Life/creativity update

[potofsoup]

So it turns out that working constantly really tanks one's creativity, who'd have thought? Looking back, I think I've really struggled to find time to draw and make stuff this past year and a half partially because Miss Rutabaga started school.

I genuinely thought, back in August of 2021, that Miss Rutabaga starting school would mean more time -- "whew, she's a thinking, talking, independent human who can pee on her own, we're onto the easier part now," I thought, and also "hey, it's awesome that she's now going to the school where I teach, which offers free aftercare and morning busing for teachers' kids."

Turns out what's happened is that Miss Rutabaga and I leave the house at 7:15am and get back home at 6:15pm, which includes a 90 minute round-trip commute and 10-ish hours spent at work, working. By the time I get home, I am so peopled out that I just want to hide and decompress for an hour, and after that, I'm just completely out of creative energy. (not to mention the 5 hours I spend on Chinese School stuff on weekends, plus the little bits of grading that make its way home.) I think the tl;dr of this is that I should really work less than 60 hours a week, and ideally less than 50 hours a week. But ... I can't figure out how to do that. So: not a lot of energy left for creative stuff.

:/

I did draw a comic over the summer about an anglerfish, which, once I put the anthology together, I'll be able to share.

I've also done the requisite research for my Tape vs. Hurley comic, so what's next is finding a nice chunk of empty time to do the layout for the comic.

I also have about 5 different wips that are all ~80% done, so instead of signing up for any holiday events, I'm going to see if I can carry any of these wips to the finish line by January.

In the meantime, twitter is imploding in hilarious ways, and I am giving tumblr money for moving in the right direction, so that's pretty awesome. (And the midterms are turning out much better than expected, which has helped with J's mental health, which then helps with everything around the house.) :D

Comments

[bluewinged_songbird]

Hang in there, I'm sure you'll get through this eventually! WIPS can wait, the most important thing is that you're kind to yourself as you recover from the busyness of life.

But also it's amazing how shocked we are when we can't do anything creative when, gasp, the tank is empty and we're out of spoons!

[potofsoup]

awww, thanks! I think the thing I worry about is ... what if the busyness of life never ends? Like, I'm used to there being a few weeks of 10-12 hour days and then having a few weeks where it's just 8 hours or so, but lately it feels like "a few weeks" of busyness has become "a few months" and then "the whole year", which... kinda sucks, frankly. And therefore worth examining and pushing back on.

But yes, it's weird how burnout affects creativity, so unexpected. Just like how weird it is that not enough sleep affects mental health :P

[bluewinged_songbird]

Oof, that does sound rough! I hope things get less busy for you soon and that everything you want comes true.

Who would have thought that?? I cannot believe all these people were actually right and we cannot actually power through on grit alone. 😆

[vriddy]

It's hard to find time for creativity when everything else is taking so much time and energy! Wishing you luck finding more of a balance in your schedule over time, though some periods tend to just be like that...

[potofsoup]

aw, thank you! But yeah, I think it's part "this is the period in my life when things are busy", but also I think it's something worth stepping back and examining, to see if there might be some ways to build that time back in.

[vriddy]

I hope you find a way!!

[minoanmiss]

*sends hugs for you all* *sends some literal energy in the mail*

[potofsoup]

awww sweety! Save some energy for yourself! <3 <3 <3

[przed]

I think those early school years for our kidlet really knocked the it out of me, too. I hope you find a way to preserve some time and energy for yourself so you can be creative.

Good luck with the wips! I was not familiar with Tape vs. Hurley, but I look forward to your take on the case.

[potofsoup]

Thank you! It's definitely something I want to look at. I think the answer is working less, but job is demanding, etc.