Coping with Anxiety & Depression as an Artist and Mom

“Victory” and “Taste Your Reward” by Adriana Vawdrey

“…’You can have it all, but not all at the same time.’ How important it is to take very good care of yourself, of your mental and physical and spiritual wellbeing; it’s hard to do. It’s easier to be a workaholic than to have a truly balanced life.”

-Dame Quentin Bryce

I need to tell you about the year I completely sacrificed my health for a passion project.

It is common for dedicated people to refer to themselves as “workaholics. ” The term is sometimes used in a silly way, but there is a difference between working with ambition and immersing yourself in impulsive project after project to escape other anxieties. From 2013 to 2016, I invented, and obsessed over never-ending piles of work in order to escape the fears and frustrations that came with a big life change. The problems which followed, and solutions that eventually pulled me out of that pattern, taught me a lot about the purpose of passion, the importance of balance, and the real possibility of feeling good again after a mental health scare.