lindsay
Member
This might seem like a weird post, and I may not have categorized it correctly, but here goes anyhow.
Some of you may remember me from the Peatarian site, as well as here, but I disappeared for about a year because I decided that hyper-focusing on my health problems (which were many and which I am still working through, but which have gotten better) was making me depressed. Instead of doing things, I spent all my free time looking up stuff on the internet and spending way too much of my free time inside on my computer.
So in 2015, I decided to start a daily photography project (I work part-time as a photographer). I joined a community of photo enthusiasts and every day I had a prompt which I used to create a photo. It turned out to be this amazing journey that pushed my photography and skills and also a place where I met new friends, who I hope to keep in contact with for many many years.
In many respects, I never felt better than during that year. It boosted my confidence, kept my brain active, unleashed creative potential I never knew - it was amazing and I fell back in love with my camera and the art of photography. But then my life got busier, I had more work, and as I took better photos everyday, it became this expectation (which I put on myself) that I could create a brilliant image every day - and I got very stressed about it and very tired and when the year came to an end, I said goodbye to my project joyfully and decided I would embark on photography on my own when I choose......
Which brings me to my point - there are two other dear friends of mine who I met through this photography project who also found that the daily act of taking photos was very therapeutic and helped them with their struggles and depression. All three of us have struggled with varying forms of eating disorders and addictive behaviors, and in a way photography helped replace those things with something healthier. But now that I don't have daily "homework", I find it very difficult to motivate myself to pick up my camera and in turn, I've noticed the depression and serotonin are starting to creep back in and I'm not feeling as good as I was in 2015.
So I guess I am posing this to anyone out there - especially if you are an artist and have experienced this - where did you find the balance of your medium and the motivation to work with it consistently without going crazy? :) I believe that health is more than nutrition (though I understand the value of nutrition in the equation), but nothing truly helped me like expanding the creative half of the brain and I know Ray Peat is very much a believer in the arts and the importance of art in well-being. But now that the project has stopped, I am unmotivated to pick up my camera and it's making me depressed. My digestion has become worse sporadically (which furthers the depression) and food isn't helping the way my photo project did.
I take a slew of supplements (including thyroid, which has helped me greatly), but they do nothing in comparison to a project and goal. The problem is, when I do get my camera out, I end up spending hours obsessing over one photo and I don't always have time for this. The artist brain is in me - something I never realized until this past year. I'd like to explore it more without it stressing me out to the point of crazy - LOL :)
Would love to hear others' experience and things they found helpful to motivate them to explore art, but not become OCD about it - unless maybe that's a healthy thing? I need it as an outlet, and it's a big part of my work, but I am lacking that motivation outside of work.
Thank you for reading :) And I've attached a self portrait I took for my 2015 project which sums up my feelings as of late.
Some of you may remember me from the Peatarian site, as well as here, but I disappeared for about a year because I decided that hyper-focusing on my health problems (which were many and which I am still working through, but which have gotten better) was making me depressed. Instead of doing things, I spent all my free time looking up stuff on the internet and spending way too much of my free time inside on my computer.
So in 2015, I decided to start a daily photography project (I work part-time as a photographer). I joined a community of photo enthusiasts and every day I had a prompt which I used to create a photo. It turned out to be this amazing journey that pushed my photography and skills and also a place where I met new friends, who I hope to keep in contact with for many many years.
In many respects, I never felt better than during that year. It boosted my confidence, kept my brain active, unleashed creative potential I never knew - it was amazing and I fell back in love with my camera and the art of photography. But then my life got busier, I had more work, and as I took better photos everyday, it became this expectation (which I put on myself) that I could create a brilliant image every day - and I got very stressed about it and very tired and when the year came to an end, I said goodbye to my project joyfully and decided I would embark on photography on my own when I choose......
Which brings me to my point - there are two other dear friends of mine who I met through this photography project who also found that the daily act of taking photos was very therapeutic and helped them with their struggles and depression. All three of us have struggled with varying forms of eating disorders and addictive behaviors, and in a way photography helped replace those things with something healthier. But now that I don't have daily "homework", I find it very difficult to motivate myself to pick up my camera and in turn, I've noticed the depression and serotonin are starting to creep back in and I'm not feeling as good as I was in 2015.
So I guess I am posing this to anyone out there - especially if you are an artist and have experienced this - where did you find the balance of your medium and the motivation to work with it consistently without going crazy? :) I believe that health is more than nutrition (though I understand the value of nutrition in the equation), but nothing truly helped me like expanding the creative half of the brain and I know Ray Peat is very much a believer in the arts and the importance of art in well-being. But now that the project has stopped, I am unmotivated to pick up my camera and it's making me depressed. My digestion has become worse sporadically (which furthers the depression) and food isn't helping the way my photo project did.
I take a slew of supplements (including thyroid, which has helped me greatly), but they do nothing in comparison to a project and goal. The problem is, when I do get my camera out, I end up spending hours obsessing over one photo and I don't always have time for this. The artist brain is in me - something I never realized until this past year. I'd like to explore it more without it stressing me out to the point of crazy - LOL :)
Would love to hear others' experience and things they found helpful to motivate them to explore art, but not become OCD about it - unless maybe that's a healthy thing? I need it as an outlet, and it's a big part of my work, but I am lacking that motivation outside of work.
Thank you for reading :) And I've attached a self portrait I took for my 2015 project which sums up my feelings as of late.
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