Photo by Tim Goedhart on Unsplash
Tough times produce great art. Or at least, that’s what we’re told. Given the current state of the world, many creatives are met with conflicting feelings.
An abundance of time.
An emerging need to monetize your art.
An urge to respond to contemporary events.
A pressing feeling that you need to make yourself useful.
Sure, being in a pressure chamber can help motivate creative work — but not for the right reasons. Trauma often produces a need for cathartic release — but can you really produce your best work under those circumstances? More importantly, should you?
Engaging in self-care during a crisis is already challenging enough, and many creative people feel undue pressure to perform in extraordinary circumstances. Self-care may seem terribly selfish, if not impossible. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with reacting to the state of the world.
You don’t always need to be productive.
Social media is a major source of news and information for many of us, and for creatives, it may also be an important venue for self-promotion. Still, it’s not worth your mental health if you’re struggling to process the daily headlines. Try switching your promotional posts to platforms such as LinkedIn or Pinterest, where there’s much less likelihood of encountering negative posts, or take time to forge connections with people via email or direct messages.
How long has it been since you just sat down and soaked up a good book or movie? The key to creation is inspiration, and there’s absolutely no shame in taking a “do-nothing day” in which you become a couch potato. Remember, while your brain needs exercise, it also needs to rest. After you take your “do-nothing day,” you’ll likely return to your work refreshed, recharged, and ready to create new art.
If you feel like you need to create but are suffering feelings of fatigue or creative block, try shifting to a different activity. Choose something that lets you express your creative impulse but has no bearing on whether you’e earning money, meeting deadlines, taking care of your house, or dealing with any other external factor. Often, creative block occurs when we feel too much pressure from other sources. Take some time to create by and for yourself. This might include doodling, cultivating plants, knitting, or painting. Try to achieve a state of flow and let the world slip away.
Self-care is more than bubble baths or shopping sprees. While it looks different from everyone, in general, winding down and disengaging from stressors is the common denominator. As a creative person, you likely feel a lot of pressure to produce, innovative, and perform… but it’s totally okay to take it easy. The world is strange and frightening right now, which causes additional stress. Take the time you need to relax and refresh — and don’t feel like you have to come back to fight any battles. If only we all pursued our inner peace, we might have a better world. So, take the time you need — no guilt required.
REFF::
# THESE ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED ON MY MEDIUM PAGE !
