For the past 2 or 3 months I have been going through a pretty rough artist burnout. Every time I seemed to be getting out of it I would get sucked back in soon after. It happens to us all and it happens with everything that involves persistent effort and opposition. So I'm going to go over what got me into this predicament and how I've progressively gotten out of it.
It all started when I went back to my old job, before then I was solid, I was hunting for work and studying my ass off. I had a plan, go back to the bus yard to pay bills, buy a new California efficient car, sell my damn jeep, find a place to live and work in CA, and make the move with next to no baggage so I can move quickly when an awesome job opportunity manifests itself. The plan is perfect. So what's been stopping me? At the core it's all resistance. Its distraction, it's stress, it's laziness, it's a lack of self control, it's forgetting why this is so important to me. It's coming home and playing GTA V, or racing to get through TV shows like Breaking Bad and Dexter. It's staying up way too late browsing r/funny on Reddit. It's getting too involved in trying to fix my jeep before selling it.
The doubts kept growing and there were a few times I questioned if I even enjoyed painting anymore. I kept telling myself what I've learned to always tell myself in doubt, keep pushing the burnout will pass. Then a sort of miracle happened, it was the red ring of death, it struck during a GTA night at a friends house. I planned on fixing it myself as I usually fix all my stuff but Ironically enough I was too lazy to fix it. A few days passed and I decided it was time to be resourceful and fix my Xbox. I watched a few YouTube videos and the tools and Xbox were ready to make it happen, but before I started I realized I'd actually accomplished quite a few things in that time it had been broken. In that time I had gone back and fixed some major plot issues with my graphic novel, detailed both my cars and begun playing music again. In that moment the answer was clear not to fix the Xbox. After I finished Breaking Bad and Dexter I refused to start watching a new shows and I took my car into a mechanic. I wasn't out of the woods just yet, I still didn't want to paint so I did something based on idea I heard from Dan Luvisi if you don't want to paint, write a story. if you don't want to write, go for a walk and brainstorm. So I've been going down the list of creative interest I have, doing a little bit of each of them until I find one Ill enjoy in that moment. So add writing music, exercise and a few other things to Dan's list and that's what I've been doing.
This strategy is working awesome. It seems there's always something on it that I'm willing to do, and I'm wasting very little time now. Been going strong for a couple weeks. Other things that are helping are Podcasts (Check out Ash Thorp's Collective Podcast) which keep me pumped while listening to people that are already doing what I'd like to be doing. Things are going solid.
This strategy is working awesome. It seems there's always something on it that I'm willing to do, and I'm wasting very little time now. Been going strong for a couple weeks. Other things that are helping are Podcasts (Check out Ash Thorp's Collective Podcast) which keep me pumped while listening to people that are already doing what I'd like to be doing. Things are going solid.
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