Stress and Creativity Cannot Live Together

It’s been a stressful time at our house lately; first child graduating from high school and all that that entails, husband traveling 75% of the time for the last couple of months and the usual end- of- school year mayhem. Does anyone else view the month of May as a busy month, second only to December? Graduation, recitals, parties, concerts, gifts, treats and allergies. It gets me every stinking time.

I have neglected exercising regularly for the last few weeks, not able to see how to fit it in. Honestly, we all know it is possible to find time for whatever is most important to us, so the reality is that I allowed exercising to fall off the list of priorities for a little while. There are obvious outcomes to this, feelings of sluggishness and lack of energy, but I also noticed another area of life that took a hit while I was on break: creativity. I have come to the realization that it is physically impossible to be stressed and creative at the same time.

Stress depletes all creative energy, replacing it with worry and fear. Personally, stress forces me into survival mode, only able to ‘get through’ the situation. I’m sure this is normal, but I have found myself going into a long-term white knuckling, just get through it period. It’s not pretty. I went for a run the other day, which is normally a time for blog ideas to rush forth, but this time was inundated with guilt and stress over the list of things I have neglected and forgotten. 

I don’t want to look back at this important time in our family’s life and remember nothing but what pictures show me: tired, busy, overwhelmed. I’m ready to kick the month of May to the curb, and all the stress that has come with it! I’m going to keep running until writing ideas return, and I’m going to keep suggesting ways to have fun and spend time with our kids while I have them in my house. Feel free to join me!