Stress and burnout are two very common problems that can happen to anyone. The relationship between stress and burnout is complex. Stress is a natural response that our body has in order to help us deal with threatening or demanding situations. It can also be caused by other factors, such as:

• Family issues
• Work overload 
• A physical condition
• Relationship stress
• Financial problems. 

However, when it's prolonged and exceeds our ability to cope with it, it can lead to burnout. Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion or depletion. It can affect people differently depending on their personality, social life, and work environment. 
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Identifying stress and exhaustion symptoms can be difficult as they are not always present in every person. However, we can see the following signs:

• Begins to feel exhausted, unhappy, and uninterested in things they usually enjoy.
  
• Headaches, muscle tension, and feeling tired all the time, despite getting enough sleep or oversleeping
  
• Depression and anxiety symptoms such as irritability, guilt and shame, anger, fatigue, and poor concentration
  
• Loss of identity or sense of self-worth, feeling like you're not good enough
  

To avoid stress and burnout, it’s important to find ways to reduce the amount of stress you experience in your daily life. If you do not deal with it at the right time it may lead to health issues. Here are some ways to reduce your stress:

• If you are stressed because of workload or other work-related stress, it is essential to take time away from work to relax and spend time with family and friends. 
  
• Improve your overall health and well-being by exercising regularly, doing Meditation, or doing yoga.
  
• Make sure that you get enough sleep each night. If you do not get enough sleep it may lead to restlessness and health issues.
  
• Eat a healthy diet as it is not only essential for physical health but also mental wellbeing.
  
• Connect with others, like friends or family, on a regular basis. 
  
• “Make art! Art can be a great way to help re-energize, reduce stress and anxiety, and focus on the positive. This is great news for artists!”
  

​Art can be used to help relieve stress and burnout. It can be used in a variety of ways: to express feelings and thoughts, as a way to process emotions, or as a way to create something new. Art can be used to help with burnout, stress relief, and self-expression. The benefits of creative expression can be found in all disciplines, including painting, music, writing, dance, and theater. Art is even a form of therapy to help cope with mental health issues. ​

​For working artists, the stress-reduction benefits of art-making can go hand in hand with one’s work. But it is easy to constantly feel pulled away from the creative work by the business side of being a working artist. When that happens not only are you unable to take advantage of the stress-reducing benefits of art making, but you may also feel additional stress because you aren’t accomplishing your creative goals. When you begin to feel bogged down in business-based tasks, and find yourself neglecting your art-making practice, take a moment to really look at what you have going on in your schedule. 

Are there things you can take out? Are you bogging yourself down with busy work that isn’t really getting you anywhere? Are you subconsciously avoiding making art because you are afraid of failure, or you aren’t good enough? Dealing with these issues can be challenging, especially if you are dealing with them alone. Finding a supportive community can be great for helping you learn to navigate the challenges of being a working artist. If you are a female western artist, Cowgirl Artists of America may be a great community for you! We are opening enrollment on Aug 1, 2022 through Aug 15, 2022. Being a part of CGA allows you to take the advantage of our fantastic community and gives you access to a variety of experts. Have a question about enrollment? Email us at info@cowgirlartistsofamerica.org

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When I was working on my undergrad I developed a habit of not finishing my paintings. I would get them just to the point that they were almost finished and then set them aside and work on something else. I didn't even realize that I was doing this, but one day it occurred to me that this was becoming a habit. When I considered my behavior with curiosity it became clear pretty quickly that this was a coping mechanism. I was afraid to finish and sign my paintings because then I could not longer respond to criticism with, "well, I'm still workin on this painting." It didn't really matter how sure I was that the painting was finished. It was a way of putting up armor before criticism could be made. 

The reality was that this was preventing me from moving forward. I was constantly stuck with "unfinished" pieces. Luckily, I had deadlines for my classes and eventually had to get them finished for the semester. But what if I would have carried that behavior into my art career? I can't sell a bunch of unfinished paintings? I would have created a situation in which I was stuck. Perfectionism can cause you can get stuck in different stages of the process, including fear to get started at all.

Maybe you are dealing with perfectionism yourself, but you haven't identified it yet. These are a few of the ways perfectionism may manifest:
*Fear to get started
*Fear to finish
*Fear to share
*Fear of failure
*Unrealistic expectations
*Defensiveness, inability to take any kind of feedback
*Self-doubt
*Self-induced stress and anxiety about your work 
*Striving to live up to someone else's standards (often you don't even realize you are doing this)

If this is feeling familiar to you, how can you bring more kindness and compassion to yourself and your journey?   

One place you can start is brining joy and gratitude to where you are on your artistic journey right now. You may be new to art or trying a new medium, style, or technique. You may be progressing and developing. Wherever you are know that this time and space is an important part of the journey as you develop your skills and style. It is easy to wan to skip over the beginning stages, and it can be frustrating when you have a vision for something, but don't have all the skills yet. But know, without a doubt, that where you are is invaluable. Each piece of art we make contains within the process innumerable lessons. We progress each time we work. Our brains synthesize information in new ways. We notice new things, we make connections, and observations. Each and every piece of art we create, no matter how much we like it is an immensely valuable part of our learning and progressing as an artist. Embrace imperfection, embrace learning, embrace the journey because I know if you keep it up you will look back and realize how valuable that time was to get you to where you are now. 

For specific strategies to address perfectionism check out this resource for members.

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