🧠🎢 When your brain fights you

I think there are a lot of us "creative types" out there are quietly dealing with some uncomfortable…quirks.

Like, we're stressed out because our focus runs away from us like a wild horse when we try to sit down and do a specific thing.

We can't stop ourselves from ruminating on things and doing things and talking about things until we pass TF out. (And then sometimes we wake up thinking about the things, too.)

We can't keep our files or our desks organized. Orrrrrrr…the opposite. We can’t relax until everything feels visually balanced. Sometimes both!

The lights in the office hurt our eyes and we can't get our feet comfortable.

The stuffy office air makes us feel like we can't breathe. Other people's emotions feel GIGANTIC to us.

No matter how much we police how we act to others, we're always wondering if they're upset with us or if they think we're weird.

We're interested in everything and have a million half-finished hobbies lying around our apartments. And then we're also low-key exhausted all the time, but we can't really sleep.

Does that about cover it?

I don't want to lump all creative people into a monolith, because we're not. Not everyone feels this way, or feels this way to an extent that it's very uncomfortable. But my goodness, I know so many creatives who have these “quirks”. And then they have kids, and their kids have these quirks, too!

I also don't want to introduce any specific clinical labels, because not everyone is ready for, or identifies with, those labels.

I just find it so odd and interesting that in every office I've ever worked in, I've seen the design team spend a good amount of time figuring out how to either block or disable the fluorescent lights above their desks.

I'd rather work in a dark cave, too, tbh.

I’m working on a book about this actually - an “office survival guide” of sorts for neurodivergent creatives (title in progress).

Spoiler: All the cool AI apps and project management tools in the universe won’t do shit for you until you rebuild your thought processes and judgements around your own behavior. The good news? It’s not so hard to do that.

Remember that line from Dirty Dancing - "Don't put Baby in a corner" ?

Caging in all your natural ways of expressing yourself...or harping on yourself for not be organized enough, social enough, consistent enough — is the fastest way to send yourself into a crash.

What if you trusted that your brain had a good reason for not focusing on that thing at this time?

What if you were able to tease and cajol yourself into the first step of a thing, so that it didn't feel like pulling teeth to do the rest? What if it feel totally normal to plan ahead and complete each step of a plan, and it felt safe and cozy to do that — instead of feeling like the IRS was auditing you?

What if a consistent creative routine felt nourishing and loving and life-giving — instead of being a punishment for not being good enough?

It’s possible, I promise.

That’s it for today. Have a pleasant Sunday :)

-Cathy