February 2026

I’m feeling slightly uninspired when it comes to the blog this month, not entirely a good sign when it is only the second month of the year!  I’m caught in between choosing one specific question or starting to write and seeing where it ends up. It feels like I’m taking option two at the moment. It’s not because I don’t want to write, it’s just I don’t want to force anything. I tried to start this a couple of days ago too and had the same block or the same feeling of not knowing how to start it or where it would end up. I guess if we always waited until we felt fully ready we would ever start anything? 

Even after spending a few minutes on this blog and writing what I feel  I now have a slightly clearer picture of what I may write about. I’ve recently spent time in North Berwick creating a mural of the Bass Rock in a residential property. Throughout the process there were times when painting felt ‘easy’ and my mind wasn’t really thinking of anything, it all felt natural. There were however a couple of occasions where things felt like a struggle, where parts of the mural had to be reworked and there were a couple of moments where I had to walk away for the day and come back with a fresh pair of eyes either a day later or a week later. 

What makes the difference between when we feel everything flow and when everything feels slightly more difficult? I’m already aware of the expression ‘flow state’ but I haven’t really done any further research into the topic, or whether it’s possible to stay in this state for longer periods of time. Personally, when I’m in flow state (or what I think it is!), my head actually feels empty, but it’s a positive feeling, it’s a feeling of doing without thinking, being in the now and generally the outcome works well. It’s a little bit weird, but when I’m creating in flow state it can feel like the painting is creating itself, with seemingly little conscious decision making from myself. 

I don’t want to say that being in the flow state is better or worse than any other feeling, because life is full of lots of feelings, it’s just the one I’m thinking about now (after working through my writing block!).  I’m not fully in a flow state writing this but hopefully with a little research we can learn some tips to increase the chances of that happening. With a quick Google search you can find information about ‘flow state’ that relates to sport, religion, creativity, happiness, different cultures and also psychology. I’m going to look at it from the creative side primarily. Although it's interesting to read about it from other fields, I would also argue that creativity can run through anything we do. 

It turns out that getting into a flow state is deeply personal. For me, clearly one of the ways I get into it is through drawing or painting but for you it may be something entirely different. From what I have read it also seems that the more skilled or practiced you are at something the easier it will be for you to get into the flow. Also, once I really let go of any outcome or pressure, it’s far easier to enjoy creating and therefore feel more flow. That said, I have caught myself saying ‘let go of the outcome’ but a minute later being concerned that a hill or a cloud doesn’t look quite right.  I read a lot of other things whilst researching, but association can also be important. You can have music or a special place or area connected to your activity of choice and you can encourage flow via that association. 

The flow seems to be the antidote to the creative block, but I wonder if they are just both essential to the creative process, and one can’t live without the other. It’s not about getting rid of the block or forcing the flow, it’s about accepting them both for what they are.