| Instead of offering advice, I'd like to ask a question that you/someone can ponder to get to at least a partial answer: Do you have any hobbies that are creative that don't tie into anything in your life? I am into photography. It's been one of the greatest reliefs of my life because it allows me to be creative without putting any economical pressure on it. I don't sell the photos. I just take them and try to learn how to be better at them. Through this, I've found some of the best landscape photographers on YouTube who just seem like some of the most humble people on earth. Recently, I started programming after spending a decade browsing HN as a non-tech person. It's a creative endeavor because I'm trying to learn Swift and Swift UI while making an app that supplements my day jobby-job. I will absolutely use and I'm positive someone at work will also find it useful. It's creative because I have no CS background and I'm just coming up with the app how I will and my closest coworkers will use it. Gym has also been a point of reference for me to stay physically and mentally health. These three things have just been my go to places of output and reasons to change up a bad day or a monotonous week. Doing things that are detached from your personal life for the sake of developing only yourself (especially creatively), I think is the best way to do it alone. I know someone who paints for the sake of painting, someone who works on furniture only for themselves, etc. Hopefully this and everything everyone else has said helps you out. |