Alexis recently joined me on the Cultivating Creative Podcast and it was wonderful to chat to her about her art, how it helps her mental health and how she deals with rejection. Here's what I learnt:
Being creative can be so helpful in keeping us mentally well. Alexis shared how her art helped her come to terms with the loss of her dad and a good friend within a short time frame and how it was a key part of her mental health journey.
It's essential to find out what tops up or depletes your battery and make sure you don't end up running on empty. As an introvert, Alexis is at home in the studio and although she loves meeting and connecting with customers she needs to build in time to recover after a whole day spent chatting to people.
Don't be scared of receiving feedback. It's so helpful in business to know what your customers or potential customers think. You don't have to act on what every single person wants, but it can give you a steer as to what people might be looking for.
Failure and rejection teach you more than immediate success. Who loves things not going to plan? Not me! But often we learn more from our mistakes and this can lead to greater success in the future.
Learning resilience from rejection can help us to help others. It gives us empathy and techniques to be able to help our kids or to come alongside a friend or family member who is struggling.
It's OK to take time out when you need it, especially after something hasn't gone to plan. Taking time out can give us a chance to heal and the break can give us a new perspective so that when we come back we see it with fresh eyes.
You don't need to be an artist to be creative! There are huge mental health and spiritual benefits to exploring our own creativity and these are open to everyone, whatever our level of talent!
When life is busy we need to make the most of opportunities to do the things we love. Even if that could be classed as 'work'. If you love it, do it!
I loved chatting to Alexis about art, creativity and some of the practical elements of running a creative business. If you haven't downloaded the podcast yet, have a listen here:
Comments