One of the first concepts I often explore in an introductory workshop is the relationship between stress and mental health. That, in essence, our body and brain is a magnificent machine that is constantly adjusting to stress.
Stress doesn’t have to be negative - we engage the same internal systems to cope with the exhilaration of an enviable review as we do the frustration of yet another disempowering TVC screen test experience. With this perspective, anything that requires us to engage our internal resources for coping can be understood as stress.
Next in the workshop, we might brainstorm what stresses are characteristic of being a creative professional. You can pretty much bank on finances being one of the first that get mentioned. It seems that from students to high profile artists and everyone in between, we’ve long been trying to tame the beasts that are money and finances… with varying degrees of success.
I recently met emerging West Australian artist Georgi Ivers. We had a decent yarn about money, mindsets and maybe understanding our financial behaviour a little bit better. Georgi is currently creating ‘The Feast and The Famine’ - a podcast that, as part of The Blue Room Theatre’s Winter Nights Program, explores financial security and long-term financial thinking while working in the arts.
It’s indicative to me of a fabulous cultural shift that an emerging artist is creating content that is focused on money and encouraging thoughtful conversation around the financial practices of artists. You can catch Georgi and I have a good natter in the first episode here.
And in the podcast I mention Financial Counsellors. If you do nothing else to support healthy money habits for now, you might consider stashing the contact details for this free government service somewhere in your professional wellbeing toolkit.