Our last blog post covered three types of rest that we can practice to help our overall health when feeling overwhelmed or fatigued. These types of rest were emotional, physical, and intellectual. In this post, we will cover a different kind of rest: creative. It is essential to have conversations about prioritizing rest with those you care about. "Hustle" has become a buzzword and "exhausted," a badge of honor. If we can start normalizing caring for ourselves enough to take a break or say no, maybe the need to constantly do something would subside, and we could all experience some much-needed rest.
Remember, the ways we engage in rest do not always look the same for every person. For example, one person may feel rested after having some time alone to read a good book. In contrast, another person might feel rested after getting coffee with a close friend and having an intentional conversation. The important thing is that you take time to think through the things that bring you life. What things do you walk away from feeling more energized or excited? What things do you want to do, not have to do? These are the things one should try when first practicing engaging in more rest.
Creative rest is particularly important if you have a job that requires a lot of creative attention. These jobs could be anything from event planning, photography, graphic design, marking, making music, creating art, etc. We live in a very creative world, and we are experiencing just how creative and talented humans are through social media! Unfortunately, this has created another way people feel like they have to hustle and keep up with the world around them. People who once found these platforms to be fun, creative outlets have become exhausted by keeping up with the latest trends and fashion.
Other types of creative exhaustion can look like writer's block, lack of motivation, or inability to create new content of any kind. If you connect with this, think bk on what you first loved about creating. Do you still feel that passion or excitement when you think about creating? If not, it might be time for a creative break. Here are some suggestions for ways to rest from creating if it is exhausting you.
Moving your body will give your mind a break. We often say, "move it to lose it," when it comes to big emotions. If you feel overwhelmed or anxious because of expectations with creativity, exercise of any kind could be just what you need.
Sometimes we become so engulfed in a project that we push aside our basic needs of sleep, eating, and drinking. If you are feeling over-tired, take a moment to check in with yourself, eat food that will give you energy, drink lots of water and try to get a good night of sleep.
Meditation can be a beneficial tool for calming oneself if you feel overwhelmed. Through centering yourself, you are reminded of who you are outside of what you produce creatively.
Sometimes taking a break is all you need to re-energize and feel ready to be creative again. This could look like taking some time away from social media, taking a week off of creating anything or taking a vacation to recharge. Keep in mind, the more rested you feel, the more likely you will be open to creating. Just because you are taking a break does not mean you won't create again; it means you will be able to create more and possibly better because of it.
If being creative is a part of your job, we understand that this could be difficult to implement. The critical piece for you then will be what you do with your time outside of work. This could be anything from taking a walk during your breaks, eating healthy lunches, limiting sugary drinks, monitoring how much sleep you are getting, or taking some time off.
We hope this post was helpful on ways to rest creatively. Our next and last post on rest will be how to rest socially!
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