Real Talk Mental health and artists

I want to to some real talk about mental health in our industry. I know mental health is so important across all industries. But, I can only speak for the industry I am in and what I experience myself.

You may have seen some of my posts be a light hearted attempt to say "Hey I am stressed and busy" Well I am going to be honest about that and the struggle to hit a weekly deadline to post and how it effects me mentally. But, I am honestly feeling so rewarded by doing this blog. 

We all know the buzz words and how everyone you meet seems to joke "oh yeah I suffer from anxiety. Being nervous, anxious or sad is part of the human condition. But, suffering from anxiety or depression isn't something I would wish on my worst enemy (Rest easy Skeletor)

I always say motivation can get your started. But discipline will keep you in the race.

So, mental health and the creative mind, why does it appear to affect us almost across the board?

I want to share some of the things I personally go through. Maybe you will see yourself a bit in my struggles

If you are creative do you find:

• Your mind racing and unable to be shut off
• Constantly thinking of "what if?"
• Trying to start on project and jumping to the next
• Getting overly upset about critque of work
• Getting so overloaded by too much communication and worry about deadlines you go numb.

Sometimes you don't even realize these things are running through your mind. You are not alone. just a few famous artists Vincent Van Gogh, Sylvia Plath, and Virginia Woolf all eventually ended their own lives.

No one is saying if you have a creative mind this will happen to you. And its not a definite link. Some studies say mental health issues may just "appear" higher in the creative community due to lifestyle. And its true. Alot of us work late and we just accept that we will "burn out" at some point. Or living the life of the "tortured artist" sometimes people think they need to fit that image. To suffer for their art. I find creative's also crave attention. I am sure we all do to some point. But, for the most part artists share their inner most thoughts with the world. Whether it be music, fine art, photographer or any other creative endeavour.

I think we make that so much a part of our identity it really opens us up to have a more drastic reaction to mental health issues.

Its certainly something we need to ALL be aware and take at least small steps to improve the quality of life that we have.

For example. Today I was planning a BIG post on trackers. But the last few nights I haven't been sleeping and even then dreaming of my task list. My brain is trying to tell me "hey YOU, you are overloaded slow down"

I am learning (slowly) that when that happens as much as I want to share my knowledge with you all. I need to take care of myself first. Taking care of yourself it will trickle down and it will spread to other aspects of your life. 

Things that I have been trying to do. Things may be different for you but maybe this will get you thinking.

1. First, try to get help. Don't scoff at the idea of a counselor. And don't accept the first one if you don't feel comfortable with them. Shop around. If you don't have health insurance it can be an out of pocket expense. You can get on the waiting list for public help, expect about a six month wait though. Counselors might not be the only way to go. Sometimes there are groups you can go to. Make sure you look around your neighborhood.

2. Get out! As artists we tend to be hunched over drawing tables or computers. Getting out can do you more good than you think. Go for a walk, go to the gym. It has been determined that exercise, no matter how minor can help your mental health. Exercise is well known to stimulate the body to produce endorphins and enkephalins, the body’s natural feel-good hormones which can make problems seem more manageable. The simple act of focusing on exercise can give us a break from current concerns and damaging self-talk. Further, depending on the activity, people may benefit from calming exercises, be energized, and get outside or interact with others, all of which are known to improve mood and general health

3. Come up with a plan. If something makes you feel out of control, make a plan. I know I have started to set two goals for the year. Even if its just ONE goal. When you achieve it you will feel really really good. And it could be something small like "I will meditate for five minutes everyday".

Remember this is just MY opinion I am not a professional in anyway. I have been in this creative industry for many years now and as a producer I meet a lot of artists. Some listen to advice they hear and some don't. 

Remember don't put your energy into others that won't listen or you will be just spinning your wheels. I am a helper....I am very empathic. But I have learned I can't save everyone. 

You are responsible to save yourself and no one else. 

This industry can be incredibly rewarding. But also very very exhausting. You are constantly putting yourself out for public consumption.

If you believe anything, believe this. Someone DOES care. Someone would miss you. 

As a reminder I have a phrase with a semi colon tattoo. A semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life."

Gene really captured and artist's inner turmoil

Pre-Production Part 4 Setting up trackers The intro

So, after a two week hiatus I am BACK from vacation. Anyone out there feel like going on vacation is just as stressful then going back to your job? Someday I will figure out the perfect vacation. But, hey, my pictures look great and we all know how to fake the perfect life on social media.

Here I am with my family at the very start of my vacation. The important thing is that I made it back!

This is just going to be an update to what will be talking about next in a longer post. 

In that post we will get REALLY into it next week since I should be caught up on my work by then (cross your fingers)

We will be talking about some ways you can create a tracker for your production processes. There are so many ways this can be achieved as long as you know what you want to achieve and for me the most important aspect is that the artists be able to use it easily.

One methodolgy for managing internal deadlines is the SCRUM. If you want more info on this way of hitting deadlines. SCRUM is an agile framework for managing work, with an emphasis on software development. It is designed for teams of three to nine members, who break their work into actions that can be completed within timed tasks, called "sprints", no longer than one month and most commonly two weeks, then track progress and re-plan in 15-minute stand-up meetings, called daily scrums

For our trackers we let our artists achieve the work they can in the time allowed. No one slacks off here and I keep an eye on the schedule and I know on the trackers what work might be late.

I LOVE google docs. Because multiple people can change on the go. And if something gets messed up 0-0 you can revert your history to a previous version.

Here is just a taste of what some of our trackers look like Very tiny taste.

ANIMATION TRACKER

 CHARACTER AND PROPS

BACKGROUNDS

Now you all know what we will be going over next. trackers Trackers and TRACKERS....

Look, Gene Fowler's doodle brings it back to connections! If one plane can't take off it would throw off the whole airport and flight connections.

When the office explodes

Sometimes in the life of a producer everything just explodes. Well, that was this week. Deadlines looming, emergencies arising. So, I don't have time or the mental fortitude to give you an in depth post. BUT, next week I will finally be taking my yearly vacation so no post next week either! Don't worry when I come back I will have a doozy of a post. Don't miss me too much.

 Instead how about you look at Gene's rendering of my week.

Don't feel sorry for me. I know what I signed up for.