In my last journal, already a few months ago, I spoke about taking your work seriously and taking chances to make your dreams come true. It actually provoked more and deeper reactions then I could have hoped. I suppose it's something we all wonder about at times. I also noticed that such musings can be dangerous, in a way. Because the more seriously you take yourself, the more you demand of yourself. If you feel that only a well thought out concept can have artistic significance, it's possible that you stare yourself blind upon making the shot matter. Significance can be an obsession, and a very entangling one. I personally have had this obsession for a long time, ever since I started using analogue cameras for my artwork. Or perhaps from the moment that my photography became artwork. Perhaps these are steps and stages in the development of an artist. As I've said many times before: You have to be aware of what you do if you want to be an artist. You have to take responsibility for your actions. In the beginning, this means you have to think about what you want your shot to be before you do it. If you don't, you'll just end up with more snapshots for in the family album or for a social networking site. It is a delicate balance though. But there will be a moment when you think you're out of inspiration. Everything seems dull or done before. And maybe it is. Our concious imagination is limited by what we put into it, really. That is why so many people who suffer from an artistic block also suffer from ennui, because they lack any input of new things. It may be hard to get up and out when you feel like you cannot do anything significant. Still, that is just what you need to do. Because that's when you can open yourself to the second phase, one of subconscious imagination.
It's a bit like dreaming, really. In dreams, you also create things that you never thought you would create. Horrible things, or beautiful things, or secret things. This is because in your sleep, the upper layer of your mind, the part that shields your thoughts from anything unwanted, falls away. What lies beneath is truly endless creativity. (Or at least that is how I see it. Anyone with more expertise in the area may correct me). Anyway. You can employ this 'dream creativity' by discarding the things that block you, like the need for significance. Not all of it may be art of the highest degree, but it will be yours all the same. And as such, you can give it significance or at least put it in its place, realise what you did and why you did it. Even if you can't, you still had a good time being out of the routine and being creative. Every bit helps.