When was the last time you read a book?

I’m not talking about a textbook for your marketing class, I’m talking about a novel. Like, when was the last time you sat down by the fire with a good book, for fun.

For me, it’s been a while. It’s been a year at the very least since I finished a book, and even then, it was one I started about a year before and put away for a while and picked back up just to finish it.

I used to love reading, it was genuinely one of my favourite pastimes when I was in high school (and maybe that’s why I wasn’t very cool). But now its at almost the bottom of my list of things I want to do in my free time.

And its not because I don’t like it anymore! But because my brain flags everything else as more urgent.

Actually, my favourite thing about reading is how peaceful and patient with you it is. Whereas everything now seems to scream in your face for a moment of attention, reading sits back and gives you the space to interact with it at your own pace. Which coincidentally is exactly why it often finds itself pushed to the side for my other hobbies or pastimes.

I hate how addictive and attention seeking social media is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s truly a fantastic piece of technology creating so many opportunities for people to connect and create content, but the way they operate is literally by holding your brain hostage for as long as they possibly can. And that’s just draining.

I could not tell you the last time I closed a social media app and felt refreshed and inspired. But somehow, I could tell you the last time finished a book, despite how long ago that was. And I remember how rewarding and exciting finishing that book was for me.

So, even though its not quite new years yet, I’m making a goal to read more books, to give myself more time. And the next time you have some time to kill, I encourage you to pick up a book instead of your phone.

I’ll be honest, I’m not good at video games. But that doesn’t stop me from playing them. In fact, it only motivates me to play them more in a feeble and mostly fruitless attempt at trying to improve.

Recently my boyfriend and I have been playing through Super Mario Wonder, and It’s been fun! For me at least.

This is the first time I’ve played through a game in the Super Mario franchise start to finish, and that fact is very apparent to any Mario veterans who might be watching me play. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, my boyfriend has been playing these games since his childhood, and in that time has become fluent in the language of Mario.

There’s a canyon-sized gap in skill between us. Which combined with the way the game controls, makes for the most chaotic experience in a video game I have ever had.

The game focusses the camera on the player with the most points. The issue that mechanic faces with us is that position flip-flops between pulling the camera back and forth and forcing one (or both) of us off the edge of a platform, and into the endless void below.

But there are also times where our individual skill levels come in. He finishes a section with ease while I fall so far behind the camera can’t see me anymore and I get pulled off the edge. This is a common occurrence in any co-op platforming game we’ve played together, but it happens so much more in Mario specifically!

So many levels are under a time limit, or they scroll automatically, and my lack of coordination with a controller simply stresses both of us out.

We’ve been playing for a few months now, and I still cannot remember what each button does. But can you blame me really when every company labels them differently?

Experiencing burnout as a creative person is on one hand totally inevitable, but also still really weird.

I’ve been in a bit of a slump recently, and in the past week particularly I’ve experienced the worst burnout I’ve had in years. To the point where the only thing I can think to write about right now is my burnout.

I’m sure everyone has felt burnout to varying degrees at some point in their lives. Everyone experiences it differently and everyone has their own unique way to deal with it.

I personally don’t cope very well. When I’m burnt out it’s like my brain has been juiced for all that it can squeeze out, and it takes the same amount of effort to form a coherent thought that it takes to hike a mountain.

If you’re anything like that, hey! You’re not alone! And if you too still have stuff you gotta get done despite feeling like the charred end of a match, I have some tips.

Sometimes feeling out of ideas or at the end of your rope is simply an obstacle, like a fallen tree blocking your path. It’s something you can overcome, usually by letting go and maybe getting a little weird with it. Seeing all of your ideas as valid and equal, even the really out there ones. When your brain gets to the end of its list of quick and easy solutions it sometimes blocks anything past that with a big, brick wall, because it’s afraid of judgment, ridicule, or rejection from broadcasting those ideas. For me this is actually where some of my best ideas come from, not because they’re the easiest, or quickest, but because they’re the most unique, and (despite me not feeling like it) creative!

The other form of burnout is much more debilitating. Feeling like your brain is literally empty, but for some thick, grey fog and maybe a tumbleweed rolling past every so often.

This is how I felt last week. It sucks, and despite it feeling like you can’t do anything about it, there are some things you can do to help. This is why it’s so important to keep experiencing new things, learning, exploring. This deep, soul emptying burnout is a drought of inspiration. And I know when I feel like this, I can’t get out of it by myself. I have to ask for help. Ask someone to come with me somewhere or do something with me, because its way too intimidating to do it alone.

But even though I know theoretically how to ease my burnout, sometimes I still really struggle with actually doing it. Like how I’m writing about it instead of going out and trying to find some inspiration for myself.

But through it all, the most important thing to remember is you’re not alone. And you’re never bothering anyone by reaching out for help.