One thing I've been thinking about a lot lately is how to be a fulfilled creative person when the majority of your life is consumed by being interested in creative related outputs. From working full time as a designer to also developing this blog, social media content and my own lettering projects, it can feel exhausting to be creating content or designs all the time, so today I thought I would just have an open discussion about it. 

If you asked me what I enjoyed doing I would reply by saying by lettering, designing, animating, writing, taking photos, reading, mind puzzles, going round exhibitions/museums, hearing live musicians/comedians and visiting new places. The vast majority of that list includes creativity in some sort of way, and then a good 3/4's are directly produced by myself. When your life is like that it can be hard to always feel up to the mark. 

Since moving to London, I've had a feeling like I need to be doing all the things all the time. Then with the idea of being a "hustler" (although can we please leave this mentality for 2018 and onwards) it's very easy to feel like you are falling behind when you aren't actively doing something that directly impacts your creativity. 

But what I've been realising is that you need to make time for the things, hobbies and whatever else that gives you enjoyment from life that won't make you feel pressured, forced or stressed about the work. If you are interested in creating something it should be done at a moment you want to during a time that you can focus on it with the mental capacity to actually enjoy it. And it's actually good to switch things up a lot.

When I need a break from thinking up ideas, I'll usually sit and play a game or do some sort of puzzle. Once I got into a routine for commuting to/from work I realised I needed something that wasn't necessarily writing or sketching on the tube but still stretched my mind. So instead I looked to getting a soduko app as I've noted before I love completing these! They still make me think about patterns and layouts but in a totally different way. A refreshing way. 

The moral of this post though is that you don't have to be and honestly, you shouldn't be a 24/7 creative. It can put a lot of strain on your overall physical and mental health as well as your wellbeing to be continuously be creating, thinking up ideas, visiting creative events/shows/museums, etc and then be implementing everything somewhere. So make sure you take a break- it doesn't mean you fail as a creative, it'll give you the strength to grow as one.

[header photo by Ben Kolde from Unsplash]