Life produces stress, the artistic personality produces additional stress, creating produces even more stress, and living the artist’s life is the topper!
An artist must learn how to deal with all of these stressors—and how to deal with them effectively. There are many tactics an artist can try—the key is actually trying some.
For example, you might try “writing your stress away.” Research reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that writing about stressful situations and experiences can reduce your stress levels – and can actually lead to improvements in immune functioning, fewer visits to the doctor, and an increased sense of wellbeing.
Take some time, have a fruitful conversation with yourself and answer the following four questions: 1. What are my current stressors? 2. What unhealthy strategies am I currently employing to deal with these stressors? 3. What healthy strategies am I currently employing to deal with these stressors? 4. What new stress management strategies would I like to learn?
An artist needs to honor the reality of stress and make plans for dealing with it. Of course to reduce your stress you also need to get a grip on your mind. Getting a grip on our thoughts and doing a better job of thinking thoughts that actually serve us are supremely important skills to master.
Most people do a poor job of “minding their mind” and choosing to think in ways that serve them. It is a completely common practice for people to present themselves with thoughts that amount to self-sabotage and to refuse to dispute those thoughts once they arise. If people did a better job of “minding their mind” by noticing what they were thinking and by making an effort to replace defensive and unproductive thoughts with less defensive and more productive thoughts, they would live in less pain, they would give themselves a much better chance of living the life they dream of living, and they would dramatically reduce their stress levels.
My next three-month writing support group starts shortly in July. For more information and to sign up:
https://ericmaisel.com/products-page-2/workshops/writing-support-group-july-2015/
And a Life Purpose Boot Camp instructor training also starts shortly in July. For more information and to sign up:
https://ericmaisel.com/products-page-2/product-category/life-purpose-boot-camp-instructor-training/