Finding creativity while unemployed

 

It's been two months since I was let go rather abruptly from my 9-5 job, and managing my time and emotions without the distraction of work has been a very steep learning curve. The last time I spent this much time unemployed was during a very rough time of my life, and at times it's difficult not to sink into that same sense of hopeless confusion that is so familiar. 

Well meaning family and communities always advise getting back into creative endeavors during down times, but as anyone who's suffered the grind of working in American society probably knows, it's difficult to escape the toxic productivity mindset, and getting myself to actually ENJOY any activity that doesn't make me money is excruciating. I've spent countless weeks hunched in front of sketchbooks, word documents, video games, and what-have-you, all while the sense of I should be doing something more productive than this gnaws at my guts.

 The good news is, I'm getting there. Baldur's Gate has been a great distraction, I'm focusing hard on getting enough sleep, and even my productivity 'addiction' has resulted in better self-care habits like cooking from scratch, catching up on laundry, balancing my finances, and other things that free up anxiety to help me live a little more freely.

In terms of art, I'm actually (finally!) rebuilding my love affair with creativity. I bought The Artist's Way, which is a great book a lot of my favorite YouTubers have been reading. I'll do a review of it at the end-of-month media roundup - I've started it, but haven't had the space to do most of the required activities. I can already tell it's going to be very helpful for me (although the hyper-Christian overtones make me want to chuck it out a window sometimes).

My Neocities website has probably been the best aide to my creativity so far. It's hard to even say why - maybe it's because I'm finally migrating away from social media, maybe it's because it reminds me of a more relaxed and creative time of my life, maybe it's because there are so many small creative elements to it that it just sets my mind a little free to roam. Maybe it's all three!

Whatever it is, I'm finally feeling more loosey-goosey with my art. I've picked up coloring and designing on other people's Adopt bases this past week, and it's a nice low-stakes warmup. I'll post some in my gallery when I'm finished! ...And once I make my gallery page!! 

 

Catch you around, dreamers!