either going on a hike or just exploring and taking my time somewhere in nature. It helps me to get some perspective and reset. I prefer somewhere with a creek, I like looking at different rocks trying to find ones that have cool shapes/textures/colors. look for national/state forests or wildlife refuges near you!
for creative ruts, i’ll do an excercise sometimes where I look for weird shadows or leaves or anything really and try and turn those shapes into characters or just see how my brain reinterprets them. it’s a nice low stakes creative game