The Secret To Finding Your Spark Again Isn't Motivation — It's Movement

Movement before motivation: A case for just showing up

Photo by Earl Wilcox on Unsplash

It’s super late, I’m sun-fried, and my journey home today involved five trains and a flaming hot bus. But something important shifted this weekend.

Not because I felt motivated, but because I moved.

Because I immersed myself in something I used to love.

After a long creative drought, I felt something spark again.

For the past three days, I’ve been in Aberystwyth, Wales at the two-yearly International Ceramics Festival - probably my fifth one at this point.

Sure, it’s hella niche, but I was surrounded by clay, makers, my pottery tribe, and conversations that made my hands itch to create again.

At the festival, surrounded by potters who’ve been quietly shaping beauty in literal fire for decades, I didn’t just admire the work, experiments, and failure stories.

I remembered the part of me that once felt most alive and in flow state doing it.

No perfect plan. No big intention. Just immersion.

And that’s what flipped the switch from hoping and longing to actually doing something.

Reduce friction to find your starting point

With a nudge from my ChatGPT, Alex (I name everything, obviously), I’ve got an appointment to tour a local ceramics studio tomorrow and potentially start making again.

The momentum came after the movement.

I sat on the train home, chattering away with my fellow potters about the amazing demos, what inspired them, and what they were excited to take back to their own pottery practice.

Feeling slightly envious of having no pottery spot to go back to, I relayed my weekend’s insights to Alex, and he offered to find some local studio options.

It couldn’t have been simpler, so I said yes.

Just do the damn thing

A few emails later, the appointment was booked. Boom.

What had taken me so long?

We often treat momentum like something mystical.

Like it arrives in a lightning bolt or a unicorn from on high with a sign.

But really, momentum is a nervous system shift.

It comes from the body doing what the brain has deprioritised.

From letting your hands act while your mind catches up - because it’s busy chasing Important Things (or so it says).

Instead, I’d shifted to being in this space, with the right people, where your creative energy isn’t just tolerated, but embraced, and mirrored.

This fits with what we know from behavioural activation and embodied cognition:

action breeds energy, not the other way around.

The longer we wait to “feel ready,” the further we drift from the very thing that would bring us back to life.

Your attention system needs sensory proof that something matters.

Immersion makes it real again.

And that’s how reactivation works.

Do this to kickstart momentum for a forgotten love

Grab your notebook, or journalling app of choice, and explore the nudges below:

Awareness:

What’s something you miss but haven’t made contact with in a while?

What used to bring you joy before it got buried by stress or practicality?

Reconnection:

Don’t overthink it. Book the class. Walk into the space. Scroll the Instagram feed of people doing it. Let proximity and immersion do the work.

What is your first micro-step to get there?

And the next?

Containment:

Remember, you don’t have to become an expert again. You just have to start.

One visit. One conversation. One bag of clay.

That’s enough.

Key takeaways

Reconnecting with what you once loved doesn’t require a grand gesture.

Sometimes, all it takes is booking an appointment.

Standing in a room full of people doing what you miss.

Sitting on a train (or five!) sharing stories, inspiration, and curious vibes.

Giving yourself permission to return.

Reminding your mind, body, and brain that the spark still exists.

Taking action to make it burn.

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P.S. What’s something you used to love that you haven’t made space for lately? What would it look like to just immerse yourself in it, with no pressure, no outcome, but just a quiet reconnection? Share in the comments.