Avoiding the Way of Lenny
What's the quickest way to ruin something that you love? In Of Mice and Men, the well-meaning giant Lenny loves rabbits so much, he pets them until they die. Nobody wants to create art so much that they kill their passion in the process.
In a world that has such clear benchmarks of success (salary, followers, good reviews) it's no wonder that creative people burn out so often. Generational ideas of dream jobs combine with the gig economy and social media to make a vicious cocktail that, when imbibed, tells artists that "everything you do can be monetized". It turns the art process into a means of selling art classes or merchandise. I don't want to come across as ungrateful here - there's no way I could do my illustration work in the middle of a soy bean field without the cultural paradigms of freelancing and internet networking. However, I have seen people come to hate what they love because they have been pushed to turn their passion into a professional burden. How can we as artists dodge this fatal bullet?
Allowing Yourself to Step Away
Many will say the way to keep the fire burning is to do art on your own time, but in my opinion that fire can only lead to burnout. The brass tacks of this blog is not just to rest, but to engage parts of you that don't normally get used during the art process. As a picture book illustrator, a lot of my work revolves around sitting alone and staring at a computer. To put those parts of me to rest, sometimes all I need to do is step away from the screen. I make wood burning art as well, so that is an incremental way I can step away. Sometimes that isn't enough, and I need to take a walk and phone a friend. On weekends, I try to step away from creative endeavors entirely. House chores give me the physical engagement that lets my mind rest, relegating the solving of creative problems down to my subconscious. Gardening is a big proponent of this for me. All of these incremental steps away can not only heal your brain, but also help you break out of art/writer's block and help spawn new ideas.
Art is Observation - Go and Observe
When I heard Gary D. Schmidt (author of The Wednesday Wars) speak, I was captivated by Schmidt's idea of writers as observers. Writers take ideas that swirl in their imaginations and distill them into stories that convey said ideas. A walk in the neighborhood, a fallen tree, a conversation with an estranged relative, all of these things can spark creativity. Painting more isn't going to make you love painting. It may make you a better painter, but eventually the well of inspiration will run dry and you will have to go out into the world and experience things. One of my favorite fantasy authors, Patrick Rothfuss, said that some of the most interesting bits from his Kingkiller Chronicles book came from hearing stories of his dad's volunteer work at a hospital. For Robin Hobb, another author I love, it was hikes in Alaska that gave her such passion and detail when describing nature and animals in her Assassin's Apprentice series (and yes, I am on a fantasy novel kick right now, how did you know?).
When you do what you love for work, it's an uphill battle to avoid spoiling your passion. Burnout is easier than it's ever been because of cultural 'artrepreneurship' that pushes creatives to monetize and set goals for everything they do. Allowing yourself to engage with the world in a way you wouldn't normally do helps alleviate burnout and can even sew inspiration for a creative project. Give your brain something new to chew on - if your art isn't physically taxing, get your body engaged too! Make a list of three to five incremental steps you can take to recharge - nothing extravagant, like 'go to South France' - think small and practical, something you can do during the work day.
Thanks again for swinging by my front porch and listening to my unabridged thoughts on creative life. Next week I'll be honing in on inspiration: when you're stepping away, how can you harness that for new creative work? So stop by to hear about creating something out nothing.
Until then, safe travels.
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