You’d think that, to have more energy for creative work, one would need to conserve or ‘save it up’ from other areas of life. An ‘easy’ or ‘boring’ day job should mean that when I clock off at 5pm, I’m raring to go with creative energy for my own projects. But it doesn’t work that way.
It’s a bit like running a 40km marathon. I’m not more likely to run one well if, in preparation, I sat on the couch to conserve my energy for a week. I need to work up to it with consistent and routine work.
What my creative work seems to need is something comfortably uncomfortable. A day job that is stimulating, intellectual, and collaborative but with little emotional labour. This combination keeps my brain and heart warm so that when ‘personal’ time arrives, I’m more likely to be able to run the marathon it takes to make great art because I’ve already been on a slow jog.