Art in an Uncertain World

If you’re a writer, an artist, or anyone who enjoys a creative outlet, stop me if this sounds familiar, especially if you have a day job.

You’ve been hoping for a while now that you could find more time to pursue your art. Because I’m a writer, we’ll use writing as the catch-all term, but feel free to substitute writing for whatever it is you do. Anyway, you’ve hoped and begged for more time to write. Yeah, weekends were a thing, but there are so many matters that need tending on the weekends that you would always delay, praying to whomever you believe has control over these things for more time. You could write at work, but that’s difficult because after work you’re tired—especially if you’re like me and work odd hours and long shifts. You have probably said out loud to no one in particular (or to whoever would listen), “I would write so much more if I only didn’t have to work!”

So, when the world was put on quarantine, and stay-at-home orders were announced, it may have seemed like the universe finally listened. It finally threw you a bone.

Fast-forward three months. You’ve stayed at home. Hopefully, you’ve been healthy and maintained proper social distancing. You’ve checked in on your neighbors from time to time and engaged in many Zoom meetings with family or with work. Yet, for all your time indoors, you might not have written as much as you would like.

Before I continue, let me explain what this post is not.

This post is not me scolding you for not writing more. Nor is this an admonishment of any kind. It isn’t a how-to post or a list of tips to help beat writer’s block. And I’m not heaping a thousand words of praise on the people who have maintained their creativity. Major props to you if you’ve been able to, though. That’s amazing.

What I’m doing here is outlining some of the struggles I’ve had and that people I know have had in terms of keeping their creativity flowing. It’s hard to do much of anything right now, and there are a ton of reasons why.

Financial Uncertainty: Most of us during the bulk of quarantine have received some form of unemployment benefit while our jobs have shut down. It may not have matched what you would typically bring home, but if you did get yours, I hope you were able to stay on top of your responsibilities. I know there’s a large group who hasn’t been able to, even with unemployment. Even more stressing is if you’re one of those who has yet to receive a single penny and are now having trouble meeting many of your financial demands. That can play havoc on not just your creativity, but your ability to do much of anything.

Mental Fatigue: The last three months have been inordinately stressful. This is as badly written a year as I can remember. We’ve had to contend with a global pandemic in an election year and have those two things related to one another. Most of our jobs shut down. Protests are going

on around us, and we’re trying to reinvent ways to keep communities safe. If you’re one of the people deemed essential—healthcare workers, food workers, or civic services—you’ve got it worse. You’re exposed to the dangers of this new status quo without proper protection, hazard pay, or even a mental break. The assault on your senses and sensibilities can be exhausting, and when you open a blank page, the last thing you want to do is put something on it.

Health Issues: COVID-19 has been so prevalent in the news that I don’t need to get into why it’s so problematic. I have seen what can happen when you get it, and I know people who have passed from it. But it isn’t the only health condition you may need to address. People with long-term illnesses like Diabetes or COPD may find that maintaining their health, especially with all this upheaval going on around them, is increasingly difficult. That may make it hard to muster up the energy to write.

Changes to Home Environment: The pandemic has almost certainly changed the dynamic in your home life, and if that’s broken then so has the dynamic in your creative time. You’re home more. Your spouse/partner/roommate is home more. If you have kids, then they’ve been home for the last three months, and then for summer vacation. All of this requires your attention, more so if someone is sick. You might feel selfish for trying to find a rare quiet moment to write.

Hard to be Relevant: Let’s say you have the bug to write. You’ve quieted your concerns about money, everyone in the house is healthy and asleep. You have a kick-ass idea that you’ve outlined and nurtured into a solid story, and you might have even started writing it. But one day you look up at the news, and you see the rising number of people infected with and dead from COVID-19, you see mayors arguing with governors, arguing with the federal government over stay-at-home orders and protective equipment. You see the world burning and changing around you as conversations take place that is long overdue. You wonder if anyone actually cares about your alternate history, Afro-futurist, steampunk space opera. How can you write something fictional that’s more interesting, more important than what we’re living? So you put the pen down, or close the file, or whatever. You stop.

Again, if you haven’t had these struggles, great, I’m not mad at you. If you’ve had to deal with any of this, or anything not listed here, my message to you is to try not to sweat it. Take care of yourself. It would be awesome if everyone were able to put out their best work while locked in the hose indefinitely. But keep in mind as we start to reopen that there will be tons of fantastic art, literature, and music that comes out of this insane time. If you don’t take care of your mind, body, and spirit, you won’t be able to contribute to the narrative.

As lockdown eases and we inch back toward something resembling “normal,” try not to be so hard on yourself for the things you haven’t done. We are living in a traumatic period. You’ve been through a lot.

Stay strong. Take care of you.

#COVID19 #stress #wellness #mentalhealth #financialhealth #writersblock