Maslows Heirarchy of Needs and Creative Blocks

Hey! @vincentnijman made an excellent comment on my post about creativity and while I fully agree with him, it got me thinking about one of my biggest barriers to being creative: MONEY.

Now, it isnt actually money, or the lack therof that stops me from making art. Its something psychological that is just so entrenched in my concoiusness and habits that I have a hard time changing it. I have a feeling other people struggle with this as well. So lets explore. ..

@vincentnijman wrote:

I had a talk about writer's block with @inuke yesterday and I realized that I found a way to never again go through any creative block. It is actually very easy. It's all in your head. Focus on a creative block and it will be there. Don't focus on it and you won't have one.

YES. and more YES. This is super true. But sometimes even when you know what is in your head, you are still crazy! :)

The thing in my head is so very entrenched. It has to do with time and money. I have conditioned myself to not do anything "extra" if money is tight. I am a single parent, and so I have learned to prioritize our survival over any of my own emotional or creative needs. I go into a survival mode and all energies are spent looking for money, earning money, or re-organizing my home and life so that I am less stressed so its easier for me to find money. So when I am not working, I am cleaning and organizing the house so that I feel like I dont live in a disaster when I am stressed. Or, I am taking care of my body so that I can process the stress and remain strong. So I go on hikes or run with the dog. Creativity falls way after all of those other priorities. If that makes sense. Basically its the Maslows Heirarchy of needs.

What is Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs?

If you arent familiar with this model, go check it out on Wikipedia, to get some more background. But in general, this is a tool that explains how people can't be self actualized unless all their other basic needs are met first. I would like to write more of an article about this, because actually, this model was basically stolen from/ inspired by Blackfeet beliefs. And the Blackfeet version looks a bit different. Nerd out about that here.

My own Hierarchy of Needs

Using that as a model, I decided to try and create my own visual for the conditions that I generally need before I can make art. I did this because I want to explore how I can effectively make changes to this, so that I make art more often. I suggest you try the same exercise. You can just draw this on some paper, and fill it in. Remember that the bottom of the triangle is like the foundation, and the top is what is able to happen when that foundation is nice and steady.

As you can see, this is how I conceptualize my needs thus far.

Safety

For me, safety includes making sure that my home, social life, and family all feel snug and secure. That there are no weird threats, I have a home to safely sleep in, my car is locked up every night, that my son has his house key and a working phone and I know where he is and all of that. In general, I tend to feel pretty safe, so this need is currently met. But there have been times in my life where that need was not met at all. I have been homeless before, and I also was in an abusive relationship before.

While I do have safety now, this category does get threatened when I feel unsure if I can pay the bills and keep my home. So currently, this category is secure but it is under threat.

Take Care of Home and Son

This is a broad category that includes:

• Earning enough money to pay everything, or seeking work

• Pursue license and start my coaching business

• Doing all the household chores: laundry, dishes, cooking, yard work, etc to keep our house healthy and functional

• Homeowner stuff: pay the bills, fix broken things, maintain well being of the house as a structure

• Taking good care of my dog: walks, baths, love, food, etc

• Checking in with my son, spending time with him, bossing him around :)

• Tending to any communication with my son's school or job

Take Care of My Health

This also includes a lot of stuff:

• Drinking water (this is stupidly hard for me to keep up with)

• Hiking 3x per week (current health thing I am maintaining, but other exercise goals as well)

• Sleeping in some kind of pattern (also kind of hard for me haha)

• Minimalism: constantly trying to get rid of stuff, take it to donate, etc

• Rejuvenate and rest : Taking baths, having downtime, laying around in the shade on a warm day

Fight Isolation

I called it this because its VERY easy, with how busy I am to get really isolated. I have had an absolutely wonderful experience making friends with the Steemit community, hanging out in Discord and all that. But that doesnt quite fill this need all the way. So I take time to make sure I am socializing at least a couple times per week. I work from home right now so its especially important to me that I continue to make this kind of effort. When I don't, I start to feel pretty down. It always cheers me up to just have a quick coffee with a friend, or go on a hike!

Technically, I can make art when I am feeling lonely and isolated, but its not nearly as fun and good as when I know I can share that art with friends that I have a current connection with.

ART

This category finally is able to flourish when I have all the needs met that I just described. However, I want to change that. I know as a coach, that what I would tell someone else, is to just devote 10 or 15 minutes per day to Art, in order to show myself that I can still do it , even though all these other needs arent met. So thats one thing. But I do want to UNDO this narrative I have with myself entirely. Because its a pattern that is ever-looping. Any time those other needs arent met, Art goes right back out the window.

How do I know when my needs are met?

I could probably go deeper with this exercise, but I have to get back to work! I have a coaching student in a few minutes! I would like to explore at each level : HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THE NEEDS ARE MET

Because really each level could be like ... eternal... if I were perfectionist about it. For example, when is the house ever cleaned ENOUGH or cared for ENOUGH, so that I feel that need is met?

I think I need to identify when my cup is full on these points, and then commit to allowing myself to make art when I have reached that type of security. I need to make an agreement with myself about when everything is "stable enough"

This is a question I would like to explore in a future post!

I would love to see if other people want to use this structure to look at their needs, and things that they want to change.

See you soon!