Last year was horrible when it comes to my creativity and inspiration. Despite producing some great work in 2008 I vowed off and on all year that I would make the best of 2009. I would take every ounce of motivation I had and try my best to make 2009 the best year possible. I am and have always been critical of my own work. Problably more than I should be. It’s counter productive and only serves to derail my creativity. I spent the majority of last year searching for motivation, searching for inspiration. What I found was in many ways phenominal work. I discovered artists who’s work I could only dream of producing. I found a few duds that made me feel a little bit better about my own work as well.
Fast forward to the start of 2009. The winter funk has struck hard. Problems with the economy forcing companies, including the one that I work for during my day job, to make cutbacks to salaries and workforces only excacerbates the problem. I have never been immune to layoffs, rather fortunate that I have positioned myself into spots that albeit are subject to layoffs were not affected. Until recently I never really thought about what I would do if I were to be “let go” under such circumstances. Over the years I have been empathetic to people that I know that have been affected by workforce reductions. I have offered my help in ways that would hopefully get them meaningful jobs. Sometimes successful, sometimes not. Sometimes the only thing that I could offer was my empathy. All along never considering what I would do. How does one learn to be empathetic with one self?