Doing Creative Work During The Corona Crisis
I want to start off by saying that you don’t have to do creative work during the corona crisis if you don’t want to. There’ll never be any judgement from me if you decide that this is a time to just care for yourself and let your creative ideas wait.
That being said, if you do want to do creative work, I have written this blog post with the hope that it gives you some help along the way.
Remember that creativity matters
When horrible things are happening, creative dreams can start feeling feeble and caring for them shallow. What does it matter if you write a blog post, when people are dying?
Well, it does. In a situation when society is in a state of crisis, culture and creativity can help us get through it.
It matters on a personal level, because it brings you joy to create and helps you care for you mental well-being, which in turn helps you support the people around you.
It matters to others, because consuming culture and content can help us deal with our emotions. To take a break from thinking about corona to think about something else, to laugh or cry, be delighted or comforted. To feel connected and to get that sense of normality back. To be reminded that there is a world beyond the corona crisis.
Care for your focus
The by far biggest issue I see creatives having to create during this period is a lack of focus. Feeling scattered, anxious and like your attention slips when you try to focus on something is so common at the moment.
When something big is happening, regardless of what it is, our attention has a tendency to want to constantly return to that big thing. The fact that information and reminders about it is everywhere, and that we are fed a sense of panic and urgency doesn’t help. It propels us into survival mode and in that mode, not much else matters.
It’s important that we’re gentle with ourselves and don’t beat ourselves up for this. If you find that you’re struggling to focus, begin by just acknowledging it. Then, you can take steps to try to find your focus again. Two things can be helpful to do that.
Do what helps you manage your anxiety that is available to you. Take as good care of yourself as you can.
Try to step out of the corona bubble. Perhaps take a day of no news and other content about corona. Try to talk about other things. Find something to do that usually helps you to switch off. Let it take time and try to resist that urge to check.
When your brain isn’t in survival mode anymore, it can start caring about other things. Perhaps your focus won’t be as sharp as usual, and that’s okay too.
Find the work and pace the feels good
Perhaps you had ideas for the creative work you would be doing this spring. Perhaps all those ideas feel wrong now. Or maybe they don’t - that’s okay too.
Regardless of what plans you’ve had, it’s important to find the kind of creative work that suits your situation as it is. If you’re struggling to focus, perhaps that work that really demands all of your attention isn’t the best right now. Think about what creative work would support your days in a really good way right now.
In the same way, your usual habits might have gone out the window. Finding yourself with less or more time on your hands and routines completely erased can make it hard to find a new rhythm. But as we get longer into this period, hopefully you can start to get more acquainted with this new life. It might be helpful to imagine you’ve moved to another country (Coronaland!) and are establishing a new daily life.
Forget the pace you’ve been able to create at before. The circumstances were different and what was true then might not be true now. Go gentle and explore what pace feels good to create at right now, and embrace it.
I’d go easy on setting goals for now, since the situation is so unclear and things can change quickly. If you do set a goal, make it a kind one.
Look for the small joys
More than usual, looking for joy is so important. The darkness of what is happening is enough to deal with and we need the small joys of our every day lives to balance it out. Take the opportunity of all that time spent at home to lean into the acts of slow living you might not usually get around to. Doting on your plants, spending a little more time reading, baking something and eating it hot out of the oven.
Let this be a time to embrace the quiet, slow and creative life at home for a little while. It’s okay to enjoy yourself, even in a crisis.
