The price of creativity

Twas going to write about how much doubt creatives face during the creative process.

Twas going to give ya’ll a big ol’ pat on the back and write about the importance of creative mental health - again. 

But you know what, ‘big fear is the price of big imagination’ kinda sums it up. So I’m going to say something completely different.

This is the advice I wish I’d listened to in my early career:

Don’t be so busy living in your head that you forget about your body.

If you’re not a performer than you probably spend a whole lot of time sitting while you work at bringing the ideas in your head to life. 

And if you work in the digital world - designing, writing, or editing - then you probably consume a tone of blue light too.

If you don’t have a bad back and rubbish sleep yet - it’s coming for you.

I’ve spent the last five years trying to figure out creative anxiety, investigating the inner workings of my mind and priming an optimal mindset for creative work. 

I’ve been consumed with my mind and ignored my body.

I ignored the aches and pains until it got so bad that I couldn’t ignore it any longer. Sitting sucks. But standing all day at a fancy stand up desk sucks too.

Ergonomics, posture improving back braces, stretches, alarms reminding you to move, every type of massage, heat packs and drugs - I’ve tried all of these band-aids. 

Nothing has been as effective as getting to the gym and strengthening those back, core and glut muscles, all the muscles really. Running is great too, anything that makes you sweat.

Movement is medicine, preventative medicine that keeps you feeling young. And the endorphins - heller!

So when you work in a creative role, remember it’s not just your mindset you need to strengthen. 

For a sustainable creative practice look after your physical health too. 

It’s also often when you’re exercising, where you’re out of your head and into your body, that you’ll download the creative idea gold. 

Just do it.

Buzzy.