A couple weeks ago Colin and I had an intriguing conversation with Marc Scheff and a group of artists he coaches in his Unleash Creativity Club. It felt very real, honest and easy sharing parts of our creative journey with everyone there. Today, I thought it would be fun to share a couple tidbits that came up during our discussion (plus a few other topics too).

To begin, with the prominence of AI in the online conversational space, I’ve seen some serious cyberspace smack talk lately about artists and the role of art in our world. I have this to say about that: Creativity matters. Art matters. Artists matter. Making art is important and makes a difference. Anyone who says otherwise needs look no further than world history. Along with journalists, writers and musicians, artists are among the first groups to be rounded up when fascists or authoritarian regimes take over. If we and what we do didn’t matter and didn’t have an impact on people in our societies, we’d be allowed to go on speaking our truth and creating however we liked even when everything was falling apart all around us.

That settled, as a creative, you matter. And knowing that, taking care of yourself so you can do what you do becomes something of a spiritual discipline. The non-negotiables: Nutrition, exercise and sleep. When we get busy, those are the first things that want to drop out because it seems the easiest choice (we tell ourselves it’s the most sensible, but it’s not). There’s just no way around that: if you want to give yourself the opportunity to make your best work and have the energy to do that for years, you have to take care of your body and mind.

Everyone has pushed a boundary or two when on a deadline. We have too. The fact is, if it needs to get done, it needs to get done, and we’ll do what we have to, but… we can also learn from our past poor choices. It’s easy to grab ready-made food to save a few minutes and for the quick boost, but the crash always comes and the long term damage is documented and real. Steve Jobs said, “you can either eat your food as medicine or you will eat your medicine as food.” Colin would say “be careful what you consume.” Nutrition is the most obvious, but the philosophy expands to the things you see, watch, read, expose yourself to and the people you choose to have in your inner circle. For good or bad, it all becomes part of you.

Exercise gives oxygen to the brain; toned and flexible muscles can help prevent repetitive movement and position fatigue and injuries. For us, working out is a sort of insurance when most of what we do involves big, awkward and heavy.

Severe lack of sleep can impair your ability dramatically. One of the worst work injuries I’ve had happened when I was preparing for a 2-person show. I was sleep deprived and made some bad choices resulting in an incident with an angle grinder that left me with some major ugly scars across my thigh to this day. I was lucky I was operating a grinder and not a vehicle. Realizing the stress that lack of sleep can cause our system (which can take days or weeks to fully recover from – and some research points to there never being a “catching up” for our brain), we can put structures in place to minimize those times when our schedule blows out of control. If it’s perpetually that way, you may need to consider prioritizing what you say yes to (and I say that knowing that Colin and I are definitely “yes” kinds of people).

So, what of prioritizing? Yep, it’s easy to tell yourself it’s all equally important and it’s all going to get done… somehow. I certainly have operated in my life from that perspective to my detriment. You can prioritize and it can be a bit of an eye opener if you’re not accustomed to doing it. For me, it’s like this: #1. Our relationship. If that tanks, nothing else matters… not even a little bit, and I am very clear about that. If it’s a choice between Colin and literally anything else, it’s Colin. Every time. #2. Health (argh. exercise, nutrition and sleep again!). Once more, if that tanks, nothing else matters. Someone once said that a healthy man wants for many things. A sick man wants only one. #3. My art #4. Our art #5 Colin’s art. I’d like to say that our pets, family, friends and play (all of which are important) are higher on the list, but if I look honestly at how I’ve structured my life, this is the truth. Being honest with myself helps make decisions easier. That said, I do get creative about how to give time to enjoy all of these facets of my life, but having the short list simplifies my choices and reduces stress when something needs to drop out.

There are many more topics to delve into and stories to share, but for today, one final thought: choose a perspective that empowers you and your actions. This spring, we took our first long vacation in six years, spending six glorious weeks exploring 13 of the Greek islands. We were camping on the beach most nights and amongst the many beautiful sunny days, we also ran into rain, cold, wind and dust storms from Africa. At the time, I thought those days were a bit… um… quite a bit less than ideal. Towards the end, though, I realized that each day, however it was, was completely unique, and each was perfect in its own way. I was so happy. And I asked, why couldn’t I live my life that way – what would life look like from that perspective? The fact is that I’m so lucky to get to live as a creative, with the ups and downs, sunny days and stormy nights, challenges and wins – all of it. If I spend my day working on the computer – editing photos, writing statements, entering contests – maybe that was just as perfect (in its own way) as the days when I get to sculpt. I wouldn’t want every day to be that, but those things need to be done too. I can do them with a bad attitude and be grumpy all day or do it with a good one and be grateful that I’m still making forward progress. Either way, it’s all part of a creative life and, with the second option, I work more effectively, feel fulfilled, energized and calm at the end of my day, ready to jump on tomorrow. And, from that perspective, any day can be just the perfect day!