Stress. Its always with us to some extent. Not only do we live in a fast paced, pressure filled society, if you’re full or even partly self-employed, you have the added stress of being fully responsible for you financial well-being and the overall success of your business and/or effort to become known in your area of art or expertise. And we’re usually so busy that we don’t make quite enough time for those hour long daily meditations that are recommended, regular exercise, or rejuvenating vacations.

But when it comes down to it, you really have to make time. It’s  not simply a matter of wanting or even feeling a need to take time out, but it’s a must, not only for your health but for your work. Creativity springs primarily from experience–the interactions we have with others, the information we gather from exploring,  and the sensory input we get as we move through the world. If your life is so wrapped up in your business, the industry and market you work in/for, and where you work, your experiences are reduced to such a small range as to be stifling and maybe even debilitating.

In my life, taking time to de-stress is non-negotiable. If I didn’t force myself away from my work, the home that I work from, and the city I work in, I would burn out very quickly. To this end, I make sure I have a multi-day trip planned (a non-working trip) every 2-3 months and at least one full day off a month that is just for goofing, exploring, and enjoying the people and sights in nearby areas, something to look forward to that allows me to get detached from the every day. Once a week would be better and sometimes I manage it twice a month. But a planned day at least once a month is better than no plan at all.

Besides getting away from my work, I also have a timer on my computer that makes me get up every 45  minutes. It shuts down my mp3 player (I listen to audio books while working in the art studio) and my computer screen, so I can’t work on that either, with a danceable, singable song so I actually want to get up and do something energetic. Although I try to work out for 30 minutes every morning, it doesn’t always happen. However, I do dance and sing 20-30 minutes a day because of these timers. Physical exercise and expression (both of which can be accomplished by dancing) are excellent de-stressers and easy to work into your day with the right tools.

If you are interested in some of the programs that can help get you regular breaks, check out the timer downloads on www.cnet.com. Or look at these two free programs that I use if you want to get your dance on between creative challenges: Cool Timer and User Protector (company seems to have disappeared but it’s simple software and seems to be still downloadable).

You may have some of your own methods for keeping stress in check–it doesn’t really matter what it is. The important thing, I’ve found, is to have a plan and a method that won’t get lost or disentegrate in the mayhem that ensues as deadlines approach or life gets out of hand. You want to be able to keep going and keep enjoying what you do. And that is the real bottom line I think we’re all looking for.

If you are like many of the artists, writers, and designers I know, you tend to snack a lot while doing your creative work either because you get stuck and taking a break to graze helps you think (or so you believe) or you have gotten accustomed to eating at your desk or art table and have edibles stock-piled nearby. And what do we stock up on? Usually quick and easy foodstuffs like chips, cookies, and sodas, maybe some snack cakes or salty nuts. Then when we’re busy (and when are we not?) we nosh on microwave meals, pizza delivery, and canned something or other for dinner. Yep, we’re not often the most health conscious bunch and you have to know, somewhere deep down inside, hiding behind your muse perhaps, that this isn’t good for you and may even be stalling your creative work at times. But what’s a creative genius to do?

Well, start by making small changes. I would suggest starting with ridding yourself of as much processed food as possible, maybe just one craving category at a time—whatever you can handle. Those miraculous products that can stay edible for decades contain chemicals (preservatives, food coloring, flavor enhancers, etc.) that disrupt the balance of your physiology, empty calories that actually deplete nutrients in your system, and those horrid trans-fats, salts, and refined sugars—all elements that can greatly increase your chances for a myriad of diseases. And all these are unnecessary.

It’s actually quite easy to find better options to the junk food. Fruit and vegetables are an obvious alternative for general snackiness. Nuts, preferably raw and in small quantities (they have a high calorie content), or lightly salted, stove-top popcorn (yes, it actually doesn’t have to come out of a microwave bag), can alleviate chip cravings. Try a bowl of naturally sweetened cereal when you crave cookies or if its pseudo-baked goods dancing round in your mind, slap together some whole grain toast spread with lowfat cream cheese and all fruit jam (its like a hearty cheese Danish—very filling and very tasty). Switch to iced tea (brewed, not instant), soda water and juice, or just delicious filtered water for a beverage.

Then when you’re ready, look into changing your meals from food out of the package to something out of a pan. Crock pot meals are easy and soooo good. Make casseroles, soups, stews and other main dishes in large quantities and freeze some or plan several of your week’s meals around it. I usually take one afternoon and make salads, baked goods, and a casserole or pot of soup, enough to cover meals for several days that week, and then keep stocked up on quick cook items like fish, turkey burgers, and whole grain pastas.

Now I know you’ve heard this all before. This information is not new and if you want to delve into the many options for eating healthier, there’s plenty of information on the web and at your bookstore. But, I know from personal experience and from other creatives that we don’t always make our health and well-being a priority. Working for yourself or having a day job then coming home to your ‘real’ work keeps us exceptionally busy. But the bottom line is that we do need to take better care of ourselves so we can do more and even do what we do better.

So I encourage you to challenge yourself to make a small change today, this week. Just one thing. If you like what it does for you and it wasn’t too hard, try to do something else to make yourself healthier next week, and then the next week and the next. Take care of your most important artistic tools (yes, I’m going to be cheesy and say it)—yourself.

If you’ve never heard of the term ‘body burden’ and you work with any kind of raw materials to make your art, you really need to get familiar with this concept. Body burden refers to the physical limitations our bodies have for dealing with the wide variety of toxic elements we are exposed to through skin absorption, inhalation, and ingestion. The cool thing is, our bodies have a very efficient and effective set of systems for detoxification and can handle quite a lot. Our liver, kidneys, and skin along with various aspects of our immune and digestive systems are continuously breaking down and cleaning out the alien elements that aren’t helping us in our continued existence.

But at some point, we can—and in our culture, usually do—reach a point where the toxins we take in are too great for our bodies to handle. Kind of like, a beer or two here and there is not going to detrimental to your health but a six pack or two every night is going to kill you because your liver and heart just can’t handle the constant barrage of what is essentially a toxic element.

Many artists materials are listed as safe under what is called normal or common use. The problem is, we aren’t usually exposed to these chemical from just one source and so what is considered a safe level in one product becomes toxic when multiplied by the number of products we use that include it.

Take phthalates, for instance. I only discovered the potential risk of this ubiquitous chemical when I started having cognitive issues and started investigating the polymer clay I was working with which used phthalates as a binder. If I was only being exposed to it through the clay, I might not have had any dramatic symptoms. But as it turns out, 80% of every beauty product, household cleaner, and vinyl type material in my house probably had this chemical in it as well. I was not only absorbing it through the clay I worked with daily but was also slathering it on my face, embedding it in my clothes, spraying it into the air I breathed, and wrapping myself in it and eventually, this excessive burden disabled me. I became insulin resistant, couldn’t stay awake, couldn’t speak coherent sentences, and developed a kind of dyslexia.

Not all people deal with toxins the same way, so for some, the same level of exposure may not have affected them in any noticeable way, or at least not as soon. But over time, just as with heavy drinking, the constant battle to clear the body of the toxins will negatively affect the physical system of almost anyone resulting in cancer, diabetes, immune deficiencies, dementia, etc. That’s where thinking in terms of body burden can save your health and even your life.

You cannot keep yourself from being exposed to toxins completely, but you can reduce your exposure enough to let your body do its job and keep you healthy. I highly recommend looking up the MSDS sheets associated with all the chemicals and materials you work with and become familiar with the safety precautions recommended. Investigate safer alternatives if available (most poly clays are being made without phthalates now—if you work with the polymers and want a safe list, write me) and don’t get lazy with the safety gear—keep plenty of gloves and masks on hand and use an exhaust system of some kind, even if its just a window fan, to keep the air you work in circulating out while bringing clean air in.

The next step would be to start rotating out of regular use chemically laden products and start buying healthier alternatives. I was able to reverse the insulin resistance by eliminating all processed foods from my diet. My skin became the clearest I had ever had and my cognitive abilities started improving after changing out all my personal products for truly natural alternatives (being labeled natural doesn’t mean its good for you, by the way—go by the ingredient list, not the package marketing lingo).

Eliminating all unnecessary toxin exposure can be a tall order, especially if you are on a tight budget. I know, I did it, but then, I had to. But even if you just take it one small step at a time—maybe just work on always wearing gloves when painting or only buying natural cleaning products from this day forward—you are working towards decreasing your body’s burden.  And I can almost guarantee that if you are having any physical ailments, you will start to see some measure of relief or reversal when your chemical exposure becomes dramatically lessened. Because the same systems that work at eliminating chemical toxins also support the health and efficiency of the rest of your systems. It only makes sense that unburdening your system in one respect will allow it to assist better in other areas of your body. And if you are feeling better, you will be able to create and live better as well.

Since posting that last blog about the bees and what we can change in the world with our creative works, it seems like I’ve been inundated with activist information through newsletters, radio programs, Facebook postings, newspapers (yes, I actually pick up newsprint on occasion–its kind of fun and different these days.) and emails. A lot of it has been touching upon health issues, which, as some of you know, was a big focus for me personally these past few years. Its amazing how motivated you can be to find out what keeping healthy really means when your health is slipping away from you.

So I thought, since the universe has been shoving it in my face via all kinds of media this week, I’d share some websites and information that I heartily encourage you all to check out and make your health the primary subject this month.

What does this have to do with being creative and living a creative life? Keeping healthy is a major factor in being able to produce creative work. If you don’t feel well, can’t think, have pains that keep you from sitting at the computer or using your crafting tools, you aren’t going to be able to produce the kind of work you really want to. Your visions will be truncated by those moments when you just want to get it done so you can go rest. You will avoid using particular tools or techniques because its too physically trying. You may miss deadlines and lose clients because you just can’t keep up with the work. Yep, good health is key. As Count Rugen says in The Princess Bride, “If you haven’t got your health, then you haven’t got anything.” Of course Rugen is commenting on Prince Humperdink’s ability to follow through on his evil plans, but whether you have plans for starting a war or writing your next great book, the state of your health will have a direct impact on what you produce.

In the next few posts I will talk about a few quick and easy changes you can make in your life to ensure you have  more enjoyable and productive days. If you suffer from aches, weariness, memory problems, depressive episodes, digestive issues, anxiety, blood sugar instabilities, ADD/ADHD, etc. much of what I will talk about can help diminish these ailments. The small changes I’ll suggest will also reduce the likelihood of many types of cancer, alzhiemer’s, dementia, diabetes, and osteoporosis as well as alleviate allergies and disgestive problems.

If you’re anxious to get started now, start by educating yourself about the chemicals you expose yourself to. Here are a few sites with plenty of food for thought, so to speak:

Find out what foods are exposing you to huge amounts of pesticides and toxic chemicals: http://whatsinmyfood.org/index.jsp

Start by buying organic when it comes to what the EWG calls the ‘DirtyDozen’: http://www.foodnews.org/methodology.php

Get a water filter pitcher or faucet attachment to reduce your exposure to the insane multitude of toxins, medications, hormones, and heavy metals in our drinking water: http://www.consumersearch.com/water-filters (And no, bottled water is not safer than filtered tap, and is, sometimes, nothing but unfiltered tap water, not to mention a major contribution to plastic waste: http://www.ewg.org/reports/BottledWater/Bottled-Water-Quality-Investigation)

See where your favorite shampoo, lotion, and cosmetics rank on this personal care products safety list and make a customized shopping list of the best alternatives: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/search.php

I was reading something recently about the harmful effects of high fructose corn syrup on honey bees. Apparently HFCS can transform into a toxic compound under certain high temperature conditions and as it is often used to feed bees on bee farms, may be contributing to the dying off of the bees. My immediate thought, of course, was “Stop feeding them that stuff!”. My second thought was, “I need to get more adamant about getting rid of HFCS in foods as well.”

I don’t eat the stuff myself. I’ve read too many reports and studies from varied sources about its worthlessness as a food source and its contribution to many dire health issues. Now this. But what can I, one tiny little person do against the HFCS industry that is now posting television commercials spouting off about how it comes from natural sources? Well, geez, people, when it comes down to it, EVERYTHING comes from a natural source. Some of the glue I use in my studio comes from corn too but I’m not about to mix it into my morning coffee!

This subject brings me around to a long standing issue I have had with myself about making art. It has to do with responsibility. Artistic expression is, ultimately, about communication and is usually presented to an audience of multiple people, hence it has some level of public presentation. In our interaction with the public, do we as artists and public communicators have any innate responsibility to use our artistic expression to better the world? Should I be making resin pendants from dead bees and empty honeycombs to make a statement about the honey bee crisis? Should my writing bring attention to the error of our ways, rant on about HFCS, chemical toxins in our beauty products, and the utter wastefulness of the mostly unwanted sway companies have produced to promote their products?

These are all issues I’m very concerned about but it’s not usually what I address with my work. I prefer to communicate about beauty, self-reflection, and imagination as an alternate but authentic reality. These abstractions will not likely have a direct impact on environmental, social, or health issues. But when I have the ability to communicate with multiple other people, do I not also have a responsibility to use that to alleviate suffering and hinder impending disasters?

What I determined a while ago is that yes, I do have a responsibility, as a human being, to make efforts to care for others and the world I live in. As an artist, my responsibility is to myself and what I am best at expressing through what I create. I am not a rabid activist type and highly conceptual or descriptive art is not my thing so I can’t see that it would do much good if I tried to make my stand on environmental, social, or political issues through my creations. My writing, however, is a different story and I know I will continue to write about the issues I am concerned with as well as creating imaginative fiction and emotive poetry. Each form to their own best use in my hands.

I do think that even if you are one of those lucky creatives that have been able to focus and perfect just one medium, your responsibility is to be true to your talent no matter what. Offer the world the best work in whatever form and concept range your process and ideas best lend themselves to. If your beliefs and passions also encompass communicating and/or helping with local or world concerns, you certainly have other talents and abilities you can use to contribute as a responsible, caring human being including donating your artistic talents and creative objects to events and groups that support efforts to better our world.

In essence, all I am saying is that you should not compromise your visions or sell-out for any reason, even for a good cause. We have enough falseness in this world already, especially with idiotic commercials about how everything that comes from nature is good for you. I think the bees would be behind us on this one.

It seems these days that every other person I meet has this idea that they want to go into business for themselves. They dream of never having to answer to supervisors with unreasonable requests ever again, making their own hours, taking vacations on a whim, working in pajamas and spending every day doing something they love to do. On the outside, that sounds pretty good. But the reality is that working for yourself is probably the hardest job you could ever have. And there will be days, if you try or are in the process of taking on this goal, when you will day dream about a steady paycheck.

Don’t get me wrong. I will never go back to working for someone else if I have any choice in the matter. But there are certainly days where I wish I could just be an employee. You see, I have the most relentless, unforgiving, annoying boss one could ever imagine. She’s there, in their head all day long, going on about looming deadlines, paperwork that’s backing up, the viability of new ideas, and the state of the company’s finances late into the night and starts back up with the first vestiges of consciousness. It’s horrible.

If you are lucky, and you aren’t the slave driver that seems almost necessary to keep employee #1 on the ball, then there are often the long lonely, sometimes unbearable, hours of tedium cut off from the rest of the world. Knowing that the world spins on outside with all kinds of wheeling and dealing and drama and stories being created by the daily interaction of humanity can be more distracting than the TV or fridge. The world outside is evolving while yours changes only incrementally in the steps it takes to make that pendant or create one more graphic or write another page of text, unobserved, unnoticed as yet, by anyone but you.

Perhaps you are blessed with working with a team of people you are in contact with throughout the day or have a position that allows you a high level of face time with others. Then there’s always the crushing responsibility to get you down. You are responsible for the website working, the packages getting unerringly to their destination, the bills getting paid on time, the invoices being created and recorded correctly, the calculation and payment of sales and self-employment taxes, and your own bookkeeping. For most of us entrepreneurial adventurers, we are our own HR, PR, marketing, accounting, communications, quality control, production, and shipping departments. And if something goes wrong, there is no one to shove it off on, not completely. In the end, the buck stops in our laps, no one else’s.

And what about the luxury of making our own hours and taking vacations on a whim? Most of the self-employed I know work all the time. You’re rarely off the job even on your appointed ‘day off’ and you can’t take a vacation because there is no one to keep things going while you dig your toes into the sand or sip champagne on a sunset lit balcony in France. The hours are long and the associated hourly pay is sometimes less than what your niece makes babysitting.

So why in the world do we keep at it? Well, I think we all ask ourselves this question quite regularly—sometimes for days on end. Then there is the day when the client’s website goes live, your art work goes on display, you get that email from the appreciative reader of your book, or you simply get that fat check with your name blazing on the “Pay to” line and its all yours. Because yes, you must take all the responsibility but you also get to take all the glory.

So if you can live off those singular moments when all your blood, sweat, and tears turn into some wonderful creation or experience, long enough to do it all again, you could work for yourself. But if you can be happy with a job, the occasional nagging manager, a bit of rush hour traffic, and scheduled vacations, do it. Return what you can to the world and feed your need for fulfillment through that job or some great thing you do with your days off. Let the rest of us fanatical, deranged, deluded fools labor on the roller coaster of self-employment while we both occasionally dream about being in each other’s shoes.

Like most freelancers I know, I check Craigslist on a regular basis. Lately I’ve noticed the gig and jobs lists have become a venting ground for frustrated writers and designers who feel the need to lambaste ads and companies asking for free and cheap services. And this puzzles me. For one, why waste your time? And secondly, if it weren’t for those no-pay and cheap gigs, many freelancers wouldn’t be getting the paid gigs they’re getting today.

Internships and apprenticeships have been around for as long as specialized skills have been in demand. But today’s economy has changed the structure of these long revered traditions where speedy growth and advancement is the name of the game. Instead, the tendency is to offer one time or irregular gigs and newbies in the field use these to build a portfolio of experience they can’t get because no one will hire them without experience. And there’s nothing wrong with it. As long as it’s win-win.

I have a master’s in writing but I still needed to pay my dues when I headed into freelancing. I did a few articles for nothing but publications credits, wrote a few books for what seemed pennies an hour, and did graphics work pro bono for non-profits and friends. These slave wage gigs are what landed me a three month, full-time contract and several articles with a major national magazine and ever since, I have been able to get great contracts with livable fees writing and producing the kind of work I had set out to do.

Now, there are a lot of slime balls out there who ask for the most unreasonable things and are only concerned about what they can get out of the relationship. But there are plenty of fledgling companies and individuals who just need help with basic services to get their business or project off the ground. These are great time investments for a greenhorn freelancer, especially with new companies since it gets you in on the ground floor and if you do good work for them, they are likely to come back to you when they need more consistent or advanced work. Just let the prospect know what you need to get out of the project and if it’s by-line credits, reprint rights, items for your portfolio, etc. be sure you are guaranteed these things in the contract you have with them.

Alternatively, if you are one of those fledgling businesses who are strapped for cash, don’t feel bad asking for low or no cost services, just be certain you are able to offer something of high value in return. Be prepared to give testimonials and references as needed, don’t ask for the entire production to be off limits for use in their portfolio, and if they are a great resource, return a favor and recommend them to others.

No money doesn’t mean no value. There are many things in this world that just can’t be bought. It just needs to be valuable for both sides.

So, about 6 months ago I decided I needed to see what this hullabaloo about this book Outliers is all about. I skimmed a copy at the bookstore but didn’t get much from the skim except a niggling feeling that I might be sorry if I actually put money out for it, so I put in a request for the checked out copy at my local library. Apparently, I was not the only person on the wait list and/or it’s not a quick read because I’m still waiting for it. What is really apparent is that this is a really popular book. But I don’t get why.

From all the reviews I’ve read, the book basically tells you that if you aren’t successful now, you never will be, that your ability to succeed is based on things that are out of your control such as your upbringing and culture. What the he**? Who would write a book like this and market it to the general public as useful and insightful information? I mean, maybe it will reduce a few people’s stress level because now they can tell their spouse they can’t get a decent job because it was preordained by their past but seriously, why present someone’s ability to succeed as fatalistic? I have begun to suspect the book is an evil communist plot to keep us driven capitalists from trying to do anything worthwhile anymore. Seems a proper Batman inspired storyline, eh?

Now, keep in mind that I haven’t read the book so there may be a positive, uplifting lining to it that no one is bothering to chat about in the reviews (there were a number of unsubstantiated comments about it being “uplifting” that smelled strongly of marketing hype) but my impression is that this book is a nothing but a lot of repressive rhetoric. Except to those that may see themselves as one of those blessed successful types, then it is elitist affirmation. Bully for you, Trump.

My point is, does it really matter whether our backgrounds, upbringing, social circles, and the capricious nature of luck has anything to do with how well we succeed? Are you going to stop trying because where you come from looks nothing like where Bill Gates came from? Are you going to tell your kid she can never be a doctor because people from your background are doomed to be ditch diggers?

The whole premise of the book seems to ignore the most essential part about success. Our need to strive for what we want, the intense satisfaction we get from achieving, and the elevated value of the gain we get from reaching our goals because we had to work at it. If you get everything by luck, would you have any pride or get any real happiness from what you have? Just look at the many big lottery winners in the years after their major stoke of luck. They aren’t happy–many are ruined. Then look at our President. I can’t say that he’s happy (I wouldn’t be under that much stress!) but you know he’s got to be damn proud of what he’s accomplished.

Ignore Outliers, I say.  Your life is what you make of it. And just trying is the greatest measure of a successful life.

It has been a couple weeks since I posted a blog here. I had not planned to take a break from posting but when life pummels you with one thing after another, you have to pick your priorities and be honest about your limits. The problem is, organization and those well laid plans tend to just fly out the window when that wrench gets thrown into the cogs. But that doesn’t need to be the case. You just need a plan for when your plans don’t work out.

This month I was forced to restructure my work life, I got sick, and ended up with a bigger workload than expected all while working on a new collection of art. Suddenly I found myself having to choose between keeping up my on-line presence and other really important things, like sleep.

Instead of flailing about trying to make it all work, I was able to shift quickly into a plan B because I had already determined my priorities. I decided long ago that I would not compromise the quality of my work by regularly operating sleep deprived so I made sure I was getting 7-8 hours a night. I had also decided that the completion of the new artwork by the end of this month was a priority over all my other work so I headed into the studio first thing every day to be sure I would get done what I had slated for that day. All my other usual activities were relegated to later in the day the most important ones being done first and if bedtime rolled around with a few things still not done, they were at least the items that I already knew I could manage to do without.

If I had not had a clear idea about what was most important for this month and long ago had resigned myself to not being Superwoman, the many unexpected interruptions could have completely thrown off all my plans. Being prepared enabled me to complete some great art work and as a result I won Judges’ Choice for best body of work at the Mile Hi Art Show I participated in this past weekend.

Life is one long string of interruptions. Things do not usually go as planned so if you expect to make your long term plans work out, you need to have your priorities predetermined and know what you will be willing to give up when necessary. Then, once you get through the unexpected detour, you can get yourself back on track knowing you have had some success, which will keep you motivated and on track for the long haul.

I am a busy person. Always have been. Give me a free afternoon and I will immediately overfill it. I have too many interests and too many things I want to do and try before I leave this world. But just getting done the things I have to do, not everything I want to do, can be a challenge. So I’ve tried many tricks and techniques and oddball processes to get more time out of my day, but I have never found anything more useful than this one simple thing: The priority list.

Even if you don’t believe yourself to be a list maker, you need to try this. It’s very simple, very easy to do, and astoundingly effective:

Every night (or morning, although I personally sleep better if I make the  list the night before so I don’t lay awake worrying about all I have to do) make a list of all you must get done and want to get done the next day.  I dash off my to do items on a wipe off board, then using my pda phone because I have it on me all the time, I make a list from most important to least. Make this list however it suits you, but make it a list organized by priority and have it on something you can carry with you all day, like a piece of paper (oh, how novel!).

Next day, after your morning rituals, you do the first thing on the list. When that’s done, you do the next thing. And after that, the next item, and so on until you are either done with the list or your day is over.

Sounds too simple to be effective? Well, if you try it, actually follow your list, you will find you can get done amazing amounts of things, more than you ever have before. Why is this? Because when we don’t know what we’re going to do next, when we don’t have a focus, we are easily distracted and dally about (often on-line or at the refrigerator door, right?) while we figure out what to do next. Plus there is all that catch up and repair time spent on things you remembered or waited to do at the last minute and now you’re playing catch up or picking up after the bedlam your mad rush caused. Working randomly is simply inefficient.

Just try it for one day. See how exciting and accomplished you will feel when you look at your list at the end of the day and see all those items crossed off and no longer hanging over your head. If it works try it again the next day. By the end of the week you’ll see just how much more you’ve gotten done, and you’ll be hooked.