The Final Count Down

One look at this space cadet print and cutey rocket ship bag and you already know what this post is all about--Sci-Fi!  Much like a futuristic bounty hunter, I spent months tracking down this particular dress and Oh, how it eluded capture.  But, in the end, my prize was won!  That should be a triumphant moment of celebration, right?  But, do you ever find yourself a little depressed when a goal is complete?

If you're new to the conversation on my sci-fi dress hunting, then just know that I have been thrifting to collect an out of print space cadet novelty print from RockSteady in all its various forms and after months of pursuit I shall very shortly and much like the greatest sci-fi bounty hunter of all time, Ash Ketchum, Catch Them All!

I'm coming to the end of this little project, the final countdown if you will, with only one last piece left to style and over the years I've noticed a pattern in myself.  Once the moment of elation wears off, I'm down, lost even, and searching for something new to challenge me.  I rarely take the time to just celebrate my accomplishment and then relax and let the next thing find me.  It's quite common in creative types, but if we can't find some balance to it all, the pursuit can become all consuming and those lows can lead us to a very dark place.

I saw an ad last year for this new wonder drug which is supposed to, in my opinion, "cure" the highs and lows that come with certain personality types.  It upset me to think that this very natural part of the creative process was being deemed a mental health issue in need of medicating.  What people need, more than pills, is a little self control and a little balance to all things.

Human beings have been around for thousands of years without modern brain chemistry altering drugs.  Imagine if someone had medicated Michelangelo or Hans Christian Andersen or Isaac Newton, because they deemed their fixation and subsequent low to be an undesirable quality.  Read up on these figures if you're not familiar and you'll see exactly what I mean about the creative mind becoming obsessed with an idea.  It's not a bad thing, it just needs temperance.

I'm a creative type and I'm prone to obsession, so one of the ways I tried to keep my interest from becoming unhealthy obsession is by not having the internet in my home.  That meant that there were only certain days of the week and times of day when I could search.  The rest of the time I had to do and think about other things.  With the quarantine we had to get the internet so that we could all work from home and I very quickly noticed that things were getting out of balance.

 

I had to set rules for myself and follow them BEFORE it gets out of hand.  When you're deep into an obsession it's very often impossible to handle on your own, (I understand that that's where medication can be useful--so long as it's a temporary thing) and the best thing you can do if you relate to this personality type is to not let yourself get in too deep.

Obsession is much like addiction and there are similar methods of keeping yourself in check to see if you're heading in the right direction or getting off track.  It will take self awareness (am I forgetting priorities, am I spending too much time on X) and deliberately making time to examine your mood and behavior (am I feeling anxious, speeding up to try to outrun the anxiety, is depression lurking as I near the end of this project) and then creating a plan to refocus.  

For me, I like to plan something else and have a set start date for my next task.  This allows me to enjoy my accomplishment, and the time of rest that follows.  It alleviates the depression and feeling lost because I know the next thing is on the way.

To be perfectly candid, I didn't sit down to write about this subject at all.  My intention when I started writing this post was to focus on something science fiction-y, but this is where the conversation has taken us and I'm not the least bit sorry we've taken this detour together. I've only got one more post from this sci-fi collection and then it's time for a much needed break from my searching.

Shopping Info:  Rocket Ship Bag, Rock Steady Dress from Poshmark, Tits from Shein

*Self Evaluation Process--FASTER scale from Michael Dye at www.genesisprocess.org