Tag: important

armeleia:

Reminders for the Anxious/Depressed Creatives

  • You’re more than what you make.
  • Your productivity does not determine your value.
  • It’s okay to do nothing sometimes.
  • Not everything you do has to result in a product.
  • Not everything you make has to be important, significant, or even good.
  • You can make things just for yourself.
  • You can keep secrets for yourself, whether it’s not posting some of your projects or not sharing your techniques.
  • You’re allowed to say no.
  • You’re allowed to rest.

xenoqueer:

scottfriday:

searching for that fine line between “i need to stay informed” and “i can’t take any more of this.”

Pick the latter. Always pick the latter.

I realize how absurd, even unnatural that sounds. Your reflex response is probably something like, “but then how will I {various terms for maintaining positive self image}?”

But here’s the thing. 

You have almost certainly been conditioned to stretch yourself way past what is actually mentally healthy.

The fact that you’re even thinking about needing a break is a surefire sign that you do need a break. That instinct to ask the question is pretty much all you’re going to get (unless you’re a cis, straight, white, abled man worth over 100 million dollars). Anything else has probably been crushed out of you by the pressures of living in this world, and the worst way to find out you should have been listening to that nagging voice that said “take a break” is by having a nervous breakdown because you physically cannot handle the stress anymore.

 We’re taught from day one not to recognize our own stress, and not to deal with it. Suppression is the only thing most of us ever get the chance to learn. Everything else is written off as being needy, or not caring enough about other people, or just not being good enough. 

In much the same way that “diet culture” convinces people that they aren’t actually hungry until they’re on the verge of passing out, a culture of being expected to serve others before ourselves convinces us that we’re not actually stressed until we start having random emotional boilovers at the sound of a door closing too loudly across the hall.

And one of the first signs of stress overload is memory problems. The kind that leave you feeling like no matter what you do, you can’t quite process everything and remember the important bits, so you just overcompensate and look for more, and more, and more.

Take the break.

What you need to worry about, basically always, is yourself.

You are the only person who can ever actually put your needs first all the time. No one else can be expected to, so it is of absolutely critical importance that you do it.

Once you break out of the pattern of obsession and actually recover, you can return to politics, or social media, or what the fuck ever with a clearer head, and be more productive and more comfortable.

neuropunk-travesty:

thecakeisaspy22:

neuropunk-travesty:

What the Right calls “censorship” is usually actually censure– people meeting them with strong disapproval.

What the Right calls for in return is usually actual censorship– asking ruling bodies and institutions to limit the freedom of expression.

Calling for counter-rallies against fascist recruiters: Censure.
Calling for universities to cancel “social justice” courses: Censorship.

Is it cool if I quote you this? Its a great explaintion, but its something I doubt id come up with myself.

My ideas are all yours to use.

ladyshinga:

With
cutting benefits and fighting the “opioid crisis”, there’s a war on the
disabled and sick. And we need the able-bodied and healthy to step up
and fight. We’re in pain, we’re tired, we’re home-bound and sick. We
can’t protest as easily, we can’t make calls and send letters as easily,
we can’t be a the front lines of our own fight even when we really want
to be. Help us.

This is not for you.

ladydrace:

This is a post aimed at me and other people who constantly fall into guilt spirals over all the things they can’t do, and feel they should somehow magically be able to do anyway.

For me, and for the others, this is a gentle reminder:

– Posts asking for monetary donations are speaking to people who have money. Not your broke ass, still worrying how to buy food next month.

– Posts asking you to care about [extreme injustice of the day] are speaking to people who have energy to care. Not you, hanging onto your sanity by the fingernails. 

And, most importantly: posts telling you that you are horrible/cheap/awful/rude/unworthy/unlikable if you don’t pay/reblog/signal boost/care? Those posts can fucking die in a fire.

TL;DR: Posts asking for shit you are not physically or mentally able to give? 

THOSE POSTS ARE NOT FOR YOU. 

lynati:

solarrow:

preludeinz:

randomslasher:

I get antsy when I haven’t produced content in awhile. I worry I’ll be forgotten. I feel like I have to keep buying my place in fandom with stuff like art and writing. Which makes it hard to produce content because that’s a lot of pressure to put on my creativity muses. So I sit here worrying instead. 

Bleh. 

HOLY SHIT THIS IS SUCH A MOOD

To everyone in the fandom who has been posting this the last few days: You are not obligated to continuously produce content. You are valued within this community by others, no matter what. I promise you that. You will not be forgotten. Don’t feel pressured. Do things in your own time. You are awesome. You are talented and you are welcome here always.

Constant creation – and the demanding of constant creation – is the fastest way to burn a creator out. Take your breaks. Go play a video game, read a new series, take some classes in something utterly related to your usual creative or work fields. GO OUT DANCING! 

And don’t make creators anxious or guilty about it when they do.