Creative Life
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Is Working Really Self-Care? Well… What If Being Creative Is My Self-Care? 🤷♀️
We hear it all the time. “Stop working and practice self-care.” “Take a break from your computer.” “You need to relax instead of being productive all the time.” And I get it. I really do. But here’s the thing… What if the thing that helps me relax is also considered work? I’m an artist, writer, graphic designer, and creative business owner. I spend a lot of time designing, blogging, creating digital products, building websites, and working on my little corner of the internet. To some people, that probably looks like I’m constantly working. And technically? I am. But there’s something they don’t always understand. Being creative is how I decompress.…
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What If We Turned Our Overthinking Into Little Characters Instead of Fighting It?
On anxiety, creative self-care, and why sometimes a silly little doodle can help us understand the thoughts running around in our heads. Have you ever been overthinking so much that your brain feels like it’s hosting an entire conversation without your permission? Because, same. One thought is worrying about something that might happen tomorrow. Another is reminding you about something embarrassing you did five years ago. Another is questioning whether you’re doing enough with your life. And another has already imagined approximately 47 different worst-case scenarios that haven’t even happened yet. Meanwhile, you’re just trying to enjoy a peaceful afternoon. Excuse me, brain? Can we please have five minutes of…
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Can Artists Succeed Without Social Media? I’m Finding Out
An artist’s thoughts on Instagram, burnout, algorithms, and learning to create without the pressure to constantly be seen. Social media can be a wonderful thing for artists. It can help us build communities, connect with other creatives, share our work, find customers, and turn something we love into an actual business. But it can also be absolutely exhausting. Especially when you’re a small artist trying to build something meaningful while competing with algorithms, trends, influencers, and thousands of other creators who are all trying to be seen. And lately, I’ve been asking myself a question: Can artists still find success in the digital age without relying on social media? I…
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Am I a Night Owl, or Does My Brain Just Come Alive at Night?
3 AM Thoughts From a Millennial Living With Anxiety, Schizophrenia, and a Very Creative Mind There’s something about nighttime that makes my brain come alive. During the day? I’m exhausted. Sometimes I struggle to find motivation. I overthink everything, worry about things that haven’t even happened, and feel like my brain is running a thousand different tabs at once. But then nighttime arrives. Suddenly, I want to write. I want to create art. I want to redesign my website, work on my business, brainstorm new projects, or start something completely random at 11 PM. And I’m sitting there thinking… Where was this motivation six hours ago?! Seriously, brain. We need…
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I Was Told I Couldn’t Make Money With Photoshop. Ten Years Later, I’m Still Creating.
On finding myself through art, rebuilding my creative business, and why I’ve stopped trying to squeeze my entire personality into one niche. In 2016, someone told me I couldn’t make money with just Photoshop. And looking back? I think that might have been one of the most important things anyone ever said to me. Not because they were necessarily trying to inspire me. But because I loved creating, and I wasn’t ready to give that up simply because someone else didn’t see the possibilities. By that point, I’d already taken three different Photoshop courses between high school and college. And somewhere along the way, I’d completely fallen in love with…
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Let Yourself Make Bad Art. Seriously, It’s Good for You.
On perfectionism, the inner critic, and why sometimes the best thing you can do for your mental health is create something without worrying about whether it’s good. Can I tell you something as an artist? Not everything you create needs to be good. Seriously. Not every drawing needs to become a masterpiece. Not every photograph needs to be perfectly composed. Not every painting needs to look like something you’d hang in a gallery. And not every creative idea needs to become a product, a social media post, or something you can sell. Sometimes you can just create. That’s it. No expectations. No pressure. No worrying about whether anyone else will…
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The Lonely Life of an Introverted Artist Who Struggles With Mental Health
We love our solitude, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get lonely. Sometimes, we just want someone who understands. There’s something people don’t always understand about being an introverted artist. Yes, we enjoy being alone. But yes, it gets lonely. Very lonely. We can spend hours sitting in our rooms, tucked away in coffee shops, listening to our favorite music, creating something meaningful, or getting lost in our own little worlds. And honestly? Most of the time, we love it. There’s something comforting about being alone with your thoughts, your creativity, and a good playlist. But here’s the part people don’t always see. Sometimes, behind all that creativity, there’s someone…
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Maybe I Was the Brand All Along: 10 Years of Rebranding and Still Figuring It Out
From print on demand to mental health, digital art, and now Substack. Maybe all those fresh starts were leading me somewhere. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself over the past ten years, it’s that I’m really good at starting over. And by starting over, I mean rebranding. A lot. New business names, new logos, new websites, new Etsy shops, new ideas. You name it, I’ve probably tried it. My creative business journey started back in 2016 with print on demand. I was a self-taught artist who loved the idea of turning my designs into actual products. Unfortunately, some of my early brands were reported and shut down, and…
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What Does Art Mean to You? Because I Don’t Think There’s One Right Answer.
Maybe art isn’t about creating something beautiful. Maybe it’s about creating something that makes you feel something. Here’s a little 3 AM thought I’ve been sitting with lately. What actually makes something art? Is it a beautiful painting hanging in a museum? A photograph that captures the perfect moment? A messy sketch in someone’s notebook? A poem written during one of the darkest periods of someone’s life? A digital illustration? An AI-assisted creation? Or maybe it’s something as simple as coloring in a coloring book after a mentally exhausting day. I’ve been creating art for most of my life, and the older I get, the more I realize something. Art…
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Is Print-on-Demand Still Worth It in 2026? I’m Not Giving Up Just Yet.
AI can generate a thousand designs before I finish my coffee. But does that mean there’s no room left for independent artists like me? Sometimes I wonder if I picked the worst possible time to be an independent artist. Here I am, a 30-something millennial who’s been creating art and building little online businesses since 2016, trying to figure out how to sell my creativity in a world where technology is moving faster than I can keep up with. And trust me, that’s saying something. One minute, we’re learning how to create digital artwork. The next, we’re opening Etsy shops, experimenting with print-on-demand, figuring out SEO, and trying to convince…