The Travelling Writer: The Battle between Creativity and Fatigue

Although from the outside the 2025 PSASA Convention ended on 06 April, the journey continued for me and my team. We had to curate 4,600 photos taken in the room. Why? Because photographers number photos, which is an effective way to search for images. It is a system that works well for them, but not always for people trying to find photos for their social media posts.

Delegates lack the time to search through that many photos. Because I know the value of StoryTelling through pictures for a brand, I took the task upon myself to rename many images so they were more easily searchable. After that came the 69 folders of individual professional profile photos that were taken. These also required some coordination.

This entire convention was a volunteer role for my team and I. We did not receive payment for organising this convention. It was the ultimate litmus test for servant leadership. We juggled work, family and organisational duties.

This has the makings of a story full of the seeds of burnout. Something that is fast becoming a trend for leaders. We often think burnout is unique to modern society, but I wondered if historical society had such a thing as burnout. I pondered if historical legacy giants grappled with fatigue. You might be tempted to think you are alone in your struggle to stay up late working on your next project. Rushing to complete a project can cause a state of heightened energy, irritability and impulsiveness. In the mental health world, it is often called a manic state. Some creatives call it an artistic temperament.

The artistic temperament is often seen as unique to creatives or geniuses. Seneca the Younger, in his work “On Tranquillity of Mind,” attributes the quote “No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness” to Aristotle around AD 60. Seneca who was a Roman Stoic philosopher, made the statement “There is no great genius without a tincture of madness” during the 1st century AD.

Michelangelo, the Italian painter and sculptor, who is best known for the Sistine Chapel, painted between 1508 and 1512, reportedly slept only 4 hours per night. He was often described as a “difficult and brooding” artist. The artist had an extremely high work ethic. Yet we have to note that the most iconic panels of the Sistine ceiling, including The Creation of Adam, were produced after Michelangelo took a year off in 1510.

Inventor Thomas Edison, one of the most famous inventors of the 1900s, slept 3 to 4 hours per night. He was described as having an erratic temperament toward both employees and family. Did he have any leisure time? Yes, he began taking camping trips every year, starting in 1916. His companions included car maker Henry Ford, tire maker Harvey Firestone, and naturalist Luther Burbank.

Lack of sleep can swing in two different directions. When you have a sense of purpose, it can produce an almost manic drive with elevated body temperature, which many describe as boiling inside. However, lack of sleep from worry or driving your body hard without a sense of purpose, produces depression and other dangerous consequences.

It seems we have not learned much from our ancestors. We have continued overworking without practical wisdom or guidance from religious texts.

In early religious groups, especially in Christianity, laziness was seen as a spiritual sin. This sin was called sloth or acedia, especially in the Catholic tradition. It’s not just about physical inactivity but also a spiritual apathy that hinders growth and hinders fulfilling one’s purpose.

Perhaps it is this focus on biblical texts in isolation which makes us fearful of seeming slothful. Perhaps we fear that we would appear to be unworthy if we are not constantly working.

However, laziness and fatigue are two vastly different things. Many religions encourage or enforce a day of rest and or prayer. When read in context, the bible even prohibited slaves from working on the Sabbath. It was not a suggestion; it was a command. Rest from normal activities appears in many scripts, even in religious texts aimed at new mothers and families. Before I had children, I was suspicious of such texts as being overly patriarchal. However, once I endured the physical demands of childbirth, I saw the required separation as a welcome reprieve and rest from my previous daily demands. A time of settling into my new role.

One wonders why the creator of the universe would give such commands. I tend to think of it as the creator of the motor vehicle. Before cars had digital displays, a buyer received a printed manual. This manual included guidelines on how many miles or kilometres you could drive before doing maintenance. It told you when to change your tires and oil. It reminded you when to take your car in for a major service.

It brings me back to why I woke up not feeling tired this morning. It was because yesterday I took the entire day off. I woke early, but chose not to go for my usual walk. I read for a while and put my feet up and watched uplifting movies. I took a nap and reminded myself that, like cars needing service, I also needed rest to recharge.

So my question to you is, what are you doing to recharge so that you can get more creative and fulfil your purpose?