How has the pandemic affected us creatively?

A couple of weeks ago, the amazing designer Laura Boast shared an article she had been featured in and it really got me thinking. Creative Boom asked some members of the creative community how the pandemic impacted them in all aspects of life in their piece “How have we changed since the pandemic? Creatives share their honest thoughts” (read it here). There were some really interesting insights on there, not to mention how comforting it is to see that other people had similar experiences to us at a time that felt incredibly isolating.

Creative Shut down

I’ve done a lot of reflecting on how I felt personally during that time, but what I didn’t pay much attention to was how it impacted me creatively. At the time I was working full time as a Design Consultant for an agency, and we experienced a huge influx of work as everyone made the transition to the digital world. I found myself working a busy job 5 days a week, and doing anything I could to look after my mental health in between. I spent my spare time focusing on my side business as a wellbeing coach which involved a lot of content creation, campaign planning and workshop design.

What I didn’t realise was that everything I was creating had the pressure of my career attached to it. Whether that was the work I did within my job or for my business, everything had to sell something in some way. It was draining, and I found myself avoiding anything creative outside of those platforms because it felt exhausting and just reminded me of what I’d be going back to on Monday morning.

I couldn’t visit exhibitions, travel, go out for a coffee or do any of the things that inspire me now. But I didn’t put effort into finding that from different sources because frankly, I didn’t have the energy. I used to see others using the time to make breakthroughs and start amazing personal projects, knowing that I would love to follow suit but it just wasn’t in me.

Then, the creative awakening

As July 2021 approached, I knew a change needed to happen. I’d lost my Dad a few months earlier and my perception of life in general had been flipped on its head. I went, in classic Bec style, all or nothing — I quit my job, and booked a one way flight. That September I headed to Portugal with no plan, both for the trip and my life. I spent six weeks there going through a huge shift, from the uncomfortable uncertainty of the first weeks, to slowly letting go and then finally thriving. I had no idea what my future entailed at this point, knowing that when I got home I would have to either make my side business work or find a different job. At that point, the different job would’ve been something unrelated to design as I had no desire to head back into that world anytime soon.

What I didn’t expect however, was that the trip would reawaken that part of me that I thought was dead. Without any pressure to create for purpose and some time away from all of that, my brain started to reset. I studied design because I was a creative kid and had a passion for art and design. Several times in my career I had doubted this and considered retraining in something entirely different, but the fact that something reignited in me on this trip told me that it’s not design I hate, it’s the way I’ve been approaching it.

The path I didn’t see coming

Whilst in Portugal, I started to get requests from people in the community I’d built for design pieces. I happily obliged, not realising that the new creative spark inside me was presenting itself to others around me too. I always say that my business started by accident, but now I’m building it on purpose — and if there’s any reason to believe that something has happened with intention (whether I was aware of it or not), then surely this is it.

So without the creative crash and burn I experienced over the pandemic, I have no idea where I would be now — but there’s a strong chance I wouldn’t be running this studio as it looks today. If you follow me on social media, you’ll see that I take full advantage of what’s on offer to me in Manchester to spark my inspiration. From the galleries and exhibitions to the beautiful architecture, spending an afternoon with my 35mm camera, sketching unknowing customers in coffee shops and perusing our amazing independent bookstores, none of this was available to me both physically and mentally before I found this balance of work and art.

I share all of this with you because it works as a great reminder to myself to have faith and keep going, and I hope that message communicates with you too. Even when things feel absolutely dire and like there’s no hope, you have no idea what’s going to happen in 6 months, a year or even three years’ time. I know each one of us will have hugely varying takes on this subject, so I’d love to know your thoughts and experiences too.

You can get in touch with me via email or Instagram.

hello@becmorris.co.uk
@_becmorris