Staying Creative During Tough Times
On Friday, February 3rd, at 19 weeks pregnant with our second child, my husband and I went in for an incredibly long and detailed ultrasound where we received absolutely life-altering news. Our unborn baby girl, who had already stolen our hearts, would be born with multiple disabilities, namely Spina Bifida, Hydrocephalus and an Arnold-Chiari malformation. We were told she may never walk and that she may suffer damage to parts of her brain where excess fluid was building up. In short, the prognosis with these disabilities included possibilities of paralysis from the waist down, learning disabilities, choking risk, breathing difficulties, excretory failures, and many other issues. At that moment, I fell to a deep dark place of fear and self-pity. It seemed like our world was falling apart.
Moments like these happen to all of us. Whether it’s related to health, finances, family, or anything else, life outside of work can and will shake us to our core. In these moments, we all tend to become overwhelmed by a dark cloud that, at first, seems unshakeable. The TRUTH is that it is not.
The following Monday, I was sitting in morning traffic behind a rusty old red van (that was actually falling apart) when I had an epiphany. If this piece of junk van (that had to have been born in the year 500 B.C.) could continue rolling around on worn down rubber, then I undoubtedly can still do my fun, creative, passion-filled job.
It was a realization that turned everything around for me. Feeling optimistic, I entered into work that day with new-found energy. Every task that came my way I was able to take on with a clear and level head. Difficult design challenges seemed easier than ever.
So what happened? Why, during one of the darkest, most difficult times of my life did the weight of my work seem so effortless?
Enter the rusted half dead van theory (very scientific, right?). While I’m sure it’s different for everyone, I quickly realized there are a few tools we can all use to stay positive, remain focused and most importantly, get shit done when it seems like the heaviest weight of the world is on our shoulders.
Below are new perspectives that helped me, and will hopefully help others with similar stresses.
Put on your rose-colored glasses.
If you are an over-dramatic, over-emotional person like I am (I literally have 0% tear control and the greatest ability to break down at any possible moment) then try putting on your rose-colored glasses for a change and look for the rusty van in the room. Believe it or not, sometimes seeking things, people, and situations that have it worse off than you do can really help. Take your keyboard for example. Every day it gets beat on by your 10 greedy, thoughtless little fingers, with the occasional crumbs falling from your unsatisfied mouth. Being a keyboard would suck. I promise that whatever you’re going through has more hope than that.
Get out of your own head.
The truest experiences in life only happen when you’re waist-deep in the mud, trudging through joyfully like a baby elephant during their first bath (fun fact: elephants bathe in mud to protect their sensitive skin from getting sunburned — weird right?). In essence, to truly succeed, you need to fully get in life’s moments and get out of your head. Anytime I sit down to work on a project I put on my headphones, immerse myself in the task at hand and drown out the problems of the world. Try to remember why you’ve become a creative and how therapeutic your work can be. By continuing to press forward and kick ass with your work, not only are you doing your work a favor but really YOUR WORK is doing YOU a favor.
Soak up the benefits of post-traumatic growth.
Coined in the 1990s, the idea behind post-traumatic growth is that individuals going through tough times experience profound transformation, resulting in psychological growth. This means that seemingly terrible situations actually make you less terrible. Using difficult times to your creative advantage is sure to take your work to the next level (and let’s face it, you totally deserve the upper hand when your life is sliding downhill).
A man I greatly respect once said, “The ability to stay calm and professional in a difficult situation can mean the difference between success and failure. Literally.”
— David Moncur, Principal at Moncur
Terrible things happen to good people every day, but it’s those hardships that take good people and makes them great. Trust me, I know how hard it can be to change your perspective, but we should all try to take the difficult times that come our way and use them to thrive. Remember, the tougher life gets, the tougher we become.
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