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As someone addicted to using their phone, and a creative person, I have been worrying over my habits and finding how to get my creative spark back through methods and avoiding scrolling. While this has all been extremely helpful, I don’t want to write about how my creativity has been sapped, and instead, reconnect with what it feels like to enjoy creative practice again.

Let’s just talk about the nature of creativity, and let’s just imagine that, for now, we don’t have a problem with finding it.

First of all, there is a spark, some sort of ignition: an image, a question, a sound; anything at all, that is “intriguing” - something that makes you want to stop and say…

“wait a minute, what is that? Let’s examine this closer.”

Or maybe it’s something more soft or ephemeral, like a feeling or a smell; something that takes you out of your current place and time and reminds you of something, or makes you imagine somewhere else you wish to be.

Yes, this is nothing more than inspiration. But a lot of the time, this is the igniting point from where you can begin.

And then, all that needs to come next is the question, “What if?”

Then, there are no holds barred. What if that smell came from an animal and not a place or person? What if that feeling could transport you to another place and time, physically, instead of mentally or emotionally?

What if one day, while on your morning commute, you discovered you had superpowers? What would fundamentally change about how your day plays out?

That’s really all it takes.

But we are all so focused on results: what does this idea give me? Will anyone else like this idea? Can I make this into a YouTube Short or a Reel? What if this idea already exists and I just didn’t know about it? Why bother going through the trouble of making something with this idea if it already exists and no one will see it or pay for it?

Social media and the pressure to perform for capitalism has normalized this idea more than it should. I am exhausted from this way of thinking, even if my livelihood might depend on it.

No, creativity really is very simple. We just tend to over-complicate everything when we are so worried about how something will be received.

Instead, I say creativity really is just mental indulgence. And if you, like me, are of the working class or poor, we are trained to avoid indulgence when it comes to making our impact - whether that’s for financial gain or social networking - because we have too much riding on each decision, our jobs, our homes, our lives.

We are trained more often to be practical and reasonable, and abstain from indulgent behavior. Well, not all of us, but too many of us are forced down this path against our wills (women and/or people of color).

This, for better or worse, was drilled into me as a kid. That you work hard, get everything done, and play later. That was before my ADHD diagnosis was discovered.

Now I am seeing that play should be ever-present. A constant in my life. Yes, life can be practical, logical, and serious in some cases, some of the time. But every moment of every day cannot be too serious

I am making an effort to engage in more indulgent behavior and thinking. I want to allow myself room to breathe and imagine - even while on the clock (don’t tell my bosses).

Because if all creativity takes is a little spark and what if, then there can be plenty of space for that whenever that is most needed. And if you don’t have ADHD, have fun doing that on a logical rhythm with all that ability to plan, prioritize, and remember things well. I for one, will need to be writing all this down the moment I physically can or it’ll leave me - object permanence and all that jazz.

Creativity should be rightly thought of as indulgence, but an indulgence no one should be shamed or disciplined out of partaking in. We should relish our indulgence in creativity. It reminds us that we are humans with souls and minds that are capable of so much more than what is expected of us.

Also, since it is an indulgence, why oh why would we waste away all that creative drive and power for the benefit of the corporations? Why, tell me, should our God-given ability and right to indulge in creative thinking and play be outsourced to the ends of making rich people even richer?

Almost as if creativity is actually very lucrative with the right conditions.

First and foremost, your creativity is for you. You get the reward since you do the work. If you even want to think about it that way, and if you are anything like me, a writer on the internet in 2026, it makes sense that you might.

Now, creativity is the force that drives, the energetic push and pull to make things. But, it does not equate to craft. That is something else. But in my opinion, that can be just as intuitive:

1. Inspiration sparks idea.

2. You start asking “what if…?”

Ask yourself a follow-up question

3. Ask “What form do I want this to take?”

Appeal to the senses. What senses does this idea tickle? Is this a visual idea? - something people should be able to see in space or on a screen? Should it be heard? - are the most important aspects of this idea audio-forward? Could this be something someone can experience on a page? Is is colorful, or is it monochrome? Can it move or is it still? Is there any blending of the senses that would benefit this idea the best?

Name the senses that are the most compelled by the idea. Once you have that… you can begin creating the thing.

It might take a little bit of skill to learn the medium to bring your idea to life, and you might even end up having to share the idea with others before it’s made so they can assist you or collaborate with their own talents. But, before you do that - give yourself permission to take a stab at the medium without being good at it - make a shitty version all by yourself. Then, try again.

Rinse and repeat until it’s in a form that others can experience. Unless you don’t care much about its quality, don’t share it widely; show a few trusted people first.

Take some feedback, negative along with positive, and only hold on to the points that help enhance your idea and make it more enjoyable and interesting (for you).

Again, rinse and repeat. Process gives birth to result.

Why is this considered frivolous if not to distract from the beauty and power of such an innately human experience?

We are always seeing products, buying merchandise, watching, reading and listening to online showcases - rarely do we see or experience the process of making those results.

To me, this is a big reason why creativity is not as fun or easy as it once was. It isn’t about the process anymore, because we are far too involved only with the idea of the end result.

These things don’t just appear out of thin air. No matter what, it takes something to make something. Even if the speed and quality seem miraculous, it always took something from something else to become itself.

And that is the process, the alchemy of being a creative. It is a force for human life and expansion, a normal and rightful indulgence, and it takes energy as it gives.

Preserve some energy today to imagine being creative. Indulge in the fantasy and see how it feeds back into you.

It isn’t complicated. Stop over-complicating it by making it a chore.

Play.

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“A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Someone coined that, who was it? Some guy in advertising? Confucius?

What does it mean?…

That a thousand words says a lot, that a picture communicates more clearly and instantaneously than words do?

That pictures are more valuable than words because we get to the point quicker?

Maybe because words are mainly linear and pictures are more abstract and nebulous?

Can a thousand words create a picture as effectively; are words cheap in comparison to what a picture can do?

Which has more inherent value?

Is art really about value, or is that just one way we are trained to look at it?

What about the artist? Can the artist make an accurate assessment on the value of the art they create?

Should art be quantifiable?

Do we do that anyways?

Is everything quantifiable?

Why should anything not be quantifiable, easy to label, conquerable and direct?

If pictures and words alike tell stories, what are we taking away from those stories?

What do those stories mean and how important are their messages?

Questions. Some of these are at the heart of where we are as a digital, AI slop-filled, online attention economy.

If you are a consumer of art - someone who appreciates art - you might have your own answers to these questions above based off your preferences. Maybe you’re right, and maybe you’re wrong.

If you are someone who creates art, not just a consumer or fan, you might have a different battle to fight here. You are well-acquainted with the social obligation to prove yourself valuable.

Why should anyone pay attention to you?

What important conversations are you bringing to the table?

What does your art have to do with what people want to see and hear right now?

Every creative person has to contend with or be swallowed in despair at not being able to answer these calls-to-action. Having to sit with the notion that your ideas, your works, only really mean anything to you and you alone, and probably aren’t for the world to appreciate.

But I am here to tell you, as well as many others, that chase for relevance and attention is only poisoning your thoughts, and by extension, all your creative and artistic efforts.

It’s no surprise that the advent of Gen AI is only interested in making things convenient, cheap, instant, and repeatable. It’s largely what most modern technology has been created for. Tech exists to make shopping, researching, learning, and yes, making a product quick, efficient, and results-based so that you can take your place in the future of innovation and capitalistic progress.

So, which art form is the most future-proof?

Which version of live performance, recorded or no, is going to resonate with the next generation?

Which are doomed to fall into obscurity in the next decade?

Who cares about those enough to keep them alive when they are clearly going to die anyway?

As a writer, an artist, a dancer, a teacher, and a performer, these questions have been at the forefront of my mind these past few weeks, while subconsciously tormenting me for years. If no one cares, what should I be doing differently?

I can’t bring myself to do anything different. Everything feels wrong, and as a result, I stew in my own self pity, creating nothing.

But now…

I think I know the answer, and it isn’t clean-cut, easily-digestible, or comforting in some cases, but it is my answer and the answer for many creative people in this AI-dominated age.

Being truly creative is being brave - not taking the easy way out or allowing the wrong voices to influence you.

While I have felt insignificant as a creatively-inclined person, I now can see that the loudest voices making me feel that way have more to gain from me NOT creating than creating.

There are lots of people out there who are losing their creative strengths, their artistic muscles are atrophying, and they are either unaware and miserable as a result, or they are aware and bitter.

So they take out their frustration on people who are creating from their own flesh - their blood, sweat and tears - who use their own imperfect and abstract ideas to express themselves and their moral values in various colors, sounds, and languages. They are turning bitter, because the bravery they needed to continue to create was squashed or taken away.

My opinion is that, historically, the people who seem like they’re “winning” at life have really just been taken in by a lie that they can have it all in exchange for what makes them whole, their humanity.

“Do it our way.”

“Use our tools.”

“Use our words and phrases.”

“Dress like this.”

“If you do all that, then we’ll let you in the club.”

And what do they get in exchange? A shiny new toy? If they were actually part of the “club,” why are they still aching, striving for something more?

It’s because they already had everything they needed. They gave it all up for the toy.

One lousy toy. Talk about being scammed.

So, is a picture worth a thousand words?

Is there a version of artistic expression that is inherently more valuable than any other?

You might as well be asking if a certain color of the rainbow is more effective at being a color, when all of them are aspects of the same force - light.

And light is powerful.

Don’t take your eyes off the light.

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When you are struggling to rediscover your creative spark (like me), sometimes it feels nice to take a look at the artists and creative minds of the past to give you some perspective.

I desperately need this, but I am also neurodivergent, and where my attention goes, my body follows. It blows to and fro and finding a landing place to humor my creative passions feels impossible. So, I set out to find solutions and advice from the past, from creative minds that also showed signs of neurodiversity - even if they never were officially diagnosed.

I picked five.

James Joyce

Irish novelist, poet, and critic.

Some interesting (relatable) pieces of information that I found on Joyce’s creative routines and preferences were that he kept things fast and loose while starting out. He wrote primarily from a stream of consciousness approach, letting tidbits of his psyche play around with his words and thoughts until he found an anchoring point, a thesis.

He suffered from chronic eye pain and various ailments that resulted in him losing his sight as he aged, so it is said he took to writing in red and blue crayons on large white sheets of paper or cardboard. He also ended up liking to write while laying down on his stomach, I suppose to get closer to the words as he went blind. He didn’t care much for reading literature (makes sense now) and he said that keeping your thoughts your own made for better writing, and that the process of editing your words made your ideas clearer. While it can seem like Joyce was staunch in his personal approach (perhaps it offered him comfort in an uncomfortable life), it’s clear to see the practicality of his methods too. He didn’t judge his ideas, only allowed them to flow, take shape, and valued only adjusting those ideas after realizing them.

Michelangelo

Italian poet, sculptor, and central figure of the Renaissance.

It’s hard to pin down just one method of one medium he used, and it might be fair to think that most Renaissance artists and thinkers were just “winging it” to start out - at least, that’s what made their talents unique. I mean, it’s a feat these days to have so many artistic and scientific disciplines, but back then, it might just be due to free rein and neurodivergence.

For Michelangelo, he considered himself foremost a sculptor. He is said that his approach to sculpting felt easy, if not tedious, because he could envision the subject trapped inside the stone, marble, or clay, and it was his duty to release them from it. Straightforward, simple, and pushed through dedication: David is locked inside the marble and Michelangelo had to free him. He made up his mind on the person or thing that deserved to be seen, as if they were simply hidden away. It wasn’t his responsibility to create David as a concept from scratch, but simply to believe in him, see his form as he imagined it, and chip away at his constraints. Michelangelo trusted in an idea so much that he thought of it as already born, breathing and living in the world, and his contribution to that idea was to reveal it through small and deliberate strokes and shapes, cutting away the excess until the idea was visible.

Perhaps this gave him more pleasure than painting, especially the Sistine Chapel, which he wrote about in his diaries as being one of the worst projects to work on (who wants to paint a ceiling that high up, that intricately, for months at a time? His poor neck and back!). Shout out to all the neurodiverse artists who have to move around in order to keep creating, and can’t be comfortable in an office chair, sitting at a desk!

Franz Kafka

A strange but intriguing figure to learn from: an early 20th century Jewish Czech writer from Prague, he’s known for works that exposed and analyzed the insanity of living in a bureaucratically-run society. While he obviously did what all writers are advised to do: “write what you know” (or observe), his methods were also very inconsistent and steeped in emotion. What I mean is, he didn’t have a set routine to write his books or essays. Kafka had more of a creative tide. Some days, he wrote a lot and couldn’t seem to stop, then he’s suffer through long periods of no inspiration or motivation to write (and if this isn’t me too!). Still, he was able to express his fears, prejudices, and critiques of his lived reality through his works as if he were “possessed.” He spoke about how this “possession” to write would come over him at times, and he recalled it being uncomfortable and even frightening.

To me, this is what hyper-focus can feel like; the kind of work that pulls you in and you forget to eat, sleep, or use the toilet. Yeah, it’s exhilarating sometimes, and can be painful too. I wanted to include Kafka, not because he offered me a solution, but more as a reminder that if you struggle through your creative journey, you still count as an artist and creative.

Steven Spielberg

Famous American filmmaker and director.

It’s slightly easier to use him, since he is living and has a formal diagnosis of dyslexia. While I don’t have time to go into his life journey, he was diagnosed with dyslexia and that knowledge has only inspired him to create more and advocate for literacy and reading all throughout his works. Something Spielberg does most effectively is that he is able to build his movies to an emotional crescendo, pulling the audience into a single shared emotional experience, and sending a strong central message that encapsulates the story in one moment. He understands the importance of emotional resonance in storytelling, and capitalizes on it. He communicates, visually, musically; emotionally, narratively, if not in the written word.

Neurodiverse people can feel their emotions very deeply, and those emotions can have a very real physiological impact on their lives and work (I have my own experience with heightened emotions dictating my health too). It makes sense to me, that someone who values a heightened emotional moment and its power on an audience can make that a focal point for finding their next big idea. How many times do you think someone has written a song simply based off one intense interaction or a musical riff that elicits an emotional memory? Too many to count.

Agatha Christie

Renowned English mystery writer.

She was very observant and liked to write about what she saw and her surroundings. She had encouragement from her caretakers to write and tell her little stories; she was even published by age 11. She had no formal education until her mid-to-late teens, and was allowed a lot of free-rein movement to teach herself things, like how to read. She had imaginary friends and would write down splendid ideas as soon as they popped into her head. She seemed like the type of person who took in more of the world around her and alchemized those details into exciting and eccentric stories.

So, in conclusion, what have I learned about being creative while being neurodivergent? There are obviously many ways to accomplish things: neurodiverse people have always been aware of their shortcomings socially and physically, and they are used to finding ways around those struggles and shortcomings. That really is the essence of all neurodiversity; it’s that you are not broken, but that you do things in your own way, and that isn’t wrong.

Neurodiversity just means different wiring, and we all deal with the shame around that in our own ways. Some of us give into having the people around us tell us the right way to do things, but most of us and up finding a way that works for us. And usually, that personal way that make our brains happy, make us unique and stand out among our peers, and helps us do our best work.

Perhaps that’s what all this is about: not allowing the world to tell us we’re doing it wrong, but that we can find a way that works for us and that can be our anchor, our salvation in a way. A lot of these people didn’t live in modern society and had to deal with its pressures, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t struggle.

They just didn’t preemptively judge themselves for “not being the right kind of artist,” hence they didn’t put up blocks for themselves to keep from doing their best work. They were mostly unencumbered. They just were themselves. And turns out, that’s something I can take to heart this year.

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References

The Marginalian - Joyce, etc.

Slate - Michelangelo

Medium - Spielberg

Brittle Paper - Kafka

Kafka Museum - His works

Agatha Christie - How she wrote

Sorry for the thought experiments, engage if you want or just keep on scrolling. But seriously though, DRINK YOUR WATER - don’t let the AI data centers be the only water-guzzling creative job st…

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Basically, what I want to know is…

Does creativity come from desperation? Passion? Feeling connected to oneself? Do you have to have a regulated nervous system to be creative, or are the stresses of current life and oppression enough to get the job done?

Is it even about getting the job done?

Can one express themselves if they feel like they’re being hunted for sport?

I seek to find reasons to remain creative and foster that impulse.

Is creativity just adrenaline?

I’ve been told it is a higher function of the brain, and that people who have to focus on survival struggle to tap into creative thinking due to all their mental energy being taken up by survival.

I’ve also heard that those under duress often come up with creative ideas and solutions to problems much faster. The workers at your job who do most of the work, but never get the promotion or recognition for their contributions - they are creative in quiet, small ways, everyday patch-workers that keep the ship afloat where others’ incompetence prevails.

Is that the kind of creativity that only allows for small practical solutions to be made, or grand, sweeping ideas that take the entire project or operation forward to new heights? Where does the juice come from?

Also, is it just something that happens when we’re uncomfortable with silence? When we see an empty space, do we just need to fill it with… anything? What compels creativity to assert itself in our lives, and how much control do we actually have over that process?

So many questions, but I am starting to believe that there is only one answer to them all.

YES.

Yes… to all of the above.

Lately, I have been tired. And due to the tiredness, I have not been creative, and that is making me miserable. But in an effort to become less miserable, I am finding my way back to creativity. And yes, I am not there yet, but it isn’t as far away as I once believed.

Creativity, in many ways, is contagious. You can catch creativity from others being creative, being in proximity to creativity fosters that spirit. Creativity is like a virus in that way, but there are many ways to kill creativity too, and they are subtle and effective.

Competition, while offering that adrenaline boost a lot of us are seeking in our creative lives, can lead down a slippery slope to comparison, which kills creativity by qualifying and quantifying it against an arbitrary standard.

Approval, which I would say only counts to fan the flame of creativity - wanting to impress the reader, the audience, the viewer, the client - chips away at the drive to make anything personal, selfish, or real. Creativity and performance cannot coexist for long, and pressure to keep showing up for a demanding or responsive audience can supersede truly creative fire.

Distraction, a familiar presence for most of us these days, takes away the energy to create by filling in the empty spaces and dominating the rhythms that can lead us down the path toward our creative place. Don’t beat yourself up too harshly for falling for distraction’s siren song again and again. If I’ve learned anything from the last decade, it’s that your attention is a form of currency that many crave to take from you. If your attention has that much value, guard it like a miser. Administer that attention where you see fit, and watch the investments gain interest effortlessly.

And there’s just general fatigue. We are all tired. And we are all tired due to the reasons mentioned above. We want to be distracted, gain approval, and show that we are worthy in various small ways in life. But creativity - she is taken from us slowly, subtly, when we trade her in for these desires.

In 2026, I choose creativity. I don’t need the answers to come to me instantly. I don’t need the process to be easy or quick. I miss the freedom and relief being creatively-engaged gave me when times got hard.

We are entering darker days than we have ever seen, and for some of us, creativity is our avenue of shedding organic light in the darkness.

Creativity is a blessing and a curse, and the enemies of our happiness knows that, so that’s why they are trying to kill our creative spirit. Our light is what they fear above all. By allowing creativity to thrive in our minds and souls, we thwart the most insidious power that the agents of darkness have over us.

So yes, it could come from adrenaline, from boredom, from overwhelming circumstances - your ideas might be trite, they might suck, there could be similar ones out there already, but that isn’t a good enough reason to not believe that it’s worthwhile.

Grab that creativity however it comes to you. Foster it, practice it, claim it.

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Let’s cling to the idea that 2026 is what we make it, and that there are incredible opportunities on the horizon. Stay safe and remember you’re loved and valued.

See you in 2026!

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As a writer, I love print books, I love the feel of them and their smell, and I can lose myself in reading one. I have had many fond memories and experiences lost in the pages of a print book. I have also lost myself just as intensely in an audiobook while cleaning my house, or going for a walk, or on a long car trip.

But as an ADHDer, I know the feeling of sitting down to read a print book and just losing myself in my thoughts more than comprehending the words in front of me. Not because the story is bad or boring, but that it just doesn’t have the “it” factor that gets me invested from page one. This has sometimes led to a shame spiral about my comprehension abilities, but I think that feeling is misplaced.

Who’s heard these interjections from the reading community?

“Well, if you only listened to the audiobook, you didn’t actually read the book.”

“You didn’t read the book. Only real book lovers or fans sit down to read the book.”

Or the dreaded, “I just love the feeling of a physical book in my hands. I can only read real life books anyway.”

As if people who listen to audiobooks don’t also love the feeling and weight of a physical print book in their hands.

Unfortunately, a portion of the reading community has leaned into this pretentiousness. I want to start this off by saying, I am not trying to make this a neurodivergent versus neurotypical thing, or trying to say that you’re an asshole if you have said things like this; or feel this way genuinely. I think print versus audiobook should only be about personal preference and not some kind of ignorant elitism.

So let’s look at this common and enduring debate, while presenting a somatic angle.

Benefits of Print Reading

Let’s get the obvious benefits of reading physical books out of the way. Many studies show time and again that reading from the physical page enhances comprehension, reduces stress and eye strain, and builds retention and focus. When you read words, you boost your brain health.

Print books rock!

Also, engaging in tangible, analog activities engages more parts of your brain at once and soothes the nervous system.

And best of all, NO ADVERTISEMENTS! I’m kidding, but you have to admit, that is a great bonus these days.

Now, all of these benefits don’t discount any individual, or at least they shouldn’t. If you are neurodivergent or have visual disability, reading print books isn’t as accessible as you’d like it to be.

Hence, the case for audiobooks

Benefits of Audiobooks

Audiobooks are convenient, and in an information age that’s constantly on the move, convenience is everything. We can multitask, not putting our lives on hold, and still enjoy a book, just like someone who sits down to read might.

Not only that, audiobooks are accessible to the disabled. Neurodivergents with ADHD (wandering attention and thoughts, inability to sit still), dyslexia (word-processing disorder), or just busy lives (working people with long hours or commutes, stay-at-home parents, etc.) might consider reading a book if it comes in an audio format in addition to a print version.

Not only that, but our human understanding of life, morals, history, and identity came from the oral tradition - the stories and narratives passed down through generations by being TOLD these stories. Yes, it is completely evolutionarily human and natural to listen to someone tell you a story. We do it all the time, even today. You might listen to a podcast or a radio show, is that not similar?

If I am busy, I can’t focus well, or my attention is diverted to something else important that I have to address right now - and we all know ADHD thrives off urgency. Feeling like I can pop in my earbuds and immerse myself in a new fantastical world or alternate reality might just be what I need.

I save my eyes the strain and the pressure to appear focused and controlled and just take in the story as I need in the moment. And I know that I’m employing a technological advancement that creates accessibility to others who might not be able to enjoy sitting down to read a good book. And you’ll know from reading my previous essays, that a world with accessibility for the disabled makes the world better for everyone!

And it isn’t like anyone who listens to an audiobook won’t also enjoy sitting down at the end of a long day and enjoying the print copy. You don’t know how many of my Audible™ books I got in print or rented from the local library when I ended my subscription. If I love a story, I want to experience that story in whatever way I can, period.

But there’s more…

The Somatic Edge

Audiobooks are good for your eyes; at least in, 2025, they are.

I read a fascinating passage from author and creator of “The Soothe Programme” in the UK, Nahid de Belgeonne, in their book called “Soothe: The Book Your Nervous System Has Been Longing For.” An early chapter covered the effects that the five senses have on regulating the nervous system. I suggest you check out de Belgeonne’s work for yourself for more detailed breakdowns.

Vision and Hearing Somatic Details

In the chapter called “Body-Sensing,” de Belgeonne talks about vision and hearing. The eyes are in direct connection to our central nervous system and can even be thought of two identical extensions of the brain that are exposed to the outside world - like teeth are the only “outside bones.” Before the rise of the digital age, we were often looking up and out at the outside world and enjoying the amazing, soothing vistas it contains. We all live with tiny TVs in our pockets and have drastically upped our screen time in the last couple of decades. Screens are relatively small and don’t offer the wide vistas and horizons that we used to look at more than backlit screens. Over time, because our brains are only making guesses as to what the world actually looks like via neural signals and context clues from growing up - like know that a big building in the distance isn’t actually small like it appears - we cannot effectively do this while looking at a phone, tablet, or computer screen. Naturally, this causes some wear and tear on our eyes, specifically the lenses, having to compensate for this unnatural visual ritual.

It’s literally called accommodation, that the lenses of our eyes adjust to perceive images from great distances and up close too. The lenses stay contracted for longer periods than is natural. And we are addicted to these small screens, compelled by instant gratification, as well as our fight or flight impulses. That isn’t just for screens, but for any small thing that we look at for hours at a time each day, tensing our lenses and the muscles that hold our focus on small close up images than the distant vistas, and away from natural light.

You can read a book and look at the horizon, the sunset, or go for a walk in a park, and allow your eyes to relax in this way, and even close them completely… if you are listening to an audiobook.

When it comes to hearing, somatically speaking, listening to sounds in a wide range of frequencies and varieties is beneficial for higher-planning and balance. The vestibular system is located in the ear and lots of auditory information can be passed through the cortex that is close to the area that processes higher-level planning. Many audiobooks are edited with what’s called a “low-pass filter” that allows lower frequencies through that normally would be edited out for intelligibility. It saves on file space and size and can allow for a more dynamic listening experience while keeping clarity and intelligibility.

There are benefits to listening to audio up close, as well as far away. Listening to an audiobook over a speaker in a group setting, or alone while doing dishes, or cleaning the house might have its somatic and social benefits (like a book-club where everyone listens to the audiobook together while doing little projects). We are sitting down so much these days, to our physical detriment, and our visual system informs our vestibular system. When we are sedentary, we are kneecapping our vestibular senses and input, which controls our sense of where we are in space and if we are right-side up or tilted. This effects our balance, and that can dysregulate our nervous system too.

A good somatic practice includes a lot of movement, even slow movement, to stimulate the vagus nerve and get us regulated through our senses. I’m just saying, that is a lot easier to do while reading through an audiobook than sitting down to read.

Doesn’t matter how you read, just stop scrolling

So yes, I will not tell you that your preferred medium for consuming good stories makes you an asshole, or a bad reader, or dumb, or whatever else someone might qualify a reader as. That’s elitist.

For most of human history, working people were illiterate. No one was going to school unless they were royalty, nobility, or going into the clergy or politics. Being able to physically read was a privilege reserved for the wealthy.

Now, we learn through lectures and classes being taught by instructors, orally, in addition to the textbooks. We listen and speak to each other, it’s our primary method of communication as humans. Listening to audiobooks, to me, makes just as much logical sense as sitting down to read a book. I know the story? I took in the prose? Visually and audibly, I read the story. Simple.

So my advice, instead on getting on your high horse over how you consume media or don’t consume media, try going for a walk and letting your eyes relax, balancing and soothing out your nervous system by not engaging your eyes in a small, contained, oftentimes backlit area, and allow yourself the option to continue your favorite story in an audio format and see if you feel better afterwards. You might just enjoy yourself.

This is a thought that goes through my head a lot when I’m stressed. I’m sure you’ve been there too.

While I didn’t mean to make this essay so personal, I don’t find myself able to speak on it from any other point of view. I can only do my research and tap in to what I know about myself.

We’ve all been there a time or two: emotions are high, situation is overwhelming or stressful, and we just get to urge to tell someone off in the form of, “don’t tell me what to do,” despite the needs of the situation or the person trying to intervene, interrupt, or help. It rarely ever comes from a place that isn’t emotional or stressed or aggravated. And for the neurodivergent person, this can be a more common feeling than one might expect. Clinically, there are a couple reasons for this, and I will try my best to explain it from my own experience.

PDA

When I find myself in a high-stakes situation, or perhaps a group project with a lot of work placed on my plate, this frustrating dichotomy comes in when someone will try to make me stop or change course. And while I do often want to be instructed in the best way to do something, in these cases, unbidden, I hate being told what to do. It comes out of nowhere and surprises even me. When I’m overly stressed, I even say so out loud.

This might be classified as PDA, or “pathological demand avoidance,” and it’s proposed to be a symptom in some types of autism spectrum disorder. And while it is not yet considered a formal diagnosis in the United States, it can be a very real experience for many on the spectrum.

In my experience, the best way I can describe it is a force that is telling me to keep going, to figure it out, that I’m on the right track, and this person or people telling me what to do are trying to derail me or take away my efforts. And when I am functioning at capacity, that is the last thing I want to be told. I don’t want to be told that I’m messing something up, or that I’m doing it the hard way, but still, I don’t want to make a mess or make things harder than they have to be.

I don’t know if I actually have PDA, or if this intense urge to tell people off when I’m stressed is something similar, ODD - oppositional defiance disorder.

ODD

In danger of making everything sound clinical when it’s a very normal and real experience most people have, I have to talk about another behavior seen in neurodivergent people in stressful situations. It is only commonly accepted at this time that ODD is more typically linked to individuals with ADHD, and not autism. While ODD is very similar to PDA and can look the same from the outside, ODD is more willful and forceful. Someone with ODD might act out, saying “don’t tell me what to do,” just to be defiant, to tell off an authority figure, and comes out of a more disrespectful attitude than one of overwhelm. This can be contributed to a general struggle with controlling emotions, which is normal in ADHD, and can be recognized in childhood. It can be brought on by heavy circumstances and does not have to co-occur with ADHD. There is also a strong genetic tie to this particular symptom, where that isn’t seen in the cases with PDA in autism spectrum disorder.

Long story short: PDA (pathological demand avoidance) is more commonly observed in individuals with autism, not so much ADHDers. ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) is observed more often in ADHDers than in those with autism.

According to Autism Parenting Magazine, and Mayo Clinic, PDA comes about as a result of overwhelm and stress, and the feeling that someone is trying and failing to work within their capabilities. While ODD is very similar and can look the same from the outside, ODD is more willful and forceful, and can be brought on through environmental, and even genetic, factors.

But there could be a clinical third option, and it’s the one that makes most sense in my case.

Executive Dysfunction

Most of the time, I wish to be told what to do in a stressful situation: I don’t want to make things worse, and I don’t want the responsibility heaped onto my shoulders if things go sideways. I don’t always like to rock the boat; I prefer to not invite confrontation and have things go smoothly. For me, this leans more toward feeling like I’m in over my head while overwhelmed or stressed.

But there’s the other thing that happens, when I am given a short set of instructions, like:

“Stop.”

“Let’s try this.”

“Put that down and come over here.”

And my immediate impulse is to scream, “DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” It comes from the strange, yet probably delusional feeling that I’m about to get it right, that I’m about to strike gold and I shouldn’t stop.

So what is it? What am I experiencing? Here’s my running hypothesis: when I think, “don’t tell me what to do,” what might I really mean is, “I don’t want to stop, please let me finish.”

I have trouble switching gears and moving on to something else, especially if I feel like I’m getting somewhere with what I’m working on. If I am making progress - and in these stressful cases, hard-won, yet imperfect progress - I feel like being stopped in my tracks is asking for too much, even if it is advisable for me to do so. I should be allowed to slowly put down the breaks, not be stopped abruptly and left with nothing to show for it.

This kind of trouble with “switching gears” is, in fact, common in ADHDers and could be called, “executive dysfunction.”

While this isn’t always a symptom for ADHDers, it is a part of the lack of activity or low-dopamine levels in the frontal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for impulse control and decision making. For me, I think this is where this compulsion comes from; making myself stop, dead stop, and switch to a new path isn’t always possible in my brain.

Don’t get me wrong, I can stop my body from moving - quite literally stop what I’m doing - and move in a different direction, but that often doesn’t mean my brain has done the same thing. My mind is still on my previous task, problem-solving and pondering how I could’ve fixed or improved that thing while not allowed to actually do anything about it.

When I feel the compulsion to say, “don’t tell me what to do,” it isn’t meant to be disrespectful (ODD might beg to differ), and it doesn’t come from a place of not wanting assistance or help (or feeling ungrateful for that help). It comes from a desire to make things right, and yes, that can be interpreted more for my personal cerebral needs and not for the outside needs of the group, which is valid reason to disengage from the action. But it is a very real expression of my particular neurodivergence, and I’m sure others also might relate to this feeling.

Next time someone tells you “don’t tell me what to do,” there can be any number of reasons why, and not all of them are malicious, selfish, or meant to harm. Maybe they just want to help, maybe they need support. It’s that their emotions are dis-regulated and they just need a moment to disengage and feel allowed and safe to do so. Don’t tell people what to do, encourage them to self-regulate and take the time they need to be the best and most supported version of themselves when things are stressful or overwhelming. We can all agree that cooler heads should prevail in the end, and we all need that kind of energy these days.

So, what do you think? What are your reasons to demand, “Don’t tell me what to do?”

REFERENCES

Autism Parenting Mag

ODD in Adults

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Is having ADHD really a superpower? From my own experience, I would hardly classify what I go through as a superpower; ADHD can socially be classified as a disability, but that’s sort of where this argument begins. Now, I can only submit what I know of basic research of ADHD and it’s symptoms, and the research is ongoing, so please just be aware that I am speaking from a personal perspective. I am trying to understand it for myself and it’s turning into a lifetime appointment of learning. But as an experiment in finding our strengths and not dwelling on our weaknesses, here’s my take on the top three major “ADHD superpowers.”

Creativity

The most obvious of them all is creativity. ADHDers have to lean on their unconventional minds and thought patterns to make sense of their lives and routines. ADHD is most widely characterized as a dopamine-deficiency in the brain, which means if the ADHDer isn’t doing everything they can to seek out stimulating activities to get a dopamine release, they’re most likely asleep or dead. The baseline for an ADHDer’s dopamine levels is naturally lower than the a neurotypical (someone without neurodivergent), so that means many, many daily tasks and routines don’t give the ADHDer the satisfaction that it does for everyone else. In order to get the right levels, the ADHD must “supercharge” or “reorient” their daily tasks and routines to make them consistent and doable, or even just to get them done in the first place. This means gamifying many tasks to earn a reward, or to integrate a challenge of some kind on top of the original task itself. So, ask an ADHDer and they likely have a laundry list of ideas and routines that they have devised over the years just to accomplish basic tasks. This can and usually does lead to a proficiency in unconventional problem-solving skills.

Problem-Solving

The ADHDer who’s cultivated a healthy skill in problem-solving might be praised socially because of the value those skills bring to their workplace or within their industry. While a good many ADHD tendencies can hardly be classed as productive, who out there doesn’t need a problem solved or a creative solution utilized to keep up with the competition? This is where a neurodivergent person with ADHD specifically could really shine, as long as their creative problem-solving skills can be utilized consistently. A problem-solver is a person who brings a sense of control or security to an uncertain situation; people with ADHD deal with a great deal of uncertainty in their daily lives, especially those who have lived through crises or rapidly-changing events. When there is no guarantee of success or desired outcomes, an ADHDer who’s a problem-solver might be just the person you want to lead the way toward a creative, yet tangible solution.

Hyperfocus

If you have ADHD, you’ve likely experienced hyperfocus, a flow state of intense interest or focus on a single subject. If you are lucky enough to experience hyperfocus often, you might consider this your ADHD superpower. When hyperfocused, especially when young, you find that your energy is heightened, your ability to articulate details becomes fluid, and your concerns with outside matters fade away. This means you can achieve maximum productivity in that focus area, often surpassing the layman or neurotypical person. What is problematic about this superpower is its unpredictability, at least for the ADHDer - in contrast with the autistic individual, who also has a tendency toward hyperfocus and special interests. The ADHDer receives a gratifying amount of dopamine in their brain from hyperfocus, hence the reason for the intense subject interest and above-average output.

Special Interests

Now, there is no one to one comparison that I know of between an ADHDer who experiences hyperfocus and becoming an overnight expert. There’s the possibility they might end up becoming an expert over time if that focus area remains relevant to them throughout their lives. What better why to become an expert than putting yourself through training for a subject that you cannot help but immerse yourself in? Psychologists might call this a special interest for anyone on any neurodivergent spectrum, including ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). A special interest is anything that keeps that dopamine flood rushing through their brains with consistency and predictability; it’s almost like having an addiction to a subject, in place of a substance. Anyone who has a reliable, stimulating, or better yet, marketable, special interest can easily become a successful expert in that focus area. Many ADHDers end up in fields that can contain those hyper-fixations, but not every ADHDer is lucky enough to make a large profit in those fields. Still, it’s nice to be needed and enjoy what you do.

Resilience

If there’s one thing that many ADHDers might agree on is that they are resilient. The person born with ADHD might have to resort to a certain level of resilience just to keep moving forward. School curriculum, schedules, and assignment expectations only recently take the three recognized types of ADHD and their processing differences into account. For many ADHD adults, it was common growing up to adjust their studying processes or mask to conform to those standards, sacrificing their own energy and self-esteem. Many ADHDers fall behind academically, not because they are stupid or can’t understand the lessons, but because the systems and expectations for so long did not accommodate or recognize their needs. This lead to an expectation of, if not being successful, of being resilient in the face of a challenging or inequitable reality. And yes, this can translate into a superpower, because that means an ADHDer is less likely to give up in a difficult moment.

Energy

It takes a significant amount of energy for anyone to be resilient. An ADHDer who is resilient is someone who builds a secret reserve of energy to make a difficult situation meaningful or conclusive. When many others would want to quit, there is a push that the ADHDer has stored up from many hours, or even years, of practice of being put at a disadvantage in their life. Through having to adjust, mask, and push through, the ADHDer automatically expects their energy to be at a higher level just to accomplish their tasks; they can draw upon the extra energy necessary to get them through with their heads above water. Many ADHDers do well in a crisis for this reason; some even enjoy the adrenaline release from high-stress jobs or careers, like first responders or medical workers. There can be a reciprocal relationship for the resilient ADHDer in a high-stress situation when it comes to energy. Since they have the energy reserves that neurotypical might not, they can outperform in these intense careers and can get a proportional adrenaline, even dopamine, rush to reward them for the spent energy. This superpower is a powerful and needed one, but must be exercised with care so that the resilient ADHDer can avoid inevitable burnout or sickness as a result.

Conclusion

While it’s clear to see that the most accepted and prized ADHD superpowers are born out of some kind of inequity, disadvantage, or deficiency, it doesn’t take away from their value or potential for greater good. Most superpowers can be attributed to an ADHDers need to experience a dopamine release, and that need can be a major driving force for their entire lives. When it comes to your ADHD abilities to tap into these three major superpowers, it’s important to remember that these things can be a source of strength, and not a contributor to weaknesses or low self-esteem. It takes a healthy approach to mental and physical care, and works better with a strong support system. While it is incredible to have a superpower that others applaud and rely on you for, having the space and time to decompress and disengage from these superpowers is the kindest way to stay in the game longer and live a happy life as an ADHD superhero.

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If you’ve been paying attention (and who are we kidding, you likely are), the American President and Health Secretary made an announcement saying they’ve found a cure for autism. By insinuating that autism needs to be cured in American society indicates not only a sore lack of basic understanding of neurodivergence, but a disdain for anyone who struggles with mental health issues; as if neurodivergence is a disease you can catch or pass on to someone else and causes people to be social outcasts. The dangerous subtext here is that neurodivergence is not acceptable within civilized society. Here is how the American authoritarian (fascist) regime is wrong.

Why should we want to cure neurodivergence?

Historically, fascist regimes have pushed harsh policies to make the kind of people they see as “undesirable” seemingly disappear. Of course, this included people with mental and physical disabilities. If you couldn’t hide your disability from the eyes of the public or you needed assistance in daily life, the regime would single you out for “rehabilitation.” They were rarely allowed back into society, and you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that this isn’t exactly what the American authoritarian regime wants. The sentiment for most of the 20th and into the 21st century is that if you need special accomodations, you are a net loss in society and not worth taking care in the long term; even well-meaning people and organizations have this sentiment. Many people who’d qualify for work and disability due to their brains have to contend with a new technological advancement, generative artificial intelligence.

Why Gen AI is a neurodiversity replacement and antithetical to the creative process

The advent of generative artificial intelligence in the wake of this administration has exploded. While Gen AI is widely used as a popular technological advancement that each of us will be incorporating into our lives each day, it is also being heralded by the fascist regime in ways that take away from the artistic community. It started with artists complaining about AI art during the Biden administration. Now, it is almost impossible to go a day without running into a picture, an Instagram reel, or commercial that doesn’t use AI-generated art. And why? Because it’s cheap and quick, and because the more you use it, the better it gets. People are hired to train these AI bots now and wannabe artists don’t have the patience or interest in acquiring the skills. They don’t even consider hiring a real artist to create for them, and end up using Gen AI to make whatever they want.

This authoritarian regime is normalizing cruelty

Even within the last nine months, the White House itself engaged in weaponizing AI-generated art for propaganda against Hispanic and South American immigrants to push a harmful and fascist agenda. They stole from the art style of beloved children’s’ filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki and the famous Studio Ghibli, which isn’t just cruel, but theft. No AI art produced for this reason was sourced ethically or a reflection of real humanity.

Taking away from neurodivergence creates a hostile environment for everyone

It is obtuse at best and malicious at worst to say that art and neurodivergence have no practical or important role in our modern world. That stigma was the issue for the longest time, but now is being propagandized overtly in the US. Maybe it’s because we are people and not machines, or people pretending to be machines that authoritarians and capitalists cannot control. The person with autism, ADHD, or dyslexia cannot fit themselves into the cog in the machine model that colonial, capitalistic, or fascist regimes run on. Artists cannot make art unless they are free to break boundaries and defy expectations to make their art, and that cannot happen under the boot of fascism.

Fascism is hypocritical about the value of art

None of this is new or surprising. If art doesn’t grow food, clean the house, keep a roof from leaking, or provide direct medical care, what good is it? The fascist would say there is no practicality in art so it is ultimately useless and frivolous. Hence, anyone who creates art shouldn’t be taken as seriously as someone who farms, heals, feeds, or repairs. But that isn’t true now, is it?

See, they use Gen AI art and writing to propagandize, a very important and essential tool for fascism. They create their propaganda and memes at lightning speed using AI to get more people to listen to their message or scare them with their latest contrived boogeyman. Fascists cannot abide neurodivergent artists in particular because if there’s one thing they can’t have, it’s people they deem as unworthy outdoing them in spreading ideas authentically and doing in a way they cannot fathom. Fascism requires us not engage creatively or think outside the box, and neurodivergent people can naturally default to creative and outside-the-box thinking.

People on the spectrum are normal people whose brains have been around for all of time

Prominent and influential people like Albert Einstein and Greta Thünberg are just two examples of neurodivergent people who we laud for their contributions to history and the world through their creativity, adaptability, and sense of justice. Fascism fears the neurodivergent artist or activist, for they are the stark contrast of what fascists aspire to be and are more effective and disarming authoritarianism that anyone else.

Neurodiversity is human and worthy to be cherished and valued for all it gives human society; when we accept neurodivergence, we accept ourselves as human. That means when you see art in a gallery that is made by a real person, that person cared enough to lean into the sides of themselves that society didn’t appreciate them for or actively tried to kill. They are your friend and ally and worthy of your support, and they see you and accept your humanity.

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What is a Shadow Career and how do you know you have one? I learned what a shadow career was through the writings of Steven Pressfield, a writer and author about the creative life. He coined the term “shadow career” to mean a job or calling we take on while running away from our true calling in life. While I read this work by Pressfield, I was in the process of working at least two “shadow career jobs.” Now, I won’t go rehash all that Pressfield says about the shadow career, I am going to come at this idea from my own experience with resistance and distractions from my true calling, which I will call, “real work.”

Resistance

Pressfield talks about this general obstacle of resistance in his books, especially the War of Art. It takes many forms and is a relentless force that creatives have to reckon with. Some of the ways that I have experience resistance are perfectionism, fatigue, comparison, and distractability. These are things any creative would face often, but these are especially dangerous for neurodivergent people. Distractions don’t start and end with creative pursuits; they are everywhere, all the time. I can’t get through a single day without something distracting me from what I meant to do, derailing me from a task, and causing me to lose time and energy trying to get back to the subject at hand.

Fear

Often while doing the real work, we face regular failures, feeling out of control, or like we can’t get a quick result or fix for something aching inside us. A shadow career offers a distraction and balm for these feelings, and gives us an excuse to drop the real work and live an easier, less painful life. Here are some other terms that can fall under the category of fear:

Control

We value control of our own lives, and in a lot of cases, being creative means you have to relinquish that essence of control to be able to discover new ways of thinking and moving through the process. Being over-controlling of your creativity is a recipe for getting and staying stuck. The Shadow Career masks this stuckness as necessary and a personal failing, and not the reality of what it is. You have to allow the creative side of you free occasionally, or else it will grow stagnant and freeze in place, not allowing you to make anything you love anymore.

Stability

We all want to feel safe and secure, and having a job that will always be there, will pay on time, and will offer us benefits and an avenue to future higher earnings is something everyone aspires to. This isn’t to say that stability and our real work cannot go hand in hand, but often, the creative call to art is not one paved in gold. Another stability fable is that bad times are ahead and you got to ditch the frivolous artistic life and start packing goods away for the upcoming hard times. That, by all means, isn’t even a fable, but a piece of solid, survival advice. But it can also foster a “scarcity mindset” and when you always are afraid of this one day when everything will fall apart, you can never enjoy the moment, you can never rest easy in knowing that for the moment, you’re okay. It breeds anxiety and in our anxious moments, we defer to self-preservative, selfish, and honestly, self-destructive patterns just to have a moment of feeling safe again.

Excuses

“There’s no money in it.”

“I have no talent for it anyways.”

“This job is a stepping stone to more important creative skills.”

“I’m making connections.”

“This way, I can keep doing my real work on the side and people will take me seriously.”

“Every creative has a day job they hate, I’m no exception.” While some of these excuses hold more water than others, they’re all roadblocks that take away from the real work at hand. There’s no secret way to make the real work happen more officially or unofficially, you just have to do it. At the end of the day, the real work has to be done separately, in secret, or not at all while the Shadow Career holds control of us through these excuses. The only way you truly fail in this regard is if you completely give up on the real work and don’t tell anyone about it. Keep pushing forward.

Ego

How is anyone supposed to take us seriously when we’re over here, being creative, and not being that one important employee or business person? A shadow career offers a safe haven for the artist dealing with imposter syndrome, takes the real work down to the level of hobby or side project, and makes the whole thing feel low stakes and chill.

The Shiny Veneer of Luxury

Seeing people post on social media all their trips and nice clothes and things make us feel like the starving artist avenue through life is a chump’s errand and we jump ship away from our real work to make it closer to that sparkly life of pleasure. But let’s be clear, this is the same idea as winning the lottery. I myself can’t speak for the validity of social posts of yachts and ski trips while working for yourself online, but I do know that it cannot offer the happiness or satisfaction one might feel from setting their creative goals and achieving them. Yeah, maybe you won’t become a famous author, but if you never write the stinkin’ book, you’ll never get to know.

Imposter Syndrome

When we feel like phonies, we can’t take that creative endeavor as seriously as we need to because the haven of the security and assurance of the Shadow Career takes over. Just know this, a lot of us feel like phonies and have inferiority complexes, especially those of us who like to flex our accomplishments and talk about our process on the regular; you might be in the presence of a fellow imposter and neither one of you is actually chasing that true work and have the same Shadow Career.

Ableism

Only work that you have to get up and do physically, or do mentally, and produce a regularly occurring result is seen as legitimate work. Legitimizing certain work over other, specifically creative work, leads to ableist notions and feelings and makes life even more hostile and difficult for people who already struggle with disability .As someone who believes that our collective society has only gotten better with adjustments and accommodations for the disabled, I can no longer believe that there is no value in creative work or fields and no excuses to not advocate for as many creative jobs as possible. Having an ableist mindset, especially when you are neurodivergent and creative, is like having a backpack full of rocks strapped to your back and hiking up a hill, like trying to climb the same stairs every day when you have a broken leg and there’s an elevator or ramp just a few feet away. It’s not helpful.

Conclusion

While working at a job that you can take pride in and contribute to your health and safety is completely normal and logical, it cannot take the place of the real work. If you are a creative person and you have something inside you that your are struggling to bring to life through creative process, a shadow career is a very tempting prospect. The neurotypical world at large might encourage you, and in subtle ways, try to force you into a shadow career and think nothing of it. You might agree with the world in the beginning, but sooner or later, you will feel the compulsions, the urges, to create and have no room or permission to go after it. This is why, no matter how many tables I wipe down, no matter how many documents I prepare, no matter how many phone calls I take, and no matter how many odd jobs have to come and go in my lifetime, I will always call myself a creative and a writer, because that is my real work and what I was put on this planet to do. In the end, this real work is what will matter to me when I die, not how many times I failed at it, was criticized for it, or how much money it put in my pocket. It was the fact that I did it at all that counts.

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Who here is guilty of starting some project or a business idea in a thrill of excitement, and it’s going fine for a while, but then your efforts fade over time and the progress stalls before the finish line. Have you ever done this? Asked yourself, “why can’t I just finish something?” Or, “why did I start this thing again?” I am guilty of restarting my business and rewriting my book, over and over again.

We get no satisfaction or product by starting over and over again, and frankly, we are hard-working and creative people who deserve to see the fruits of our labors come back to us. So, for each excuse given below I offer a counter-excuse to help refuel the creative fire that once burned bright.

“Life keeps getting in the way”

Real life comes first, and in a very unsubtle way tells you “Forget your creative dreams; they don’t matter.” Maybe this was even explicitly said to you by a guardian or an authority figure when you were young. This is especially hard when you are already struggling with dis-regulation, overwork, and burn-out.

Counter-Excuse: “Life won’t grant you permission”

Life doesn’t care about your art or your creative expression, so why wait around for some imaginary cosmic sign or voice to tell you “It’s time.” As creative people with creative spirits, it’s natural to heed that inner call to make things. Take a moment to grant yourself the permission you’ve been looking for out in the world and in other people.

“I don’t like the idea anymore”

You can’t force yourself to try again because there is no reward in the process of doing it anymore. And it can be really disheartening when you cared and put so much effort, planning, and resources into an idea that loses its spark, collecting dust in the corner of the mind.

Counter-Excuse: “Losing shine can be co-opted”

It’s not a bad idea, maybe it can be zhuged up a little bit. When an idea loses its novelty, its shimmer, we forget that we can take some of the shiny feelings we have for something new and try to apply it to that old idea. Don’t throw out the old thing in lieu of this a new, shimmery one! In the case this shimmer cannot be applied to your creative goals, maybe it’s time to take a break to explore the new shiny thing for a short time.

“This is too much work/there’s not enough”

If you can’t keep up with all that is required to make a creative idea flourish into real, tangible outcomes, you can stall, and overwhelm will halt your progress in its tracks. Overwhelm due to lack of material is also a real and uncomfortable problem to run into while starting a new creative project.

Counter-Excuse: “Too much means more to work with”

If the idea is too big, this is actually a good thing overall. Because now, you have more to work with and try out in various ways. Sometimes, synthesizing an idea is the missing piece of your process to get you to start with confidence.

“No one sees or cares”

Shouting into a void is a real and disheartening factor in any creative endeavor; sometimes it’s enough reason to give up.

Counter-Excuse: “Find the people who do care”

Consider who might be interested in your work and try sharing your stuff in a relevant time and place for those people. It’s a big world out there; the people who do actually care are out there somewhere, and will likely eat your work up like Halloween candy.

“I can’t compete with the others out there”

You might have the thought, “If there are better artists and creatives out there doing it and they are my competition for attention, I can’t compete with them.“ And you aren’t the only one.

Counter-Excuse: “Make friends, not enemies”

Everyone has to start somewhere, and each of those other voices on the subject had to start like you did. Seek to make connections in the area of interest to find a sense of community and support.

“Endings mean judgement”

Because… ending means people will be free to judge your work, and by extension you.

Counter-Excuse: “Doing it is the point”

When you do the thing for your own benefit and you make something you enjoy and are proud of, whatever anyone has to say on the issue will lose its bite.

“This is taking too long”/the Timeline™

You can readjust and retry to make those deadlines as many times as you like, but you still just can’t get yourself to accomplish it. Sometimes, when a project just takes longer than expected, you run the risk of losing steam through loss of interest too.

Counter-Excuse: Use it as motivation, or scrap it entirely

Don’t get ahead of yourself! You would spend time and energy better if you put aside the timeline and just think about where you actually are in the process and imagine new ways to make that part more shiny and exciting so that you don’t give up.

Conclusion

When it comes to our creative endeavors, there are lots of obstacles that get in the way, or we allow to be put in our way. Anxiety-driven decisions, overwhelm, forgetfulness, lack of novelty, rejection sensitivity, and obscurity. But in the end, these things don’t go away no matter how many times we start over. One idea won’t be the one that removes all these obstacles forever, because if you’re anything like me, you’ve been through this song and dance dozens of times all to the same result.

Instead, do it because you are compelled to, because it’s important to you, and because you feel better when you do it. No one can take that away from you and it rewards you in the act of doing it anyway. Then, finally, you will have accomplished the thing! You win at creativity! And wasn’t that the issue at hand?