Finding Your Balance
"Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some."
- Robert Fulghum
Lately I've been feeling a bit off-kilter. Writing has become a task, something I do out of duty, not out of love. It's a phase that I know will pass, but in the meantime I need to find my balance again.
Like many writers, I find myself going through cycles. I indulge in huge amounts of writing and don't give back to myself. This inevitably leads to varying forms of burnout.
Where to begin
As artists, we have a responsibility to take care of and nurture ourselves. At the onset of burnout, one must stop and assess the situation. To do so, we might ask ourselves some questions like:
- Have I accepted too much responsibility right now?
- Am I struggling with writing because I am seeking perfection?
- Are my expectations too high?
- Have I refilled my well enough in the last few weeks?
How to regain balance
More often than not, writers feel unbalanced when they devote long hours to writing and not enough time to replenishing the inner resources being used up with that writing. Even though you are a writer, there are probably plenty of other artistic things you are interested in:
- painting
- drawing
- textile arts
- music
- dance
You must be very careful and remember to balance your writing life with other things you love and enjoy. An hour-long excursion to the local art or history museum could be just what you need to feel stable again. Taking part in a contemporary dance class might be the very thing that stirs your creative juices again.
The formula for balance is simple: Mix equal parts of fun and play with writing.
