a good day) four good paragraphs, I consider myself a lucky man. Never try to be the hare. All hail the tortoise.
~Malcolm Gladwell

Very often we write down a sentence too early, then another too late; what we have to do is write it down at the proper time, otherwise it's lost.
~Thomas Bernhard

I don't believe in writers' block. Do doctors have 'doctors block?' Do plumbers have 'plumbers' block?" No. We all have days when we don't feel like working, but why do writers turn that into something so damn special by giving it a faintly romantic name.
~Larry Kahaner

from Active Learning

Bonus article:
How Walking Fosters Creativity: Stanford Researchers Confirm What Philosophers and Writers Have Always Known

And a quote:
Solitary walks are great for getting new ideas. It's like you're in a video game and you pick up idea coins on the way.
~Joyce Rachelle