Buh-Bye Creative Burnout!
If burnout was a game of bingo, then my card was full for all of 2023 and half of 2022, if I’m being honest. I recently listened to an episode of the Diary Of A CEO podcast featuring Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, where they discussed the two types of burnout:
Underchallendged Burnout occurs in people who feel unstimulated by and a lack of meaning in the work they do, resulting in feelings of boredom and dissatisfaction.
Frenetic Burnout occurs in people who are highly ambitious and excessively push themselves to meet high expectations, resulting in feelings of overwhelm and dissatisfaction.
Well, I was fully in my frenetic burnout era, suffocating under the pressure to create and monetize that creativity every minute of every day. If I wasn’t working in my business, I was working on it, thinking about it, stressing about it, and then feeling guilty when I wasn’t doing any of the former.
In December 2023, intuition took over and I realized that there was an easy solution, to simply STOP! I’m not talking about packing up work for the weekends, only to return to it on Monday. I’m talking full stop, deactivating social media accounts, putting down the art materials, and disengaging from creating and consuming altogether.
What resulted was this beautiful cloud of space and clarity that allowed me to objectively look at why I create, how I create, and how to reintegrate the two into a creative business that aligns with my core personal values of fun and ease! This break, if you will, reminded me of what’s most important and brought me back to these simple truths:
I love to draw the female form, coupled with lines and colors to express emotions, time, and place.
I love drawing as a technique above all others, and it is what I am fully devoted to.
Pastels, both soft and oil, are my most favorite and fun mediums to work with.
January turned out to be the most creative month I’ve had in more than a year, resulting in lots of new work in progress, including those that I’ve shared with you in this journal entry. I am looking forward to sharing more of what I’m making as I navigate this new phase of creativity and business!
I hope that reading this inspires you to get clear on what may be causing your burnout, so you can tap back into your why and reconnect with the joy you once had for the work that you do.
A friendly reminder for the week and months ahead:
“Don’t let small logic get in the way of big magic”
Before you go, check out my Subjects of Interest This Week:
Maison Maison Margiela AW 2024 fashion show, designed by John Galliano, is everything magic, fantastical, and extraordinary about fashion. Inspired by the work of 19th-century French artists Brassaï and Toulouse-Lautrec, this show will transport you to another time and place. It has single-handedly restored my faith in fashion as art.
Watch below!
You don’t have to be a CEO to listen to the Diary of a CEO Podcast. It’s chockful of interesting interviews that offer incredible information to help you improve your mental, physical, and emotional well-being!
Berlin-based artist and designer Maryam Keyhani, creates the type of art, fashion, and objects with the right amount of quirkiness to add some razzle dazzle to your life! I’m especially excited about adding one pf her headpieces to my growing hat collection!
Thanks for dropping by and I’ll speak to you in the next journal entry!
Instagram for an online portfolio of my recent work
Website to purchase my work, commission an original, and learn more about me!
I welcome your feedback, dialogue, and conversations as I continue to share! Drop a comment below or email directly here!