A New Year with COVID

I mentioned it before in a recent post, Living Life While Arting — sometimes life happens and it makes creating your art a lot more difficult.

I’ve had COVID for the last two weeks, stuck in bed for the first seven days not able to do much of anything. My dad found his own place and me and my partner took over the lease. So we were technically in the middle of a move, too.

Maneuvering being sick, trying not to get my dad sick, and having a queue of work to get done has had me pretty discouraged and depressed. Not being able to physically jump out of bed and get right to work like I usually do goes against my natural rhythm. However, this kind of setback isn’t new to me (I mean, the COVID part of it obviously is). And if you also suffer from Depression or Anxiety it might sound familiar to you.

My mental cycles are pretty predictable at this point in my life. Several months of hyper activity and then a few weeks to a month of bedridden Depression. Becoming physically unable to create is mentally debilitating for those of us whose work is also an outlet and our ongoing healing process. Not only is it a mental hindrance, it also becomes a financial one.

That’s why it’s important to understand your own natural rhythms and give yourself Buffer Time.
I know that there will be a point in time where I might not be able to be as quick as I usually am. So when I’m calculating deadlines for my collectors I include that extra time for whatever kind of Life thing that might happen. Whether it’s illness, mental strain, or my natural cyclical rhythm that forces me to rest.

Buffer Time is coupled with needing Buffer Money to supplement the longer time spent working toward that deadline. So I also try to have at least three jobs in line with reasonable Buffer Times included in their deadlines.

None of this has EVER been easy, but with everything going on in the world today and COVID entangled throughout it everything feels even more like you’re pushing against the stream.
I do my best to remember where I’m at right now vs where I was a year ago. And all the ups and downs I’ve had between then and now. That I’m here now because I got through it all. I’m doing my art full time, I have work, I’m selling my art, I have a house with a wonderful partner, and me and my family are happy and healthy.

This year I want to focus on my health and my joy. Because the hustle feels great when I do.
My COVID symptoms are almost all gone and my energy is back.

So let’s make it happen 2022.