We were lucky to catch up with Lucy Harper recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lucy, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?
I actually don’t believe in creativity blocks. Procrastination, on the other hand, is a skulking, cruel mistress. She is ever present in my life, but I don’t believe in creativity blocks in the same way that I don’t believe in the monsters under my bed anymore. (Monsters Inc. excluded.)
Vivid memories of gangly limbs and difficulty breathing used to be my bedtime routine. Being too afraid to get out of bed to turn the lamp on is an obstacle I still need to navigate now and then, but this fear of the darkness is exactly what stopped me from allowing reality to flood in. In order to do that, I had to do the unthinkable. Creep one toe, then another, into the cold air outside of my duvet, and bravely plonk one foot after the other towards the light switch. Ancient wisdom tells us that ‘Where there is light, darkness cannot be.’ At least in the case of Monsters, they can’t exist when you’re brave enough to turn that goddamn light on. And if you don’t believe in something, does it even exist?
If writers block (creativity blocks, artist blocks) aren’t real, where does the idea of them come from? Tough news incoming; they’re actually designed by the very people that want so badly to shine in the light. It’s incredible what we’ll do to avoid something we’re scared of. Writing and designing and creating are all terrifying because they require us not to hide in the cosy comfort of our duvets. We create these vast distances between ourselves and our creative pursuits, when really we are one and the same. Writer’s block is just one way of framing our procrastination. We don’t immediately have an idea, or know how to say what we want to say, so instead we say we’re blocked and move it further away from us. It’s a matter of perception and connection.
How do you see your creative block? Elizabeth Gilbert puts it beautifully; when she feels a blockage coming she calls it what it is for her – BOREDOM – she gets up, sets a timer for 20minutes and tells herself, ‘Just 20minutes more Liz’. You can do pretty much anything for 20minutes. What if ‘writers block’ becomes a mountain which in fact is full of adventure and has so much to teach you? Maybe the ‘block’ is more like a broken link in the chain, so the question becomes, how can I connect with this in a new way? In my opinion, the kindest thing you can do for yourself if you’re feeling ‘blocked’ is give yourself Time. Time to sit with the idea. Time to play with it. Time to be bored with it. Time to throw it at a wall, bounce it up and down and let it stew for a bit. I don’t mean Time to put it off for another day. The key here is NOT to create more space between you and it, but to look it right in its piercing blue eyes and say, ‘Hey, take your time, but we’re doing this.’
I hate doing hard things. But hard things aren’t impossible things. One of the most precious gifts I have ever been given is about 111 x 181mm, now with dog-eared edges and wiggly pencil markings throughout. It’s a series of letters from Rainier Maria Rilke to a young poet. He puts this better than I ever could.
“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” (Letter 8)
Why is our default view that creativity requires difficult pursuits, monsters and evil magic? What if, in fact, it was full of grace and elegance? I’m trying harder and harder to get out from under the duvet, turn on the light and see those monsters for what they truly are; fear of the unknown.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m founder of The Daydreamers Club. My mission is to re-connect people with their imaginations for a more joyful and creative life. Sitting with the discomfort of the unknown becomes more bearable when you’re able to look it in the eye. It can be challenging, but when it’s fuelled by courage rather than fear we reach new realms far beyond our imagination. The sessions take the form of a group visualisation, meditation and a creative activity. Currently we’re experimenting with collage because it’s so accessible. Attention, curiosity and sprinkle of courage are all that’s required to be part of the club. Come and join us!
I am also a freelance graphic designer. As part of this I run brand strategy workshops for business owners who want to refresh and awaken their purpose, and how they show up in the world.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Optimism / Hope. Life can be pretty hard on us sometimes. I try to stay optimistic even when it feels like I’m climbing a mountain with skis on. I’m lucky to have wonderful people around me to lean on when this optimism feels low, but without hope, life can be pretty bleak. Everything changes all the time, and over the years I’ve started to see how important it is to have faith that the universe is working with me, not against me.
Theatre / Improv. Being able to stand up in front of a group of people and communicate effectively is something I now need to do regularly for work. Drama club was my favourite place to be after school, on the weekends, in the holidays. Being in a play was what brought me alive. Now, whenever I get nervous before a workshop or event, it feels very familiar. I know that it just means that something is important to me.
Facilitation / Design. These are the bedrock of my work now. I always struggled to stick with one specialism in design. I worked for a design studio that focused on sustainable wayfinding/signage, we also did community consultations and branding. Then I worked in-house on a marketing team for a popular snack brand which was a whole new world of packaging and campaigns. I was made redundant from there during the pandemic which was hard, but it was also the start of my freelance career. In the last few years, I’ve focused on honing my facilitation skills to complement the design work I do, and it feels like I’m finding a healthy balance where I can explore the different aspects of myself. More recently I want to learn about trauma informed practice to support the work I do with people in the workplace.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
Ideal clients for the Daydreamers Club are organisations in any sector that want to provide nourishing experiences for their communities or teams. The magic of the Daydreamers Club is that it allows the time and space for creative confidence to grow and for connections to unfold (be it between strangers or colleagues). If you recognise the importance of investing in imagination and emotional wellbeing, not just as a one off event, but as an on-going mission to re-connect people with themselves, please get in touch. Previous clients range from the National Health Service (NHS) to NatWest banking and we are currently developing workshops for local youth communities within the Kings Cross area. In the future we would love to partner with entertainment brands that are bringing imagination to life every day, like Disney, Netflix or Glastonbury (!)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.daydreamersclub.co.uk/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daydreamersclubldn/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-daydreamers-club/
