Is Creativity Exhausting?

[shakabrah]

Aug 15, 2008, 7:00am, jchitty wrote:In answer to your question here, well, "some are condemned by the Gods to write." Isn't that the truth. I can never be satisfied. It's always about writing the next song....

[hummingbird]

Just wanted to add that I am a firm believer in naps. And you don't have to sleep. You lie down in a dim, airy room, for 20 to 30 minutes. Set an alarm, let your mind go. I do this every afternoon. (That's why I can write music from after work til midnight) Studies have shown that people who have siestas are more productive and happy. It's about time the 'modern' work world took note.H

[davewalton]

Aug 15, 2008, 11:57am, hummingbird wrote:Just wanted to add that I am a firm believer in naps. Would you mind convincing Marcia how much they'll help me?

[shakabrah]

My motto:lunch buffet, long nap....

[jchitty]

Aug 15, 2008, 1:19pm, shakabrah wrote:My motto:lunch buffet, long nap....LOL.

[grandmatarkin]

Strange about napping. I find that if I lie down but don't fall asleep, I'll actually feel worse when I get up... hmm.

[ggalen]

When I have a middle of the day nap, I find that if I set the alarm for 20 mins, I wake up refreshed.But if I go any longer, I drop into deeper sleep for a while, and wake up horribly dazed and unable to concentrate for hours afterward.

[suzdoyle]

Fascinating topic! For me, if I'm creating in my own time and at my own pace, or if collaborating with others, then creativity is invigorating and inspiring, and I create til I feel ready to stop during a given work time (I use the word "work" loosely, because doing music feels more like PLAY to me!). Sometimes it's a quick charting out of a new cartoon melody; other times its tinkering for hours and hours with a particular orchestration or arrangement.If there is an artificial deadline or urgency, that would be tiring. So learning to say no to projects that would be depleting is one of my particular self-care practices as a person who makes my living with creativity. And, saying YES to fun projects i can do without feeling pressured to meet someone else's deadline or urgency means I can create what I want, when I want, and in a way that remains fun and invigorating.For example . . . A couple of years ago some local classical piano teachers asked me to write a book or make a video of some particular ideas I developed about different ways to "speak" the language of music.That sounded like fun, and I wanted to practice composing for film, so my daughter and I (and various assorted creative co-horts) decided to present these ideas in a dramatized/ satirical educational movie. It took a year from conception to completion, and our agreement at the outset was to do the project without a specirfic timeline attached to it. We imagined it might take 6 months to several years to finish the movie.We had many logistics and locations that had to be scheduled over a specific 3 month period, but everything else was pretty naturally flowing and unfolded fairly organically (yes, this is Oregon, land of Birkenstocks and organic everything). It was a lot of work, but it was completely invigorating and energizing, because we were all having so dang much fun!Doing the project with a loose timeline and paying attention to ALSO creating lots of relaxation and down time was essential to ensuring that things felt healthy.Soooooooo, in my experience, if you understand how to be generous with your own self-care, then you tend to create healthy agreements with yourself and with collaborators about HOW to work, so you can do so without becoming depleted. ,Suz

[weslong]

Yeah, I don't always know when to take breaks and wind up with listening fatigue, especially when doing mix downs. I try not to look at it as "business" otherwise I get stressed and start thinking too much about what kind of stuff I 'should be making'.I usually can only work in short, creative bursts. If I feel tired, I don't try to force myself to do music.

[Mark Kaufman]

I'm a wee bit obsessive, so if left to my own devices I can just go and go and go when it's time to create or record. If I didn't have a family to make me behave, I would skip entire nights of sleep like I used to in my 20's. But then I would conk out in absolute blissful exhaustion. Being creative flexes certain "muscles", and they get fatigued just like real muscles. But with a lot of exercise, they also get stronger.