CC: How Do I Grow Without Getting Burnt Out?

Question: how do you balance wanting to push your creative practice forward - taking on projects, offering new packages - without overloading your time to become burnt out, again?

Background: In my case this is photography. I have suspect it's about getting back to the core of why you're doing it, and then doing only that, in the most scaled down version possible. Yes? No? Slowing down seems to be one of the hardest things to do when you have stuff you want to express.

- Alina,

Scotland Island, NSW, Australia

Reply to Alina with Your Thoughts (https://deathtostock.typeform.com/to/IGe7N9)


Build a fire.

You need a spark, something that excites you and helps give you momentum. Space helps because any time you feel like you "should" be doing something you're doing it out of obligation. If you're doing it out of obligation, it will be forced and ends up slowly dying out. Give yourself space/boredom and let it be natural.


Once you have a spark, it needs to catch fire. This means connecting that idea with something that will propel it forward. It could be a buyer, a place to share it and get feedback, or something that ratchets up reward as you continue.


You might have to try a few things before it catches. Kill the ideas that don't catch once you've given them a fair shot.


Look at what catches and then create a process to fan the flames, continually so it doesn't die out. Don't go creating new fires, either. Just set up some type of process that you can build confidence in. For example "I know that if I sit down every Monday to send out proposals, I move things forward"


Or, "I know that If I journal for 30 minutes and then pick up my camera for an hour, I get good images. And once I get good images, I post them _here_."


What we want is be engaged in work that feels like it's growing. What we don't want is to continue to obligate ourselves to pursue something that isn't growing or is no longer interesting. All of that time could be spent fanning new flames, and starting new fires.

Don't throw too many sparks or fan flames at random and burn yourself.

xx David