creative burnout & creative rest

You will see so many people on social media talking about how to be more creative and what book to read to inspire your art, but we barely talk about the exhaustion of creation.

Creating is demanding. It demands time and effort beyond a 9-to-5 shift. It consumes all your thoughts with no break. So often, a project will “burn you out”, not in a way that you’ll never be creative again, but you just simply need a break. A break to absorb life around you, for your own sake, not because you’re creating something that replicates life. However, taking a break sometimes feels as hard as executing a project. Especially if you’re a creative person, you’ll most likely be spending your time thinking about a new idea and things you can do now that you have all this time. There’s nothing wrong with that, but at some point, your mind will need a break. Or you’ll have a creative burnout.

I spent the last months working on a documentary about a complicated topic, and many times, the technicality of how I’m going to do the documentary got in the way of the creative process. I don’t regret anything, but it was probably one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. Every night, I dreamed of how I would edit it, and how I can still try to save it from the ashes. My mind was so focused on this that I completely forgot to enjoy the moment of creation and the people around me. I got so stressed I could barely eat. I was surviving to make this documentary instead of living to make it.

Then, it was done.

And now I’m left with zero energy to touch a camera. I’m still having ideas for next projects and thinking of other mediums I want to explore, but the thought of executing those ideas freaks me out. I want to spend the next days loathing the sun on my skin and doing nothing. Yet, I feel bad about it. I feel like I should be doing something, because look at all this time I have! However, this time I’ll rest. I’ll force myself to rest because I have to and I know my mind has to. For the first time, I get that I chose a path in which creativity is also work and everyone needs a break from work.

Right now, I’m in doubt if there is a way to rest creatively. If you can still relax and create something with no pressure just for the sake of it. So my plan for now is to rest and slowly get back into different mediums other than film to see what comes out of it.

In case you too feel creatively burned out and somehow have a magic recipe to make everything better, please share <3