What I Learned From Overdoing It

(imported from my former photo blog)
OR:  How to kill your inspiration.

For those of you who do (or did) work a day job that was different from your passion, you can probably relate to this.
Last year in December I took on some extra work, two more days a week.  Seemed like a great idea at the time and more money is always appealing.

I don't always know what's best for me, but I try to stay intuitive and balanced.

I'm going to share something personal with you.  About a year ago I discovered I was a Highly Sensitive Person, this shed a whole new light on my life;  my past, my present, and gave me tools to move into the future.  With this, comes a lot of responsibility to take extra care of myself.  Minimize stress, structure my responsibilities, get plenty of rest and down time, and pay attention to how I feel.  I call the latter my emotional barometer.  I'm still learning how to use it.

Even though I only added two days to my four day work week, I became completely unbalanced.  Apparently I need more down time than I realized. 
Everything was off; my energy, my digestion, my sleep.  I thought I had lost my mind!  More importantly, I had lost my inspiration.

Before all this I had just finished a six week course in marketing and was ready to apply it to several of my endeavors.  I reorganized my office and creative space, got my files in order, calendar and project list ready.

Besides photography as art, I also make things from recycled fabrics, an idea I formulated last summer out of  another project I called my Mission Quest (I'll write about that in another post).  That project inspired the idea to take white cotton thrifted t-shirts and make circular scarves from the bottom half - hand dyed in various colors.
I was able to get about 30 made, some sold right away, some were gifts and the remaining are consigned in a local boutique.  (See my page New Pioneer Style here .)

So obviously I was on a roll, fired up and inspired.

When I took on the extra work I basically just pulled the plug on my inspiration.  I had two personal traumas and some bad weather during this time to add to it.  While I had no control over those, I realized that I did have control over my day job.

I read a great book during this time:  Making Work Work for the Highly Sensitive Person by Barrie Jaeger PhD.  Not only did I learn how to balance work, but how to recognize what kind of work I was doing - or rather, what it was doing to me.

I do not have the luxury of being a full time photographer, or artist, and I am my sole supporter.  I'm OK with that, I like a little challenge and am proud to be independent.  But I have learned a very valuable lesson about savoring inspiration.  It's a gift and should be treasured.  If you're creative you know what I mean.  It can mean the difference between a good day and a bad day.  Inspiration makes you feel good, and wonderful things come out of it!

So obviously once I came to my senses and realized I had upset the delicate balance of my life, I let the extra job go.  But that took four months.

Soon I will be back to my former schedule which was working for me for the most part (one step at a time!).  After some healing I hope my inspiration returns - if it's not too offended at how I treated it.  For what?  Money?  Money isn't always the answer.  Sometimes it's the quality of life that is the most fulfilling.

Have you had a similar experience?

Living the Perfect Life

Finding peace and satisfaction in a stress-free quality of life. Sounds great doesn't it? Too good to be true? It's all in how you look at it.

This morning I was reading the latest blog post on Copyblogger by Johnny B Truant (here).

There was a paragraph about a guy who gave up his big city job, moved to the country, and actually made more money by working less.

It reminded me of one of the many detours I have taken off the traditional path.  I arrived in a small blue collar town full of hard working folk, still recovering from the last recession.  

I came from the big city.  I had a Liberal Arts degree with a background in art and photography, and a dream of opening an art gallery. 

While I did make an effort to fulfill that dream, after 18 months of struggling I realized I was just in the wrong place for this. 

 

I needed income and a friend suggested the cleaning business.  While not so glamorous, it was a job where I could stay self employed.  This friend became my mentor who taught me tricks and tips that wouldn't make house cleaning seem like housekeeping.  (Never underestimate the value of a mentor by the way!)

In 2 years I built my clientele up to a full time income and was able to move to a lovely rural area in lush natural surroundings.

I commuted to all my jobs but it was a different drive every day - through the countryside, or even to the next town.

I know my attention to detail, my integrity, and reliability were some of my keys to success.  I treated it like a business, and not just a job.

Even when the economy bombed I still had work, but more importantly I had the quality of life I had always dreamed of;  no stress, enough income, low overhead, because rural living is more affordable, not to mention more peaceful.  I have enough free time to continue with my art and photography as well as gardening and being outdoors in nature.

Now, 20 years later I am still supporting myself this way.  More commercial work has replaced the residential, but even the residential has evolved into cabin care-taking and landscape maintenance.  Not to say that I haven't tried replacing some income with other pursuits, I even ran a small art collective while still doing the cleaning business.

My point is that you can create your own life - whatever it is you need to feel fulfilled.

It's about being at peace, finding joy, because you live a slower lifestyle.  Enjoying better health, better relationships, more hobbies, whatever.

I own an older mobile home which I got for a steal.  My expenses are ridiculously cheap and my business overhead is low.  It really takes the pressure off my earning commitment.

I did have a plan, and I followed it.  I lived in rentals, took on extra side jobs, and even lived in a travel trailer for 9 months just so I could get into another part of the county.  It still took 2 more rentals after that before I could buy my first house on a lease option.

I'm not done yet.  I still want another house and a less physically laborious business, but I have the formula and the desire, which is all I need to get there.

You can have any lifestyle you want - but you may have to break free from traditional methods and societal expectations.

Only you know what you really want, and at the bottom of the list - or the bare-bones desire - is peace.  Isn't that the real goal?  To feel good about yourself, living the life you choose?

I look forward to your comments about this.  If you have a similar story I would love to do a guest interview about you!!