Stuck In An Elevator or How To Survive a Creative Block Part II

People often say about traumatic situations that one day, you will be able to look back and see what God was teaching you in that particular moment. They say that sometimes that happens quickly, and sometimes it may be years afterward.

It’s been 12 years since I was stuck in an elevator, and I can honestly say I don’t think that God was teaching me anything life changing. Sometimes I think that maybe He just has a sick sense of humor. But through the randomness which is in my brain, I have managed to turn the story into an object lesson. There are things about how we survived being in an elevator that I have somehow twisted into being able to apply to those who may be experiencing a creative block. So enjoy: 

Don’t panic. 

Panic will not make the block go away any faster.

Not long after we got stuck, it slowly began to sink in with the three of us that we were going to be in the elevator for a while. Dandy Fenton began pacing back and forth slowly falling into a panic. It was actually quite amusing to watch this big guy taking one step in one direction then having to turn around and take only one step in the opposite direction. It didn’t take long for him to realize that no amount of panic was going to get us out of the elevator.

It’s easy to think that you have finally run out of creative juices - that you might never again make anything quality or that has any originality ever again. But fear not. Experiencing a block is not the end of the world. It won’t last forever, so be patient and be ready to wait it out. 

Embrace the downtime. 

As we worked our way through the stages of grief, we finally landed on acceptance. We were going to be in that elevator for a while and we had to make the most of it. I can honestly say that we learned more about each other in those 13 hours than we ever would have otherwise. Lots and lots of crazy stories and secrets shared. It was actually a really great time and the three of us look back on it and laugh and love to tell the story.

Sometimes we spend so much time writing, that we fail to get out and have experiences and live life. That is where our inspiration comes from. In general, writers don’t write about writing. They write about life. Look at a writer’s block as a way of being forced to get out and have experiences. Embrace the opportunity to take a break. It’s those new experiences that will provide plenty of material and inspiration. 

Get down to the basics. 

At some point, as we continued to sweat profusely because there was no air conditioning in the elevator, we slowly found ourselves taking more and more of our clothes off. First it was shoes and socks, then our t-shirts, until we were finally sitting on the floor of an elevator wearing nothing but our boxers - just the necessities.

We can often get bogged down with a bunch of stuff that we like to throw into our creations. Sometimes it’s a new technique. Sometimes it’s being so thrilled with a new technology and then trying to throw it all into our music, or art or whatever. All the tricks and technology can get in the way. Whatever it is, it can often slow us down and take away from the simplicity of the art.

When we are experiencing a creative blog, it often helps to get back to the basics. Strip everything down to the essentials and focus on those. You only need the basics to survive. If you can’t make something great with the very basics, then you don’t need all of the tricks. 

Remember not to stink everyone else out.

Whataburger can do horrible things to the bowels. We almost immediately instituted a no farting rule. Why? Because no matter how badly one of us felt we might need to express some gas, we had to remember that there were two other people stuck sharing the air, and it wasn’t fair to make everyone else smell our stink.

It’s tempting when experiencing a creative block to try and force the situation and put out something that is lackluster at best for people to enjoy. The truth is that it just stinks. That’s why it’s called a block. It’s the artist’s inability to do anything really great. So don’t bother. Don’t put stuff out just for the sake of doing it. Is it important to keep disciplined and exercising the creative muscles? Sure it is. But until you feel like you’ve overcome your block, don’t bother with putting out stuff for others that just stinks. 

Use a lifeline.

The biggest mistake we made was in not bringing cell phones with us. Granted, at the time, cell phones were large and bulky and didn’t fit comfortably in the front of your jeans like they do now. My cell phone was the original flip phone. This was post bag phone and pre anything cool. It was the size of a gold bar. This was also just at a point when people were starting to carry phones with them regularly. (Yes, I know this dates me a bit). But had we had them, we could easily have called for help and saved ourselves 13 hours of sweat, smell and full bladders.

There is nothing wrong with talking to others that you respect about your block. As an artist you need to have friends or mentors in your life that you can call and talk to when you run into a creative block. They can often provide great advice and insight into why you may be experiencing a dry spell and may be able to save you some time.

As I said before, a creative block isn’t the end of the world. They only happen for a season so enjoy the time off. Live life to its fullest and do what you can to embrace as many situations as possible, because these will be the things that inspire you later on.

If anyone else has any other advice about surviving a creative block, feel free to put it in the comments section below.