Running head: REFLECTION 1

Jiaxi Sun

2019051517

CRIN110 (19F-C-ON_BBA2L)

Yorkville University
REFLECTION 2

I have always heard my fellow poets complaining that they were experiencing creativity

blocks and this affected their performance. I never understood what they were going through

since I thought writing poems is a natural thing for poets and that nothing can hinder a poet.

Unfortunately, I got to understand what it means to get a creativity block and how it affects a

poet's well-being after I experienced a creativity block that lasted nearly nine months. A few

years ago, my sister and I got into a fatal accident. I was badly hurt and had to spend three

months in the hospital. After getting discharged, I went home thinking my life would go back to

normal but this was not the case.

A week after getting discharged, I decided to write a poem about my experience at the

hospital and how happy I felt after getting home. Unfortunately, I could not get in touch with my

inner creativity. At first, I thought that I was a bit rusty because I had stayed for long without

writing any poem or thinking about poems because of the accident. However, I got concerned

when the inability to connect with my inner poetry skills.

Every time I thought of writing a poem, I would get uneasy because I thought I would

write a bad poem that would not meet my audience's expectations. Also, I thought that my poem

would deviate from my writing style and this would be a reason for my audience not to recognize

my poetry. What would I do if the audience did not recognize me anymore? Would my life be

the same or would I have to start afresh and establish a new identity? Would all my efforts to get

to my current status as a poet go to waste since I would lose the connection I had with my

audience? Further, I kept wondering whether I would get a new audience if I had to start afresh. I

believed that I had already failed my audience and wasn't willing to try and attract a new one

since I thought I would most likely let them down too.

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At first, I did not think I was experiencing a creativity block since I had experienced

similar fears in the past and had been able to overcome them. Nevertheless, I started getting

concerned when these issues started bothering me in my sleep. After about seven months, I

realized that I had an emotional barrier (McGuinness, 2011) that was hindering my creativity. I

still thought I could have avoided the accident by driving more carefully, besides, I felt I was to

blame for what had happened to my sister. Therefore, the guilt was affecting my self-confidence.

Also, I had the fear of the unknown which was associated with my fear of failure (Good

Therapy, 2019). From that point, I became afraid of making mistakes (Good Therapy, 2019). I

did not want to try new activities because I thought I would make significant mistakes that would

affect other people's lives, and this caused me a creativity block.

At this point, I realized that I had to face my fears and my emotions about the accident

and my sister's disabled condition. First, I decided to enroll in a yoga program since this would

assist me in meditating. This helped in facing my fears and the tragedy that resulted in my sister's

impairment. The most critical step I took towards healing was to forgive myself. I had to

acknowledge that what happed to me and my sister was an accident. The events that led to her

disablement were beyond my control. Subsequently, I was able to overcome my fear of the

unknown. Further, I started visiting new areas of inspiration. I have always loved art and I started

visiting art museums in our locality to get inspired by other people's work (Kickstarter, 2017).

Likewise, I started visiting nature parks to get inspired. Finally, I chose to write a poem about

what happened on the day of the accident as a way of confronting my fearful memories about the

day. Since I could not bring myself to write the poem, I started drawing idea maps (The

Entrepreneur, 2014) to organize my thoughts about that day. After a year, I wasable to write the

poem from the ideas I had mapped down for about three months.
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Notably, my experience taught me that anybody can be affected by a creativity block.

The most critical thing for an individual to do when they experience one is to acknowledge it,

find its root cause and strive to overcome it. Accepting that one is not able to connect with their

inner creativity is the first step towards recovery.

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References

Good Therapy. (2019). Creative Blocks. Retrieved from https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-

about-therapy/issues/creative-blocks

McGuinness, M. (2011). 7 Types of Creative Block (and What to Do About Them). Retrieved

from https://99u.adobe.com/articles/7088/7-types-of-creative-block-and-what-to-do-

about-them

Kickstarter. (2017). 14 Ways to Overcome Creative Block. Kickstarter Magazine. Retrieved

from https://medium.com/kickstarter/14-ways-to-overcome-creative-block-80ed620a7a43

The Entrepreneur. (June 26, 2014). Powerful Ways to Overcome Creative Block. Retrieved from

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234932