Chronically Ill Creatives: 6 Ways To Thrive in a Fast-Paced World

Ah the Olympics! Where people from all over the world have gathered to see if the water of the Seine is safe enough to swim in. Being the leading sporting event, only the very best of the best may participate. These athletes are the pinacle of health, expertise and are rightfully admired for their prowess.

On the other end of the spectrum is me! The words ‘energetic puppy’ have never applied to me.
I spend the half the week on the couch, in bed, or – if I’m feeling particularly adventurous – hunched against the dinner table. It’s not that I’m idle. It’s more that I move at a pace that even snails would scoff at. And with everybody else moving at the speed of light, one of my main challenges when it comes to sculpting, is to keep my head up.

If this sounds familiar, then this list is for you. 6 ways to thrive in a fast-paced world:

1. DON’T Compare Yourself To Others

Some people believe that this is a motivational tactic. A push to do better. But have you noticed that whenever you start to compare yourself to others, it’s usually you who gets the shorter end of the stick? That’s because we let our inner critic take full control. And they looooove to annihilate our self-esteem.

There’s nothing wholesome about comparing yourself to others. First, because when we get into this mindset, we tend to only look at the achievements of other people. We hardly ever notice their failures. And we never ever recognize what it took these men and women to get where they are now, or what sacrifices they had to make.
Second: Unless we find a carbon copy of ourselves and the lives we lead, comparisons are never going to be fair. “Oh, why can’t I be like this baseball player? …Sure, I don’t have any arms, can’t run in a straight line and am deathly allergic to white balls with red stitchings, but still.”

Since all this behavior is designed to make us feel bad, we need to actively work on stopping it.

2. DO look back from time to time to see what progress you’ve made.

On the other hand, we sometimes forget to do things that make us feel good about ourselves. Managing illness is a constant balance between what’s possible and the wish to be able to do a little more.
My own tried and true method was using the power of ‘suck it up’ and ‘will power’ – because as we all know <<<< will power >>>> is the cure to every disease known to man. For some unfathomable reason, it didn’t work. After months of keeping a strict regiment, my health situation hadn’t changed by a millimeter. All my hard work for nothing. I felt so deflated. That was, until, I looked around in my workshop and saw – for the first time really – all the projects I had finished and sold in the previous years. Despite my snail’s pace, I had managed to create quite the little collection.

Sometimes we need that reminder. So allow yourself one moment every year to really let it sink in how far you’ve come already. And if you realize, looking at your work leaves you cold, take a cue from your local grocery store: It really does help to rearrange pieces. Brains are lazy. If they keep seeing the same layout, they will start to gloss over the ‘image’ and only filter out new and relevant data. But create a new decor and suddenly our brains will have to really ‘see’ everything that’s in front of them again.


3. Find people (online) who are in the same boat as you.

If you meet people who travel at the same pace as you do, invite them inside your rickity dinghy. We all need somebody who understands us. And not in the way your neighbor for instance tells you how she tótally understands how you feel, after the personal story she overshared, revealed the total opposite. Bless her soul.

Finding other men and women who deal with the same illness as you means you only have to say a word or two and you’ll find recognition. These guys, after all, are dealing with similar issues.
You don’t need a truckload full of contacts. Having only one or two friends in your life is enough to have fun – most importantly. But also, to share advice and brainstorm together.

4. Work with people who will help you at YOUR pace.

People with chronicle illness are used to having to adjust to the world around them. We’re so used to it, we’re sometimes not even aware of our own limits anymore. In the long run, this is dangerous and not fair to the other person. It’s going to help nobody when you’re overexerting yourself and halfway during a collaboration, you change jobs as a hospital bed tester.

Your own medical needs should come first. Some potential clients, colleagues, partners etc. may not understand the limits you have to work with. Others are unable to meet your requests. That’s okay. It means that they are not the right fit for you. Find people who are able to meet you where you are. It’s far less stressful for your body, your mind, and for the professional relationships you maintain.

5. Use production phases to help yourself see progress.

With time running slow, projects can feel like forever. If your artworks usually only take a couple of hours to make, you’ve chosen an artform that’s perfectly catered to your situation. If, like me, it takes many weeks, months or even years to finish a piece, you might want to make some adjustments to make life easier on yourself.

What works for me is to use the individual phases of the production progress and celebrate the end of each one as a milestone. Finished my armature? Sit back a moment and realize that I’ve again created something. Clay master ready? I’m going to clean up my workshop and put it on display, so I’m able to really look at it and take a couple of pictures. Etcetera, etcetera.
By doing this, time doesn’t turn into a monotonous blur of nothingness. Instead, these highlights keep wanting me to do more. See what’s on the horizon.

6. On your website, dedicate a page for ‘easier’ content.

Nothing dampens the spirit more than a webpage covered in dust particles and cobwebs. If the interweb-gurus telling you the only road to everlasting fame and success is generating new and fascinating clickbait-titles 20 times a day are making you nervous, consider dedicating a page with ‘faster’ content.

The main reason why I write this blog is because I like writing. I don’t do it for the views – don’t believe interweb-gurus claiming the best road to webpage-fame and success is a blog… it isn’t. But the added benefit is that I can frequently upload new content. And this makes me feel productive.

Anything from a blog, to a social media feed, to WIP-pictures. You name it. As long as it fits you and your website, it’s time to use and abuse it!

So, there you have it: 6 ways to thrive in a fast-paced world. I just keep forgetting some of those. Personally, I’m lousy at number 1 and number 2. But I try. And it does get better. Maybe soon I’ll see Jedi enlightenment and I can help every young padawan on their path of the Force. Otherwise there’s always the Sith. Their lightsabers look cooler anyway.

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