Reading a book on procrastination to try to overcome it is the greatest form of irony known to mankind.
Especially so when 187 pages in, it tells you to 'just start the task'. If you could just start, you wouldn't be reading the damn book.
I'm here to share the real secret about the secret with you. And it's not 'just starting' or making your bed at exactly 4:39 each morning.
Bear with me while I sound like an infomercial... but
ARE YOU GOING THROUGH A SLUMP THAT FEELS LIKE A WEEK BUT IT'S ACTUALLY BEEN MONTHS?
Maybe your job is a draining dead end and you have no time or energy to explore your own creativity. Perhaps you 'waste' all your creativity on pointless work, or perhaps your work is actually suffering as your brain seems to have stopped producing ideas.
Let me tell you something...
Every creative person knows that there's no such thing as a 'creative' person. Every person is inherently creative; the creativity just needs to be awakened. You probably know you have what it takes, yet, you couldn't possibly muster up enough damns to give it.
Let's explore this astrologically. In Vedic astrology, the 5th house relates to the following-
Children, lineage
Investments
Speculative business
Romance
Creativity
and much more
You may wonder why it represents these seemingly unrelated, oddly paired things.
Upon introspection, it becomes clear that these things are one and the same. The sexual energy that creates children, also created your last Instagram post. Children and love are just as much of an investment as buying stocks or expanding your business. If you trigger one aspect, the others get triggered automatically and I'll explain how in a bit.
Roleplaying, for instance, is fairly popular between children. When we are young, playing house comes naturally to us. How many people would truly feel at ease playing house, whether platonically or not, if instructed to do so as adults?
The fact that children hardly ever instinctively cringe is one of their best qualities, in my opinion. As passive beings, they are completely receptive to all knowledge, whereas as adults, we grow to be quite severe in our judgements of the world (and ourselves). As we struggle to simply unwind in our own brains, let alone our bodies, children are in the most joyous transcendental states of mind while roleplaying.
I truly believe having a proper routine and diet maintains a healthy state of mind for creativity to flow, in general, but when you're already in a slump, that is not enough to save you.
As a creative person, something that gets you out of a slump the fastest (and arguably most effortlessly) is playing pretend.
Regardless of the nature of your creative field, doing this gets your creative juices flowing instantly. You ever notice how they're called creative juices? Hmm...
Anyway...
For the non-astrological people-
Playing pretend causes you to gain momentum. You'll observe that during or after the play, more ideas for your next major presentation will 'magically' come to you.
While it may appear miraculous, it is merely a result of the fact that you are allowing yourself to use your brain to "create" more with little to no work on your part.
In other words, you unexpectedly realize—whether consciously or unconsciously—that you are not, in fact, totally brain dead.
Without making any effort, you can produce. While you are ahead, ideas regarding the project you were struggling with, also "appear" from nowhere. They melt whatever it was you were attempting to numb (let's be real).
For the astrological people-
In astrology, when one trait of a planet or house is activated, all of its other traits are also activated. Psychologically, because you'll realise that everything about that house is actually connected when you take a closer look. For instance, if the 11th house is associated with goals, profits, and networking, it is because significant gains are only possible through networking. f the Moon is the most significant astrological planet, it is because, no matter what your chart promises you, you can only achieve it through the lens of your own worldview, which is highly influenced by your sensorium/Moon placement.
All things connected to a house will be activated when it is interacted with. The networks in the 11th house will get you the gains and the gains will get you the network. Your sexuality and the occult, which are both related to the 8th house, will be triggered by each other. In this way, playing pretend triggers your inner child as well as churns your creative passion as you begin to interact with the fifth house.
Similarly, if you wish to create momentum in any area of life, whether negatively or positively, participating in the activities of either the respective or the opposing house can be quite effective.
Why not just do the thing instead of pretending to do it, you ask?
I'll give you three reasons for that.
Firstly, if someone is already too exhausted to be creative, they'd likely also be too tired to create many 'magical Instagram It-girl moments' for themselves, hence, the slump.
Secondly, You can't just bake a pizza at work when you're stuck but you CAN do it in your head during a 5-minute break.
And lastly, if you feel like being an astronaut, you can't just be an astronaut unless you are an astronaut.
So how do you go about doing this?
The internet, of course. There are several childhood development websites that will give you play pretend ideas and prompts. I have included some of mine down below.
Buying groceries
A visit to the vet
Talking on the phone with an old friend
Talk-show host extraordinaire
Baking a pizza
Superhero saves the day
Panic before performing a concert
Astronaut's first successful Saturn landing
Exploring a lost city
Going back/forward in time
Spa day
Tea party with the Queen
Your very own little flower shop
Turning into a frog for a day
Architect hard at work
You can play in the silliest, most childish way possible or make it funny and interesting, but the important thing is letting it be natural and not thinking about the storyline too much. You can mono-act or mentally recite the lines of the people you, as the protagonist, talk to. It may seem embarrassing at first but it's a 'mental shake' as you would shake your body to release physical tension. If you're feeling extra whimsical, you can spruce it up with DIY costumes and makeup as well!
Love <3
-Sam
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