I never though that I would admit it, but I sometimes suffer from the debilitating effects of Blank Bead Syndrome. I bet you’re wondering what that is, and will soon enter it in the Google search bar! Never fear, the answer is here!!!
I just made up Blank Bead Syndrome on the spur of the moment. It’s actually a close cousin to Blank Page Syndrome. According to Wikipedia – “Blank page syndrome is similar to writer’s block, but is not a psychological term. It can happen to a writer at any point in time, irrespective of their career success. This syndrome can be very irksome to authors and often leads to a long span of time where they cannot come up with anything new. Coping strategies include: distracting oneself from the piece for a while, reading a book, and forcing oneself to write something even if it makes no sense. To avoid blank page syndrome, it is best to have an idea when one sits down to write, and to keep from procrastinating because stress only worsens the blank page syndrome.”
If you substitute beader for “writer” and “author”, the words above, make perfect sense! I think the message here is to just bead!!! Distract yourself from your current project, sort your beads, fondle them, if you will, and just start beading on something. It doesn’t matter what it is! It could be large, small, or somewhere in-between. No rhyme or reason is required! Bead for a while, then rip it out!! No guilt required! Keep on picking up more beads, until your muse is happy, and your block is gone. Ripping stuff out, is great for the stress that ails us! Bring on the beads!!!
I sometimes suffer from both Blank Bead Syndrome, and Blank Page Syndrome. Luckily for you (and for me), I use free association, reading, dreaming, painting, photography (but none of mine in this blog post), and other coping strategies to overcome any blocks, and free up my muse. Writing, is just like beading, mixed media, and other types of creative activity. You need inspiration, dedicated time, and the right head space, to do the job right! Being a terminal procrastinator, I also seem to need a looming deadline. However, I’m working on that front!!
Shopping is another great strategy, and BeadFX could be the best solution to unblock your beady blues! Visit the store, join one of our free sessions (Wednesday nights, and Thursday afternoons), sign up for a class, troll the website, or visit us at a show. You can even pick the minds of the store staff! But please, leave some of the ideas in their minds, because we’ll need them for future “Inspirations“! Wander about the site, browse the beads, and grab some ideas. Use this as a jumping off point, for your next project!
In all honesty, I’m not dealing with Blank Bead Syndrome today, because I still have a couple of projects I’m excited about. It’s the next bead (or blog) in the chapter, that always worries me. What will I work on next, when all my projects are completed? I’m not really kidding anyone, because you know that I’ll never finish all of my projects!!! They will be my legacy!
