The Downside is Minimal
Your mental health as a creative professional needs to be a focus. Yet, the ups and downs are not always in your control.
In my experience, the creative cycle is marked by periods of intense activity where creative ideas flow out of me like a river. Everything seems possible and nothing is off the table. I can do anything. I can create anything.
Eventually, though, I have to flip the coin. The other side of my creative cycle is a much darker place, a period of insufferable inactivity where everything feels stilted and unnatural. Ideas seem worthless, words are non-sensical and pointless, and my imposter syndrome kicks into high gear. Nothing seems right. Nothing is right.
Slicing the Lows
Does this sound familiar? Do you find yourself in some of the same hills and valleys? If so, you're not alone. Many creative professionals struggle with the creative cycle and their mental health throughout their careers. Many times, the two are linked. And I am by no means unique in this area.
What I've found, though, is that there is generally a trigger that initiates the coin flip. If I can identify the trigger, it often helps me to cut the bottom off the low period and I can start trying to head towards high ground (or another period of creative activity).
Sometimes, though, it doesn't make a difference. I have to face my creative block daily until things ease up and I'm free to move forward again.
All the Way Around the Block
I'm slowly coming out of a darker period right now. The trigger this time? The death of a very close friend. I spent a lot of time with James during his last 14 months of life. I watched him rally, and then fade. I watched as cancer took his mental and physical capabilities one by one. And I was there the day he died.
As I stood there that sad morning, I wondered how this 14-month period, and more specifically that last day, would change me — my viewpoint, my thoughts. What I never expected was that it would remove my ability to write and create for a year.
Words have been meaningless. Creativity has been pointless. I have set up camp on the dark side of my creative coin. And that is where I've been living — hiding. It has been one of the longest periods of inactivity I've ever experienced.
I wouldn't call it depression, not in its most conventional sense. I'm sure, though, that a doctor would most likely disagree with that — opting to tell me that my grief has led to a period of depression and that it has manifested in my stilted creative output.
Whatever. C'est La Vie.
Doing What Needs to be Done
I am a creative professional, though, and like many do not have the option of just quitting when things get tough. I have to work. I have to show up.
Thankfully, I've been able to do for others what I have been unable to do for myself. It was actually a bit of a mini revelation tbh. I managed to largely compartmentalize my block, which has allowed me to keep the studio moving forward and to keep work coming in. We have seen some leaner times this year, but work has shown up as we've needed it. The down period is probably less about my issues and more about the world economy being depressed. Again, C'est La Vie.
Find the Time to Take Your Time
So, what's the takeaway from this? As creative professionals, we will absolutely face downtimes — periods where our mental health is just not as it should be. There's nothing wrong with that. Take the time you need. If you still need to show up, then show up, but do it in a way that allows you to get what you need to help you break through that period.
Life is hard right now. The things we are facing feel big…really big. Start by realizing that it's okay to cut ourselves a break when we need it. The downside is minimal. If we can't do for ourselves, then we can't do for others. And that won't do for anyone.