The Creative Lull: Learning to Inhale Again

For nine months, I was completely immersed in my latest documentary. Every day was a grind—writing, directing, narrating, and editing. It was exhausting work, but I got used to the constant pressure. It became part of my daily habit, something I was always thinking about, always working on. I was slightly—if not completely—overwhelmed all the time, but that feeling gave me purpose. There was always a long-term goal in front of me, something I was pushing toward.

And then, suddenly, it was done.

I expected momentum to follow. I thought the exposure would generate new projects, that my business would naturally pick up speed. But that hasn’t happened. Instead, it’s been quiet. And in that quiet, I’ve found myself feeling a little lost.

This happens after big projects—an emptiness that’s hard to describe. It’s like I exhaled everything I had, and now I don’t quite know how to take the next breath. My first instinct has been to push harder, to force something to happen. But I’m realizing that’s not the answer. Creativity doesn’t work that way.

I’ve been getting around to some smaller promo videos I’ve been wanting to do. It’s been fun, and it’s nice to get out and shoot again, but it’s a completely different pace than a massive, months-long project. Tomorrow, I’m starting a promo video for a leather maker who’s set up as a vendor at a big ranch rodeo in Amarillo. I’ll be capturing her setup, customer interactions, and some rodeo action shots. Then, next weekend, we’ll film a short interview to tie everything together. It’s not a big job, but staying engaged with the craft—even in smaller ways—should help with this lull I’m in.

That being said, I don’t think any small project will replicate the feeling I had while making the documentary. And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe that level of stress and intensity wasn’t a sustainable way to exist. So instead of chasing that same feeling, I need to accept this in-between phase for what it is. I remember feeling something like this before I got the documentary project almost a year ago.

In the meantime, there’s plenty to keep me busy. Spring and summer yard work is demanding on our property, and I’ve already fertilized in anticipation of the rain we’re finally getting. Maybe putting energy into something tangible like that will help reset my nervous system a bit. I need to get back to a place where downtime feels acceptable, where smaller projects fire me up, where I don’t need that all-consuming sense of purpose to feel productive.

I don’t feel great right now, but I know this won’t last forever. The documentary boot camp I just went through will only make me better. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of work I create now, after everything I learned.

Creativity moves in cycles, and this is just the space between. When the moment is right, I’ll catch my breath and inhale again.