This hasn’t been a great year… I know you likely feel the same way (and probably have for the entirety of the 2020s thus far!). We’ve all been dealing with immeasurable stress, crushing losses, lingering grief…

It’s been an especially difficult time for creators — writers, artists, and other creative minds.

In a dose of cold, harsh reality: Freelancers and independent creators don’t get paid if they don’t create! (And nothing adds extreme stress to an already crisis-level emotional situation like wondering “How am I going to buy food/pay bills this month??”). For many of us, we create because we have to in order to survive — it’s the only thing we’re good at.

In a more romantic sense: We create because we NEED to. It doesn’t just help us survive financially, it just plain helps us survive.

Creativity is at the heart of everything that matters. In many ways, it’s the only thing that matters. Especially now.

But sometimes creating things is SO DIFFICULT!! Even when we want to — even when we need to!

When you’re in the midst of a personal crisis (illness, bereavement, sleep deprivation, etc.), it can feel almost impossible to find the will and the inspiration to create anything. I know it has been for me… But, in spite of the difficulty, I’ve been creating a whole heck of a lot of stuff on a fairly consistent basis.

The following are the techniques I use to keep creating, always. I hope that my tips help you to continue creating during a crisis as well.

Finding Inspiration in Your Everyday Life

You know how all the wellness gurus and Instagram quote bots recommend “gratitude” as one of the best ways to better your wellbeing…?

Well, as overused and cliché as its become, that general idea is essentially true: Focusing on the positive aspects of your life and actively being grateful for the good (even if there seemingly isn’t much) can help to keep your spirits up, even in the absolute worst of times.

Pets are a fantabulous source of everyday life inspiration! If you have (or know) a pet, you already have at least one teeny-weeny bit of wonderful in your life to be grateful for and inspired by. ♥

The video above shows a painting I did based on a funny everyday interaction our cat Tina has with our neighbor’s cat Cookie. And longtime readers know that I’ve painted Tina and her daughter Flex before! Can you blame me? Look at these gorgeous girls:

That’s the type of beauty that makes you want to sing and dance and create!

If you aren’t allowed to have pets where you live, you can try looking for wildlife outside (more on outdoor inspiration later!) or ask your friends for photos of their pets or just… surf the internet for a few minutes. The internet is basically made of cats.

Or, if you’re burned out on animals or get so absorbed in how adorable they are that you forget to make anything (understandable!), there’s still plenty of inspiration to be found in your everyday life. Just look around you!

Humans have this funky thing called facial pareidolia which is basically just a fancypants science term for “people can find/see faces in anything if they look hard enough.” That pile of laundry on your chair could be a symbol of your ongoing exhaustion and how depression is desperately trying to grab you… Or, if you squint a little, it could be Jabba the Hutt!

You gonna let Jabba boss you around? Of course not! You’re gonna wear a bikini because YOU want to, not because a monster made you… because he’s literally composed of every other outfit you own that you’ve been neglecting to wash and you don’t have anything else to wear.

But wouldn’t that make such a fun drawing or painting? You defeating Laundry the Hutt? (If you use that idea, tag @LittleZotzWrite when you share it so I can see too! That sounds hilarious!).

Speaking of finding inspiration in pre-existing properties…

Rediscovering Your Life’s Joys via Fan Art

Often, during a crisis, our brains are too dang fried to come up with anything original. And that’s why fan art is a perfect outlet for your creativity.

Much of my own fan art is based on video games. My husband and I have a wall dedicated to my video game fan art which includes pieces inspired by Zombies Ate My Neighbors, the BioShock series, Arcus Odyssey, the Borderlands franchise, and Yoshi’s Crafted World. And I have many more pieces I want to do! (Who else is excited that there may be a new Ron Gilbert-helmed Monkey Island game coming out soon??).

Like my mom, I’ve created fan art pieces inspired by 1950’s movie monsters. I’ve also created more subtle fan art tributes to modern horror boogeymen as well!

Horror movies and video games are two of my special interests. Getting in touch with my interests — the things I love created by others — helps inspire me to create my own stuff. This is especially true when I’m attempting to create during a personal crisis!

Having a pre-established work to draw from is a great jumping off point for creativity — and it gives you the opportunity to explore the things you already love in new ways. You might rekindle an ancient joy you thought was lost forever!

Or, if you’ve had quite enough of indoor activities and interests like video games and movies, you can head outside…

Getting in Touch with Nature When Life Feels Ungrounded

Quick check-in: Have you been drinking enough water? Moving around a little at least once every hour?

What about getting some fresh air and safe amounts of sunshine? Going outside is an important part of being a healthy human. If you’re already going through a terrible time, don’t make it worse with a vitamin D deficiency! Please take care of yourself, okay? ♥

I know. I know. Kind of annoying… But necessary, if you’re anything like I am (and I suspect you are or you wouldn’t be reading my content). I constantly need reminders to take care of “the basics.” And I grumble-grumble about it, but I always feel better when I actually “give in” and drink plenty of water, move around, sleep, breathe, etc.

ANYWAY! There’s always something to draw inspiration from outdoors. Above, you can see that I painted my nails to match the daisies I planted. My daisies make me so happy!! They have such a beautiful combination of colors. So, I painted my nails to match so I could have my daisies’ bright happy colors with me wherever I was, not just when I was outside.

Speaking of nature’s colors, here’s a fun, fast creative project you can try (even if you’re a total beginner!):

1. Go outside and take a photo.
2. Open the photo/image in a program like MS Paint on your computer. (Or a phone app with similar capabilities)
3. Use the “ink dropper” tool on the image and see what colors you collected in your photograph!

Here’s mine:

That view is kinda drab at first glance, but look at how many colors there really are! The snow, the sky, the metal fence, the wood pole, the trees, the dirt… And there are probably even more colors hidden in there if I’d wanted to spend more time poking at it.

Isn’t that so fun? And it’s easy + relaxing too!

As a bonus, if you ever decide you want to do a painting or whatever of your photo, you now know exactly what colors to use to capture it on canvas/paper!

But, if connecting with nature isn’t your bag or isn’t accessible to you, maybe its a good time for some inner spiritual reflection…

Keeping the Faith – Feeling the Influence of the Inspirational

In the midst of a personal crisis, you may be turning to your Faith (or rediscovering it, or perhaps even discovering it for the first time!) for comfort.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a Christian… Though I try not to get too “in your face” about it because 1. I feel like that type of overly assertive witnessing turns away more folks than it saves and, 2. as I’ve said before, I gripe to/at God quite a bit and although I know He absolutely understands what’s up with me when I do so, I don’t want to give anyone else the wrong impression and accidentally turn them away from the Lord just because I’m having one of my grumble days. 😛

That said, there’s so much inspiration to be drawn from Faith. The Christian Bible has a story and a quote for every feeling and situation imaginable. Right now, you might be asking “Why do bad things happen to good people?” And… same, friend. Same.

I drew Matthew 5:45: “It rains on the just and the unjust.” Which is basically the gentle Bible version of “Life’s not fair, Kid.” For me, it helped me feel a lot less like my family and I were cursed (have I mentioned this has been one cesspool of a year??) and served as a friendly reminder that “Yo! EVERYONE has problems. What’s happening to you guys isn’t personal – it’s just life.”

Another quick check-in: Are you allowing yourself to truly feel your emotions? Bottling things up ultimately isn’t good for you. Even if you don’t want to talk about things (I feel you on that one – I don’t like discussing hard topics out loud either!), find ways to get your feelings out. Art and writing are fantastic outlets, obviously, but don’t be afraid to cry either.

Christians flounder quite a bit when it comes to loss, I’ve found. We throw things around like “Don’t worry, you’ll meet again someday!” and “It’s fine because he’s in a better place now” which are truthful statements and certainly provide a level of comfort, but they gloss over something very important: How much loss sucks in the meantime.

These well-meaning statements, though technically true, would be classified by today’s internet youth as “toxic positivity.” But that shouldn’t be the case! Knowing your loved ones are in Heaven and that you’ll get to hang with them again some day is fantastic news, but we absolutely ARE allowed to grieve in the meantime.

Fellow horror fans may recognize the line “Jesus wept” (Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, anyone?), but the context of Jesus’ tears certainly wasn’t the focal point of mentioning the shortest sentence in the Bible. For those who don’t know, Jesus was crying due to the death of His buddy Lazarus. Even though Jesus knew He was going to see Lazarus again in four days (which is a lot less time than most of us have to wait to be reunited with our departed, but that’s just one of the perks of being God), He was swept up in the human experience and grieved along with Lazarus’ other friends and family members in a moment of true empathy. Losing a loved one sucks!!

Others choose to interpret Jesus’ crying as an outpouring of frustration/anger because his other buddies wouldn’t have been sobbing about Lazarus if they truly believed He was our Lord in human form. They’d be like “Pfft. No big. Jesus will bring him back!” And so, since they were crying, their Faith wasn’t as strong as it should’ve been and Jesus wept because he was miffed.

I don’t agree with that; however, even if He was crying in part due to “anger,” it was actually still grief — just grief over the lack of Faith rather than loss. And there’s actually a great quote that applies, by a famous Christian author:

“I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief.”

C.S. Lewis

That’s a good one. And could be turned into a wonderful illustration or short story.

And other Faiths have wonderful inspirational quotes as well and are wonderful to explore. I like this one quite a lot:

“Neither fire, nor wind, nor birth, nor death, can erase our good deeds.”

Siddhārtha Gautama
(Buddha)

We all have so much to share with each other and much more in common than you might imagine. Just like looking at multiple different sources for your news is a great way to figure out the truths hidden within the agendas and biases, learning about Faiths other than your own can help you find surprising common ground with your fellow humans in new loving ways and, often, reinforce your own values from a more knowledgeable standpoint (as in: I believe because it’s my educated choice and I want to, not because it’s the only thing I know).

Still with me? Awesome. I know that last chunk was kinda heavy… But I went for it anyway because actually sitting with and feeling that “heavy” is a huge part of healing. And healing well will MASSIVELY help your creative process.

If you smash down your emotions, your creativity will get smashed down with them. Whether you feel with Faith or not: FEEL!!

Remember: YOU Are An Extension of Your Creativity!

Since the last section was so long, I’ll keep this one short. Fair?

Just as the header says: YOU are an extension of your creativity! Which, first of all, means you gotta take care of yourself. You won’t be creating anything if you burn out! Be kind to yourself.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut… It also means that YOU are a piece of art! Or you can be! Haha.

“I knew I always liked to wear a lot of makeup… More than probably I ‘should’ wear. But I think MORE is more and whoever made up that ‘less is more’ is full of it!”

Dolly Parton

I like to think of my face as a reusable canvas that I get to paint again and again. Makeup and hair dyes are FUN!! And, for someone like I am who’s fairly quiet, it’s a great way to express my inner feelings in a “loud” way without actually being (ugh!!) loud.

And, men, you’re more than welcome to wear makeup too if you wanna. I grew up in the age of glam rock & new wave and my first “crush” was Robert Smith from The Cure (who was never without his trademark red lipstick!). You go ahead and have fun if that’s what you want to do, okay? Makeup is for everyone who wants to use it. (And not wanting to is valid too – duh!! – but I wanted to include it because putting on makeup is a ton of fun and is a relatively easy act of creative expression to achieve even during a crisis).

If You Can’t Find the Joy in Creating for Yourself – Do It for Others

During a crisis, it’s difficult to find joy in anything you do and it may feel selfish to go after creative pursuits just for you. It may even feel impossible some days.

On those days, do it for others.

As I mentioned earlier, EVERYONE has problems and is going through something at any given time. If you can’t create for yourself, do something for them. They need your creativity now more than ever.

Recently, I did a podcast episode honoring women who’ve made significant contributions to the horror genre. And I did not feel like doing much of anything that day. Here’s what I looked like immediately after I turned on my camera, right before I took a breath and started talking:

The actual podcast episode went well overall and I was so happy I did it. Many of the gals I mentioned during the episode reached out to express their gratitude — that my video cheered them up in the midst of their own hard times! But this very raw little snippet that I cropped off from the beginning is a good example of “the show must go on” and/or “creativity in the midst of a crisis.”

If you can’t do it for you, do it for your audience.

Art and Creativity Extends FAR Beyond “Just” Drawing and Painting…

Take a look at these tacos and tell me with a straight face they aren’t friggin’ beautiful:

Look at all the colors! The creative choices that were made! Those babies are ART!!

And, yes, I’m being a little silly… But I’m also being genuine.

Creativity extends far beyond “just” drawing and painting. You might not think you’re creative, but you are. We all are.

Think of those you admire; actors, musicians, writers — all creatives.

Every book, every film, every song. Even sports! Games wouldn’t exist without creative minds to form the rules.

Chefs too! It’s called the culinary ARTS for a reason.

Think of anything that ever brought you joy… Even if you derive joy from material things: Who made them? Who designed your latest ‘fit? Who dreamt your dream car?

Art and creativity are at the heart of everything that matters. And I know all too well that creative minds are so often treated like trash — that you may be undervalued and under paid (if you’re paid at all) — and that can be SO discouraging. And that discouragement can be a crisis in its own right… But you’ve gotta keep going.

The world needs you.

And, hey… If you create nothing else today: Create kindness.

Kindness is the greatest art of all.

Love,
Lauren*

Bonus Hyperlapse Video + Affiliate Links to Products Used

The following is the hyperlapse video for the first illustration at the very top of this post:

From there on out, I’m going to list all of the products I used to create all of the various paintings, drawings, makeup looks, etc. from the various sections in case you or someone you know needs some art supplies or eyeglasses or any of the other things that I utilized.

All of the links below are affiliate links. Meaning, if you purchase any of these products using my link, I’ll get a small commission for recommending it to you at no additional cost to you. It’s a great way to support me/my content while getting stuff you would’ve bought anyway. ♥

“Tina VS. Cookie” Cat Painting and Tiny Tina Fan Art:

Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint

Elmer’s Washable Glitter Glue Pens

Clear Rhinestone Stickers/Bling Gems

Aurora Bright Green Glow in the Dark Acrylic Paint

Stretched Cotton Canvas

“Creativity in a Crisis,” Bible Quotes, and SpongeBob + Claptrap Illustrations:

Sakura SumoGrip 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil

Sakura SumoGrip Retractable Graphite Eraser

Sakura Pigma 50038 Micron Pen 0.5 Point

Pentel Color Pens (Fine Point Colored Markers) Set of 36

Crayola Twistables Colored Pencil Set

HP 92 Bright Printer Paper 8.5×11 Paper Ream

ARK Therapeutic Chewth Pick® Chewable “Toothpick” (that thing in my mouth lol – I’m always gnawing on ARK’s oral stim products!!)

April 2022 Makeup + Podcast Edit:

GlassesShop.com (blublocker eyeglasses) (use promo code FIRSTFREE to get your first pair of frames for free! My glasses are called ROY in the color red)

OneOdio Headphones

KISS USA/imPRESS/JOAH (hydrating primer, mascara, Tination semi-permanent hair dye — use promo code JOAHCJ at checkout to get 20% off your order!)

L.A. Girl Shockwave Neon Gel Eyeliner Pencil (Electric)

L.A. Girl Velvet Contour Blush Stick (Dreamy + HiLite Cashmere)

L.A. Girl PRO Setting Spray

NYX Professional Super Fat Eye Marker (Carbon Black)

NYX Professional Eyeshadow Base Primer (White)

Maybelline Total Temptation Eyebrow Definer Pencil (Medium Brown)

Maybelline Super Stay Vinyl Ink Longwear No-Budge Liquid Lipcolor (Wicked)

Maybelline Super Stay Full Coverage Liquid Foundation (102 Fair Porcelain)

KISS Tintation Semi-Permanent Hair Color (Purple Passion)

JOAH Instant Prime Activator Hydrating & Brightening Primer (Blue-Green Algae)

JOAH Lash UPrising Volumizing & Lengthening Waterproof Mascara

For my eyeshadow, I used the Constellation palette from Revolution; however, my friend sent it to me from the UK and I couldn’t find it available on US Amazon. It IS available at American Target stores and on the US version of Revolution’s website though 😊 But, if you’re looking to support me AND get a Revolution eyeshadow palette, I found this one on Amazon that has very similar colors. (It has more of a geode/thunder egg look to the case instead of a nebula)

Beautiful Tacos:

Divided Taco Plates/”Fiesta Taco Holders” Multicolor 4-Pack