For me, it used to be my career. Without going into detail, it was a public service type occupation where I could really help people. However, I was battling depression, anxiety, and addiction, and after being hospitalized and jailed multiple times, I lost that career. Even while I was going through all that dark stuff, I felt great at my job helping people, and I feel like I was good at it.
Now, I have a different career that I still feel good about doing, but I can never shake the feeling that I’ll somehow mess this one up too, eventually. My doctor told me I have to be active, so I took up longboarding. I still have bad depression with frequent bouts of suicidal thoughts, but when I’m on a bicycle or longboard, that’s the only time I feel really at peace with myself. I wish I could feel like that all the time.
Do you have things you do that make you feel like that? Like you’re really free?
“Create” stuffs in some way. Draw shapes in roll and write games. Make labels for storage. Piece together artwork with perler beads. Cook solely for myself.
Finding a creative outlet is so nice. When I got sober from alcohol, I coped by investing myself heavily into the Skyrim modding community. It’s nice to think people still use something I created for them.