you can "cheat" on personal projects
I impose a lot of strange rules on my personal projects without thinking very much about it. That is... until NOW!
I'm doing a page a day for a zine "advent calendar" prompt list. Initially, as is the case with many things, I was motivated and inspired. I found the first few prompts to be cheesy but allowed myself to have fun with them by interpreting them in an abstract manner. As time went on, the prompts' patronizing tone (similar to what you'd find in a self-help book) wore on me and I spent very little time making things. I burnt out.
Then it dawned on me. After mulling around the house looking for god knows what, I picked up an old sketchbook to see if there were blank pages left (there are! many pages!) and came across a collage that was a perfect response to today's prompt. I realized I was being a "purist" about this zine: I diligently made brand new 4.25" x 5.5" collages instead of daring to use anything tucked away in the pages of a sketchbook. I unconsciously believed that everything had to be made new, on the spot, in response to these prompts I wasn't so excited about anymore.
And the thing is, by selecting an old collage, I'm still being thoughtful about the exercise and still using my art to express ideas I'm having today. I'm writing this as a reminder that we can "cheat" on our projects. We can plagiarize ourselves sometimes, it's okay to not be making new things all the time.