Wednesday, April 11, 2007

An Epiphany

Okay, so I just spent all day yesterday at the Scrapbook USA Expo in Sandy Utah. It's huge, loud, long and terribly exhausting - but oh, so fun!

See, get this: We got home about 1:00a.m. last night (oops, this morning) but could I go to sleep? No! It took several HOURS to numb my brain enough to fall asleep. That's one of the reasons I read so much. I ended up reading an entire book last night!

I am so tired and worn out today. I did see some really neat stuff there, but the exhaustion has totally blocked my creative high. This all reminds me of an inspirational message I received from the Painter's Keys by Robert Genn this last week on Creative Insomnia - go read the article. I'll wait.




So, are you back?

GOOD article, very good, don't you think? I love getting his twice weekly messages. The comment by Elaine Fraser in New Zealand was exactly what I would have said.

What I have discovered: (in my humble opinion)

I have found that maintaining a fine balancing act between sleep and creative energy seems to work best for me.

If I just tell myself that I should sleep if I am tired, lay down and rest when I need it, well, I get nothing done. I'll nap every day. For hours at a time. Then I get depressed about not getting things done, which makes me even more tired. Or, if I continually push myself and act on all my inspiration, as inspiration strikes, when it strikes, every time, I get very, very tired and I burn out. But, if I sleep sometimes and at others go with the creative flow...well, it's working so far. It is a balance act though. Forever back and forth.

Now, off to give myself some of the best medicine, a 10 minute (no longer, no shorter) nap!

Edit: I've just noticed that the post-date is not the date I posted - weird. I did start a draft, and then changed it several days later, must be the reason. Hmmm.

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