If you choose a creative path you need to know about the risks of creative burnout on your mental health. Creative burnout, like creative anxiety, is not openly discussed so it’s likely no one is preparing you for it. The truth is that artists struggle disproportionately with mental illness. Statistics show that creative people have a 1 in 3 chance of struggling with serious mental illness compared to that of the average, which is 1 in 5. With the average lifespan of a musician reaching only 52 years. Let’s explore what can be done to better your odds.

Lately I’ve been considering my career choices. I feel like I’ve changed and now my work should reflect that change, I want to feel inspired at work rather than drained. After spending so many years studying, gaining experience and landing what I thought was my dream job, it’s incredibly inconvenient to ‘start again’. Even though it would be all too easy to stay put, my soul is nagging for more.

Somehow it’s the invisible things that hold the most weight: fear, love, shame, ego, regret. The things that are coming, the things that are gone, and the things that never were. The stuff that can be felt but not touched. Whether it’s the wings you feel when you’re on purpose or the cage you feel when you’re not. The invisible things have the most power over us. And I’m confused.

I loathe the saying ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. Loathe it. If anyone has said this to you straight after surviving a traumatic event you know that it’s of no comfort. In those raw moments (or months) you are left feeling anything but ‘strong’. Keep your perspectives to yourself, unless your name is Hannah Gadsby.

In her Netflix Comedy Special, Gadsby says:

‘There is nothing is stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself’.

Humans learn to think by speaking their thoughts aloud. Have you noticed the way toddler’s verbalise every thought they have? The little chatterboxes explain everything. Imagine if adults did this. As we get older and more socially aware, the dialogue becomes internal. The older we get the less we notice the internal chatter. When faced with a new challenge though, you will see yourself revert back to speaking your way through it. Whenever I’m driving a new car or in a new area I can’t help but speak to myself. These internal stories are our self-talk and they are the subconscious tools that can hinder you, or propel you. Let’s tune in.

In the letters that Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo, you will find some of the best Failure Friendly advice ever written. Below are my top ten favourites quotes from the Impressionist artist. It’s clear that Van Gogh felt joy and pain intensely, that he loved nature and people immensely, that he looked fear in the face often in order to create freely and was generous in the vulnerability he shared.

The book ‘Living with a Creative Mind’ unpacks the way creative people experience intense swings in mood and energy, likening them to tides. Sometimes we’re able to work for hours or days without food or sleep and at other times they’re unable to function at all. Just as light can’t exist without darkness, creative energy can’t exist without destructive energy. Two sides of the same coin. The seasons, the weather, and plants – it is nature’s way to change or swing between extremes, it’s the law of nature. It is our nature to evolve too.

He says the things I want to hear before I know I want them, today was a great example. After a day of fierce creative anxiety he said, ‘You are strong. I need you to dig deep within yourself and pull yourself back up.’

She stood naked in the bathroom in more ways than one. In the mirror she noticed tears streaming, down a face she didn’t quite recognise. It was the face of a pleading child who begged for mercy. It was her face, wearing all of the emotions that she’d repressed. The pain in her chest intensified, it was too much to bear. ‘Those must be the ‘heartstrings’ people talk of’, she thought.

Research shows that play is the biggest driver of learning and innovation, so whoever decided adults must be serious was really shooting themselves in the foot. When we cease to play we cease to grow. I guess that’s why work can feel like death, especially on a Monday morning. After the ‘Rule Maker’ post, I’ve decided that playfulness is a MUST! No longer will I tolerate worry or expressionless work. Friendly, Fun & Fierce - that’s how I want to work. How do you want to feel this workweek?

Creative people are naturally rebellious. We like to bend rules rather than follow the crowd. Rules. Speed limits. Red lights. They’re annoying. But imagine a busy road without rules, would you drive it? Hell no. Love them or hat them rules make us feel safe. And it’s only when we feel safe that we can do great work. On the road the rules are clear; in life and love - not so much.

The fine line between fear and excitement are the lines of the story we write and believe. The power is in our perspective. If you’ve been numbing out, it’s quite a shock to feel all the feels. Pleasure comes with pain and pain with pleasure. It’s neither good nor bad; it just is. Two sides of the same coin. You feel the adrenaline, and you get to decide what it means: ‘I’m not ready!’ versus ‘I’m ready!’

This post is an open letter to my younger self, to all the kids who are struggling with anxiety, to all the students who are procrastinating their lives away because they just can’t deal, to all the grad students who are having panic attacks about applying for a ‘real’ job, or the wannabe entrepreneurs who keep putting off making the move. To all the brokenhearted artists, the lost creatives and the tortured dreamers.

Rainy days, runny nose, purple haze and dirty clothes. Current mood. Yes, I’m spending the morning in bed with Hendrix because I’m feeling flat and in need of recharging. In need, indeed. Let’s talk about energy.

How could I be a perfectionist I thought, I’m far from perfection. ‘Student needs to apply herself to reach her full potential’ the report card always said as I cruised through school and life. But the reason I lacked effort was for fear it was better to not to try than try and fail. But I ached inside to strive for something, to make something I was proud of, to be seen and just to believe in myself enough to try.

Because no one has a crystal ball, doubt is a normal part of life, a normal part of being a person. For some reason some of us take that doubt very personally.