The Balanced Creative

Creating creative space sometimes means letting go and taking risks. Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone, but if it is for you, going all in and trusting yourself and your dreams enough to build these dreams in real life can lead to self-defined success. Here’s what that journey was like for me.

Surround yourself with people who want to see you thrive. People who want to see you experience joy, and who want to see you climb. 

Hard truth: Not everyone is here for this. 

Some people will hold a snapshot of an older version of you. The you that maybe they had the most control over. Kick that to the curb and be OK with folks having to relearn you. They gotta do that work. 

In today’s episode of the balanced creative, I will share three clear cut ways to make more healthy space for creation. Through establishing processes, committing to consistent boundary & mindset work, and redefining what counts as contributing to your creative outlet, you CAN find more balance.

**Build processes** (processes are made up or workflows, systems, and automations) when you have a process, you can delegate and off load to others, you can ask for help without worrying that it’s YOU who has to do the task. 

Building processes is a way of taking the info out of your head and making sure it lives elsewhere. Building processes saved me 4 hours per day in admin. 

**Boundary and mindset work** as life long work, but start somewhere, saying no intentionally … this is the core foundation .. so even before you get all excited about building processes, start with boundaries. Read Nedra Glover’s book as a starting point! 

**Revisit creative actions** and they can count as more than just the thing you do … for me, it’s redefining what counts as writing. What are things I do daily that contribute to my creative practice?

Thriving vs. Surviving: Creating your own equitable space as a marginalized creative entrepreneur

Let’s get down to it. Why is it so difficult to thrive through that ever-present diversity veneer? Why are we not discussing what POC creators need in order to stay and thrive in a space?

But over the years, I’ve learned that this work of thriving in a space starts with the self:

4 ways to say no with love https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd8iXPZh3S4/

Is giving too much contributing to our burnout? 

How do we know if we are giving beyond our means? How does our generosity contribute to burnout?

Just like we check in with our energy levels in terms of the tasks we do each and every week, we also want to check in on how much we give, and make sure we are still in a position to offer up our valuable time and money ... burnout can also come from doing the most, giving more than you have, and not being sure where our limits are. 

ACCORDING TO THE QUILL & QUIRE, 75.6 PER CENT OF PUBLISHING PROFESSIONALS EXPERIENCE WORKPLACE BURNOUT. 

But I want to challenge this … is burnout only limited to the workplace?

Can burnout happen

-at home

-while with friends?

-while giving?

-while trying to help?

-while volunteering?

Check in with how much you give on a monthly basis. Write everything down, from loaning out money to letting folks pick your brain for free to being the sole chef in your family … what still gives you joy? What is depleting you? What will you stop doing?