The creative process is often painted as eternal bloom; we see only the polished, finished work in carefully curated highlight reels in an endless scroll. But the incubation and quiet that has to accumulate over a seed before the bloom is just as vital to its growth as the vibrant blossoming.

Often, in talking to creators, they say things in winter like, “I’m burnt out”, “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore” “All my photos are crap” or “I’m just not inspired or motivated.” These experiences can feel like a crisis, a shameful problem that requires us to do more and urgently fix, fix, fix.

If you have periods of bleakness, of darkness, there’s nothing wrong with you. We often forget that there is no light without darkness, no bloom without black, rich soil and the bare, gray-brown limbs. Darkness is the contrast that gives light its meaning and magnificence.

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