6 Ways to take care of yourself as a creative
Greetings beautiful souls.
It’s been a while since I blog, writing this entry is bringing me adolescent memories as I used to blog for fun. I thought of getting back to blogging because I love to share my thoughts with everyone. For my first blog post, I decided to write a self reflection article as a self employed illustrator in Malaysia.
This month, May, I would say it’s my 5th month being an independent artist. It took me a lot of courage to pursue this dream of mine to be an illustrator and I have no regrets! I have been blessed with clients for trusting me to take on their projects, and also all of you who supported my artist merchandise in Malaysia (International friends, I’m working on international shipping soon.) I enjoy every single challenges I faced, however, I cannot deny sometimes I caught myself in a terrible burnout when I overwork.
I took a great rest during April and I gotta say that its not something I’m used to it. We freelancers are very used to the hustle and bustle lifestyle, and we suddenly pause from working, we would questioned our self-worth. Cold seasons do happen once in a while and we have to embrace it. Here are some handy lessons when I learn to slow down.
Prioritise your rest
When I mentioned rest, it doesn’t necessarily means you stare at the ceiling and wondering what’s next. Rest could be emotionally, physically, mentally rest. I found this post on Instagram about the types of fatigue we face if we don’t rest really helpful. A few ways to rest could be just setting personal boundaries from work, socialising, and so on to make quality time for yourself. I took a break from making any creative works with journaling, organising my space, catching up with my friends, and also go for alone dates at coffee stores that I love. Inspiration tends to come when I don’t overwhelmed myself with unrealistic expectations.
Embrace the cold season
As an independent creator, we are uncertain what’s the future going to be like and we get so paranoid if we don’t have any projects. However, we have to remind ourselves that we need to accept that uncertainty is really part of freelancing life instead of avoiding it. One thing I learnt lately is to make peace with it and learn how to ride the wave. Sometimes cold seasons could be a sign that you need to reevaluate your core values according to the jobs you are taking. You can also use this cold season to polish your portfolio, initiate a passion project, or even just rest. But please don’t take another project and whine that you have no time to rest, this cycle often happens to everyone (including me lol). I like to spend my cold season to give myself a time off and initiate passion projects.
Allow yourself to be human
Its undeniable that these days and ages, we can get worried if we are not on the right track, aka FOMO (fear of missing out) We beat ourselves up when we feel underachieved by comparing our inner problems with people’s outer achievements. The truth is, everyone is just showing their highlighted reels but they don’t share the struggles they are facing. So we are all equally human beings with our own life. When you remind yourself to be human, you will also tell yourself that everyone has their capacity and limits, remember to be mindful that we should take things one step at a time instead of running like a hamster non stop.
Try different hobbies
Ever since I monetise my art as my career, I thought if would be a better idea for me to look for a new hobby to get myself inspired. Lately I am into meditation as it helps me to nourish my mind, I’m also into collecting crystals because crystals really bring me that great aura to calm me down. I like to cook occasionally to challenge my comfort zone as a creative. I got back to reading lately and it feeds my mind with clarity and wisdom.
Health is also wealth
We tend to ignore what our brains tell us when we are not well mentally, eventually, your body will bring you signals that you really need to take a break. I get really bad heart palpitations and shaky hands if I don’t listen to my body. I’m repeating point 3, we need to remind ourselves that we are human being not human machines. Basic needs like eating well, exercising regularly, and sleeping well are often neglected when we overwork. Here’s a kind reminder: when you are in a slump, turn that slump into movement. Get your body moving around nature to feel refreshed again.
Talk to a therapist if you can
One of the best decisions I have made in 2021 was to visit a therapist to make peace with my emotional baggage and low self esteem. With therapy, I have spotted what are my triggering core beliefs that made me self sabotage when I don’t perform according to my expectations. I have also learn how to be kind to myself when I acknowledge what are my roots of perfectionism. I understand not everyone can afford therapy, but what I can encourage is to follow mental health professionals on Instagram as they give pretty good handy tips on how to deal with burn out! Personally, I find this post really explains well on why burnout happens.
That’s all for my random ramblings for this blog post dedicated to all the creatives out there! We all love to strive for the best, but remember to also pause and take care of yourself! I will see you soon in my next blog post!
Warm virtual hugs
