Okay, I don’t have writer’s block, exactly. My writing seems to be flowing alright at the moment. But, I do have aerial choreography block, which I think is a result of too much career work on my career, and too little studio work, but I digress. I was searching for some inspiration and somehow in the rabbit hole of the internet, I ended up in a Google Search for Cross Training. You probably know that Cross Training typically refers to an athlete’s regime of training themselves in other sports or activities during their off-season, or to become more well rounded athletes during their on season. It has also become popular as an overall fitness strategy for regular folk to get buff and form community around health and fitness, most popularly with programs like CrossFit. I was searching for cross inspiration, for artists that can get too focused, too passionate, or too single minded on one art form and might actually benefit from an off season. I was surprised that the infinite Web-o-sphere came up with zilch. Or if it did come up with something, it was so many pages down on my search results to be considered non-existent.
Maybe it’s because the nature of my performance work is like both an art and a sport combined, but I was surprised. But perhaps I shouldn’t have been. In artistic disciplines, focus and obsession are almost revered. We imagine Michelangelo under his Sistine ceiling. But, from my own experience, I know that while focus and obsession can offer substantial gains in training and creation, it can also leave you burnt out, stagnant, and uninspired. Think of it this way, someone taking up quilting as a hobby, will probably continue to make quilts on a casual basis as long as it is fun and feels relaxing or inspiring. On the other hand, the quilter who suddenly goes viral on Etsy, may very well be sick of quilting before all of the orders are fulfilled, leaving him/her with the danger of having a regular old job like anyone else. At best, they are happy enough to be working for themselves, with a general apathy to the creative side. Worst case, they actually start to despise quilting.
Of course, this doesn’t happen to everyone. There are creatives out there who are perfectly happy to be locked up in a room with their art for all eternity. But, it seems to me, most of us need our senses shaken and our skills sharpened every once in awhile. It has me wondering if I should start my own Creative CrossFit gym, er studio. In the meantime, I offer a gentle reminder to all active creatives and aspiring creatives, to get out there and take a class in something new, learn a new skill from YouTube, or read/watch something you wouldn’t normally. If nothing else, you’ll have learned at least one thing: whether you like or dislike these fascinating new things you’re trying. But, I bet you’ll discover more.
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