218: Creating When the World is Falling Apart

 

Things feel heavy right now. If you're struggling to write or create, this week's episode covers ways to reframe the act of writing, how to take care of yourself, and how to write when things just feel overwhelming.

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Creating When the World is Falling Apart

Welcome to Your Big Creative Life, a podcast for writers and creatives that helps you live your best big creative life, whatever that means for you. I'm Katie Wolfe, a writer, book editor, and creator. Join me every week for tips and discussion on writing, mindset, up-leveling your life, and anything and everything that will help you achieve your big creative dreams. Hello, welcome to Your Big Creative Life Podcast. I'm Katie Wolfe. Thanks for being here. This is an episode that I've wanted to do for a while, but it's gotten pushed to the back burner. And honestly, with everything that has happened in the last couple of weeks here in the US related to ICE and Minnesota, it felt more timely than ever to talk about how to write when your mental health is in the toilet, when things feel like they're falling apart. Like how do you create? How do you write? How do you put your stuff into the world? How do you make this a priority when things are tough? And I'm actually, this is a re-record of my original episode. I recorded this episode probably a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, after Renee Good was shot in Minnesota. And in that original episode that I planned to release, I was a lot more diplomatic and I was very careful to say like, oh, I don't want to get political in this episode. But then Alex Preti was murdered in Minnesota by ace agents. And it just felt like I can't not be political. And I wanted to re-record this to be a lot stronger in my language. And look, if you are a Republican, if you're a conservative, I still welcome you in this episode.

This is an episode about how to create when the world like it's falling apart and when your mental health feels like it's crumbling. So, and even if you're outside of the US, this is still going to be a helpful episode because there are often those moments where it feels like. Things are just bad. And it's like, how do we write? How do we create? How do we prioritize that when things feel not good? But I want to take a second and talk to the people in the US right now, because this has been occupying so much of our national discussion, so much of my brain space, honestly, over the last couple of weeks, because I am from Minnesota. I live in Charleston, South Carolina right now. I haven't lived in Minnesota for, I don't know, 14, 13 years. But I went to high school in Minnesota. I graduated from the University of Minnesota. I used to live in Minneapolis. My brother lives in Minneapolis right now. My parents live in St. Paul. I'm intimately familiar with the city. And this is my home state. And so I have this like, I don't know. I can't stop spiraling and thinking about what's going on there.

And like I mentioned, in that original episode that I recorded, I was a lot more diplomatic and I was like trying not to get political, but this is political. What's happening is political. And even if you are a Republican or a Trumper or a conservative who's listening to this and thinks that what ICE is doing is completely fine, I would gently ask you, why are you okay with the Trump administration lying to us about what happened? The lies that have come out from our government about this, when there is video footage that easily show, like it shows clearly what happened. This was murder. They murdered a citizen for No reason. He was carrying a gun. It was concealed. It was not out. That is his Second Amendment right. I just, okay, that's all we're going to get into in terms of politics. This, the rest of this episode is not going to be specifics about Trump or this situation. But it just like, this is political. If you follow me on social media, you know where I stand politically. I'm progressive. I'm A Democrat. The response to the government, it would be so easy to say, yeah, we ****** **. We messed up. These ICE agents will investigate them. We'll put them on leave. We'll hold the people responsible, accountable. It would be so easy to just do the right thing.

But instead, Trump, JD Vance, the rest of his cabinet just lie. They just have been lying about what's happening. Even though the video footage is available, you can see with your own eyes what happened. And that to me is one of the most terrifying things to come out of this. And it does feel like things are falling apart right now. So yeah, that's all I'll say about that. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about how to write, how to create, how to prioritize these things and make progress when it feels like the world is falling apart. Okay, number one, what can I control? What's in my hula hoop? This is something that I learned from my recovery. I'm sober. I haven't had a drink since December 6, 2013. And there's this concept of like, what's in my hula hoop? If you think about a hula hoop, it extends out from your body, what, like not very far, a foot, I don't know. And the point of this image is like, you can control yourself, you can control what happens to you, how you respond to things, the actions that you take, but you cannot control other people. You cannot control other people's behavior. And I think this is true, just going back to politics briefly, I mean, We can vote, we can contact our senators, which is something that I have done this week. Contact our representatives, we can march, we can protest, we can organize, we can be incredibly politically involved and active.

But... I cannot directly control, pull the puppet strings of my senator, of a bill that is being written, of President Trump's response to this or lies to this or anything else, anything else related to politics, anything else related to the world falling apart. I cannot directly control someone else's behavior. I can influence people, sure. I can inspire other people to act. But my control only extends so far. Like it's just me. And this goes for any relationships that I have. Even if we go back to like my family or my husband, my daughter, I cannot control other people's behavior. I'm responsible for my own like actions and behaviors and responses. That's it. So I think it helps for me at least to remember where my control is Because I think that's the first step of this is just recognizing that I can't control the news narrative. I can't control how other people live their lives, what they believe politically. And so I have to like just focus on the things that I can control in my life instead of worrying about the things that I just cannot control and like have some acceptance over those things.

Number 2, related to this though, is to take one mini action. Because when the world is falling apart, when your mental health is feeling like garbage, you're just unmotivated and having a really hard time in your life, there's always one small step that you can take to make things 1% better. I think back over my life when I was struggling with really deep depression or anxiety. It was too much to think about solving it and fixing all of these 10 different areas of my life where I was struggling, but to take one action, like go for a 10-minute walk, or to call someone, or with what's been going on in the last couple of weeks, contact my senators to encourage them to not expand ICE funding, you know? Like 1 mini action that you can take. Because it sucks to be doom scrolling and just feel powerless and helpless. And it sucks to feel like your mental health is just awful and you can't muster up energy to do things. And why bother? Because it sucks to be in that place. But there's one small step that you could take to make things 1% better. And maybe it's just like taking a shower and putting on a real pair of pants instead of pajamas or sweatpants. Maybe that's it for that day, you know? I guess I should step back here and say that if you really are struggling, this is not obviously the right episode for you. Like if you're truly depressed or truly struggling, please, whether it's because of mental health issues or just like what's been going on in the world, please reach out and get professional help. This is not a substitute for that, like if you're really struggling.

Okay, so one mini action. Next. Decide if writing is going to be a good outlet for you to release some stress or a stressor, meaning it's like adding stress to your life. There are some of us, some creatives, some writers who when the world is falling apart, that's when they turn to their art. It's an escape. It helps them feel better. It helps them like kind of harness all the things that they're feeling. Some people though, that's not it. They just can't focus. It feels like an extra thing that they're piling on top of all the other **** they have to worry about. So you have to get honest and decide what, like where writing and creating fits in for you. But with that said, I'm going to gently encourage you to still focus somewhat on creating, on writing, because this leads me into my next point, which is that art equals resistance, especially in this age of so much turmoil and craziness, especially like in the US, in the entire world, honestly, especially in this age of like AI slop, it just, art is resistance, art is powerful. And I think sometimes as authors, we can sort of like diminish what we're writing or creating because, oh, I just write these silly little stories. I just write these fantasy novels or these romance books or these thrillers. Like it's not, it's not non-fiction. It's not like changing the world. It's just a silly story with some made-up characters.

And to that, want to say, absolutely not. Your words are powerful. Your stories matter. They change people's lives. I mean, if you're listening to this podcast, I'm assuming you're a writer or a creative of some kind, which means you're probably a reader. I would hope you're a reader if you're a writer. And think of books that have had a profound impact on you. Think of books that have transformed the way Maybe you see the world or maybe just have made you feel a little bit less alone because you read about a fictional character who was struggling with something that you were struggling with. That's powerful. It's incredibly powerful in this day and age. Again, I just don't discount that. Don't underestimate that. Don't say, oh, they're just silly little, like, no, it matters. So that's why I want to gently encourage you to do what you can and to create and write a bit because that's who you are. If you write, you're a writer. It's part of your identity. Now, I've gone through seasons. I've talked about this before where like, I just don't write. I mean, after I had my baby was a great example. The first six months postpartum, I don't think I did a single bit of writing and I knew that I wasn't going to write. It was fine. And maybe at points it felt a little bit weird to just completely set this part of myself aside, but I always knew that I was going to get back to it. There was never any question of like, oh, well, I've had such a profound life change now. I guess I'm just like no longer a writer. No, that was never part of my, how I felt. I just knew that it was a huge transition, especially before we got her in daycare. I was struggling so much. I didn't have the energy mentally or emotionally to be writing, but I knew that I would get back to it. So Yeah, if you're a writer, that's what we do, is we write, we create.

And I'm even thinking about content too, as falling under this umbrella, because it feels weird to, the last couple of weeks it's felt strange to create content and post on social media when there's this big thing that's happening that is so close to home for me and so terrible. I don't know. I shared on my, the Katy Wolf account, like, how I was just in a spiral about everything that was going on in Minnesota. I was doom scrolling. I was looking at so much news. And The content, like this was Saturday where I was just so caught up in it because I didn't have work to distract me. Yes, I had my daughter, but usually on Saturdays, my husband and I split shifts. So like I have a few hours with her, so he has some time alone. And then she takes a nap and then he takes her, so I have a few hours or vice versa, basically. And I just was doing a lot of scrolling and spiraling. And the post that I had scheduled for that day was a joy list where I was sharing things that brought me joy that week. And it felt wrong and weird to share that. And I don't mean wrong like tone deaf, because I've been talking about this on my page, but it just felt more like, God, is this even... It just felt strange for me to put that out into the world, but I did. But I did, because I still think there are moments of joy to be found, of course.

Me making myself miserable at every moment of the day does, like, that's not helping anything. It's not helping anyone. I'm not being of service to my family, my community, my clients, the people who follow me on social media, the country. Like, I'm not any good to anyone when I'm just like intentionally keeping myself stuck in misery, unable to take action. So I did share the joy list, and one of the things I put on that joy list was looking at footage of the protests that happened in Minneapolis last week, because it was like negative 20 degrees outside. It was so freakishly cold, even for Minnesota, that's cold. And seeing thousands of people out marching in an area of Minneapolis that I know well just brought tears to my eyes. Seeing that gave me so much hope and joy. And of course, it's bittersweet because they shouldn't be having to march and protest in the 1st place. But that did bring me hope. So I shared that. Anyways, it, yeah. And even if you're not sharing your creative things with the world, even if you're not at that point, I'm gonna gently encourage you to still create. and write. Because it's good for you. It's good for us to create. Everything gets worse for me when I'm just like not creating stuff and putting it out into the world. And finally, I want to remind you of the power of a 10 minute sprint.

We talk a lot about writing sprints here. And writing sprints are just that time that you set, 20, 30 minutes where the timer is running and all you're doing is writing. If you're doing a writing sprint, that's what you're doing. You're not brainstorming, you're not researching, you're not outlining, you're not like emailing for work, talking to your partner. No, you are only writing and you're writing as fast as you possibly can, not being too precious about the words, just trying to get them out on the page. And this is where the power of a 10-minute sprint can come in. And actually, I'm going to amend to this because literally yesterday, I did a 5-minute sprint. I just had this urge to work on my book, but it was like 4.45 in the afternoon, and I needed to start making dinner. And I had also just worked out, so I was like physically tired, but I was like, I haven't written today, and I really want to. partly because I was doing a YouTube video of like a day in my life as a working mom, an agent and author, working on a new thriller that's on the Katy Wolf YouTube channel, which go follow if you haven't, if you want to see those. It's at the Katy Wolf on YouTube. And I was like, I really, I want to like, I want to do this.

So I set a timer for 5 minutes. I got out my iPad, I opened up my Word doc of my manuscript, this new thriller that I'm writing, and I talked into it for 5 minutes. And I got like, I think I ended up going a little bit over 5 minutes actually. And I got like 400 some words dictated. And that's all I had time and energy for. But I wanted to do something. I was feeling that urge where I wanted to, because the scene I was writing was kind of a transition scene. So like, I don't know, I just got that urge to get these characters into this room together so that they could start this big conversation that's going to happen. And I wanted to get them there. So that's what I worked on. So A5 or a 10 minute sprint. That way you are still able to do all the other things in your life that you need to do. You are not stopping everything. You are not forcing yourself to like sit at your desk for two hours. But it's just a bit of time that you're carving out that's intentional for you to create. And if you're truly not feeling it after 5 minutes, fine. Done. Like you can move on with your day. You did your 5 minutes. You did your 10 minutes, whatever it is. That's it. takes a few minutes. Like I had to open up my manuscript because I think last time I wrote was sometime last week. So I had to just kind of refresh my memory about like where I left off. But that only took like 10 seconds. I just reread the last like couple sentences that I wrote.

And then I was like, okay, I know where I am. And then I dictated and then that's it. And I put it away. And I got on with like making dinner and the rest of my day. So yeah, there are these pockets of time where you can still make progress. And it's a good distraction. Like that's, it really is. I've never been someone where when I'm super stressed and I'm super anxious and like, I don't know, I never throw myself into writing. But it does feel good to have a bit of a break from that because when I'm writing, I'm totally focused on that. I'm not thinking about Minnesota. I'm not thinking about ice. I'm not thinking about like, or anything else that's going on in my, in politics or the world or things that I'm upset about. I'm just thinking about the scene. I'm thinking about these imaginary people, moving them around like I'm the puppet master and like thinking about the logistics of a scene of where they're going to be sitting when they get in this room and the conversation and how I can describe things like that's what I'm focused on, which is so nice. It's nice to have that break.

Okay, so those are my tips for you. Creating when the world is falling apart. Again, whether it's political stuff or not, yeah, it's just, I don't know. And I'll say too, as kind of a final tip or a final wrap up, allow me, just indulge me for a second. I'm gonna get cheesy. But I think this analogy applies. I think it's true. When I talked earlier about like me making myself miserable intentionally and wallowing in it, there's like something self-indulgent about that. And again, I'm not any good to anyone. I can't be of service to anyone when I'm in that place. And so I think taking care of ourselves first is like, it's essential, right? It doesn't mean we have to have our mental health completely in order and everything's rosy and like we're feeling amazing at all moments of the day. It's not like we have to heal completely and get over our trauma and also be, Our sleep's perfect. And like, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying, do the basics. Make sure that you're taking care of yourself. Make sure that you're not doom scrolling, that you're off your phone, touching grass, like being around real people, talking about other things, having a break from the despair of things that are going on in the world. Writing, like all that stuff is so good for us.

So do that stuff in addition to showing up for your community, doing whatever political activism you want to do, donating your time, your resources, money, whatever. That's all important too. But also like you have to take care of yourself because if you're not doing that, you're no good to anyone. That's like the bottom line. So just want to remind you of that as well. That's really something that I need to be focusing on. And honestly, I'm recording this on a Wednesday and I feel better. I feel much more grounded and better about it, partly because I'm just not on my phone as much because I'm working. It's a good distraction. So I think that that's just a big frigging part of it is the phone. There's that balance of like being informed, knowing what's going on, not just burying our head in the sand, but then also knowing like when enough is enough. You know, we've consumed enough content. All right, take care of yourself and remember that art is resistance and your words are powerful. It matters. So just keep that in mind this week, please. All right, take care. Thank you so much for listening.

Katie Wolf