When depression kills creativity

“To live a creative life we must lose the fear of being wrong.”
– Joseph Chilton Pearce

Depression isn’t a mood. It’s a mental illness that comes with a number of crippling factors that are different for everyone. Speaking from my experience, I’ve had depression for numerous years now and I have episodes some days that are worse than others. The main factors of my depression are the lack of motivation to get up in the morning, wanting to be left alone but equally feeling desperately lonely and my most frustrating factor is my lack of creativity.
One of my biggest hobbies is embroidery. I love making ‘hoops’ to hang on walls, I love embroidering on clothes, I love making custom orders for people, I just love making things that are beautiful and sometimes with a funny twist (a.k.a. my favourite word, fuck). I have an Etsy store online which unfortunately I have completely neglected lately for a number of different reasons but mainly because I’m just too damn depressed to make anything. I do have some custom orders on the go but my favourite pieces are usually the ones that come straight from my imagination like these below.

 

 

I’m going to try really hard even though I have no fucking energy to try hard (doubled my sedatives at night time) to come up with a list of a few ways to get inspired when you’re uninspired. This list will be suitable for people who suffer from depression or for people who are just lacking that creative buzz.

How to get inspired when you’re feeling uninspired or stressed

• Go for a walk
  I love a good walk when I’m feeling uninspired. It helps to clear my head and work off any negative energy and if you go for a walk somewhere unfamiliar, you get to see new things that you may not see every day so turn off your phone and take a walk in the woods, around a garden center or even a stroll around your neighbourhood. This can help to clear your head of negative thoughts and let you take in your surroundings. The rules are no technology (apart from for music), take long deep breaths of fresh air and be mindful by taking all of your surroundings in and appreciating the beauty in the little things. Tip: take a notebook with you and write down everything you see that inspires you e.g. flowers, a person’s outfit or even how the sky looks.

The woods by my house, one of my favourite places to walk because I love all the greenery and nature.

 

• Take some time to have a good scroll through Pinterest
  I love this website! Basically, it’s a huge rabbit hole on the internet that you fall down and discover a fuck load of recipes, inspirational quotes, DIY ideas, you name it, it’s on there. Make an account for free and you can build your own ‘boards’ (a bit like a digital version of a mood board) that you can categorize and fill with all things that are inspirational to you. When you’ve had an account for a while it’s great to go back through your boards to see what you put in them previously and maybe it will help you relight that spark of inspiration. It’s great for general stress too! I always turn to Pinterest when I’m having a bad episode of depression to look through all the pictures of animals that I send to my Mum who is also a Pinterest lover. NO I’M NOT SPONSORED, I’M NOT FAMOUS ENOUGH YET so take my effin’ word, Pinterest is the shit.
  My Pinterest

 

• Take a break and don’t try too hard
  You’re going through a tough time, your mental health is bollocks and you have absolutely no ability to be creative. Forcing yourself to try to come up with ideas until you’re exhausted and have a headache will not help to spark any form of creativity, in fact it will do quite the opposite. If you’re struggling to focus on creating something then get away from the space you’re in, even if it’s to another room, have a cup of tea or your drink of choice (vodka if you need it, no judgment here) and just take some time for yourself to relax. Take a bath, take a nap, go for a run (haha no), anything that will give your brain the rest it needs. Eventually, creativity and that amazing feeling of inspiration will find you so don’t look too hard for it.

 

Tell me your favourite ways to get inspired,
remember to take time for yourself
and if all else fails to write a damn good list.

 

Thanks for reading,