How Do You Deal with Feelings of Guilt?

[J.Z.Castillo]

I'm laying in bed now about to end a 4-day break, something I haven't had in a while. I didn't have commissions pending, or school work, or comic related work. I told myself I was going to sketch and practice and get so much done but I did absolutely NOTHING in 96 hours besides sleep and watch TV. Now I am feeling so guilty! I wanna kick myself for wasting all this free time I had to practice drawing or just advancing my comic or something like that, but I did nothing, I did nothing!! Now guilt is eating me from the inside!

How do you feel with those guilty feelings? I feel like drawing every waking minute just o make up for these last 4 days where absolutely nothing happened. GOD I feel so bad!

[jessicasurline]

I totally know what you are going through! I have had days where all I could do was chill and get wrapped up in shows when I could or should be drawing. I feel pretty bad about it but I realized that when am not in the mood to draw or have been needing a break, that's when I avoid working. It is ok to rest and take a fun break. Your drawings will probably be better because you let yourself unwind. Just remember everything in moderation.

[sarrowsmith10]

I completely understand this. My guilt only got worse when I had a baby. I felt guilty that I wasn't drawing and then when I was drawing I felt horribly guilty that I wasn't spending time with my son... then I'd feel guilty that I wasn't catching up on sleep or exercising to get rid of the baby fat. It's just been an awful spiral.

I don't know what the answer is. But at least you aren't alone. ♡

[Quinineer]

I think it's okay to let yourself rest and recuperate.
It sounds like your attitude towards yourself is already kind of harsh, so maybe it isn't so bad to let yourself unwind?

all this free time I had to practice drawing or just advancing my comic or something like that

Maybe it's just me, but you sound very, very invested in your comic. This isn't really a bad thing, unless it gets out of hand.; drawing and making your comic aren't the only things in your life.

I did absolutely NOTHING in 96 hours besides sleep and watch TV

You wouldn't sleep and watch TV if it was unpleasant for you, right? If you enjoy other things, it is okay to allow yourself to do those as well.
Lurking in the forums, I've realized that a lot of creators seem to really push themselves to make their comic as great as they can. It's understandable, but I suspect having the comic with all your readers eager to read more puts stress on people to deliver the best they possibly can, even when doing so is detrimental to their health.

I'm sure that readers (especially on Tapastic), will be okay if you don't draw as well as you think you should
Doing other things and feeling like you don't want to draw all the time doesn't mean you're a bad artist, or a lazy creator. It means you're a human being who doesn't exist solely to churn out comics.

[shazzbaa]

I have the very strong belief that I require breaks, just as I require food and sleep -- and if I don't take them, my brain will take them for me, and that's when I end up with awful days staring at a piece of paper unable to do anything.

If it's a chronic problem of never making use of the time I have, then that's something I gotta take steps to change...... but if I just have a few days off and don't get anything I wanted done? I have to remind myself that I must've really needed a break. I used to have a habit of, every time I overslept and was really mad at myself, I would say a quick prayer where I thanked God for the extra sleep that I must've needed. It's just reframing it, looking at it differently -- because there's no way for me to change the fact that I took a break, I might as well let myself be grateful for what I did get from it. Plus it's important for me to fight the part of my brain that wants to punish me for resting, because that part of my brain is very strong.

If you (or your brain) needed that time off to veg out and recharge, and you come back and hit the ground running, then imo, it isn't wasted time. On the other hand, if you beat yourself up over it, push yourself to burnout levels because you're mad at yourself for taking a 4 day vacation from both art and school, and don't let yourself benefit from a restful vacation, that's when you're letting it go to waste!

[shaneoid77]

No one is expecting you to be superhuman. Sometimes we need to recharge. Thinking about it, we could be doing worse at our art if we didn't take time out. We could get lazy, sloppy or just plain bored. I know what it's like to have to force yourself away from your projects and engage in 'real life' shudder but in taking away that guilty feeling, think of it this way, the work you will be doing after your recharge could be ten times better than what you may have done in your drained state.

[Shanny8]

I have times where I feel bad about not drawing coz I guess I've drilled in my head so much that I need to be productive with something almost everyday- but then I have to remind myself how much I actually do almost everyday, every week and that it's okay to take a day off here & there to be lazy. I can justify feeling guilty if it took me a week or longer to get a page done, but I do multiple pages every 2-3 weeks- I dont think the world would end if I take off a day or 2 to laze around.

I had to take time off over the past week because I was sick and then even though I got better enough to go back to work at the day job, I still felt kind of "blah" by the time I got home in the evenings...I needed time to build my strength & energy back up.

[Michelle]

I feel you, it's really, really hard for me to take a break and not feel bad.

BUT-- if all you're doing is producing work and not giving yourself the chance to step away from art and just... exist, you're going to exhaust your mental resources. Taking breaks to watch TV, play video games, read a book, or go for a walk are all opportunities to not only recharge but find new inspirations that you can put into your art. Even if you feel like all you did was vegetate in front of the TV for 4 days, I'm sure you gleaned at least some kind of new story inspiration or ideas from what you watched.

Sometimes we need to allow ourselves to totally recharge so we can be our best when we jump back into the grind. No shame in that so long as it's just temporary. :>

[mariusthered]

ok we all do this from time to time.

here's what you do... make a piece of artwork and donate it to a local charity so they can sell it or something. that way you pay for your hours of procrastination and help people at the same time.

[scythe]

Guilt is an emotion. Like any emotion, it's not something you can really control, but rather, it's something you just need to manage. I say use it to motivate you moving forward. Not point stressing over something that's already happened.

[eleoza]

I feel this too...
I even feel guilty if I skip 1 day of drawing. I try to finish a page daily in my free time and I feel so happy and accomplished when I succeed again. I do go out with friends but then I stay up late to still draw, if not I feel like it's been a wasted day.
Writting this now makes me think I have a problem xD

[kencoon7]

Don't worry about missing a day or two if there is a good reason unless it is your only source of income or if you are over 75 years old.

[timinabox24]

I only feel guilty when I do waste my time on making comics X_X
I'm trying to justify it to myself because I would probably just fall over and die if I didn't have at least this one thing in my life that I like doing D;

[punkarsenic]

ughhh i hate this feeling.

id say, consider yourself like a phone. youve been working nonstop, besides sleeping - like using a phone constantly, and then charging it a bit now and then, but never quite to 100%. if you dont give the phone a break now and then, let it fully charge and power down for a while, itll break. i model everything w technology so thats now i understand it - but basically, the rest prevents breakdowns, fatigue, and also gives ur brain time to recuperate and step back for a while.

in all jobs, all processes, rests are required for things to work efficiently. your works no different.

[Isky]

I drink lots of whiskey to deal with guilt. I usually throw up right after because I have no tolerance.

[haleymewsome]

Usually I just draw until I feel better haha. But if you were all caught up on your comic and you didn't have other work to do, you shouldn't beat yourself up! As long as you're keeping up with everything it's fine~ (I know that's not as easy to feel as it is to say; I tried to play a video game the other day because I was caught up with everything and I literally couldn't bear the feeling that I was wasting time. ;A; It's definitely a serious art problem.)

[Marton]

I feel like shit when I don't work on my comic, but it's better to take your time with things than rush them. Your readers are willing to wait.

[J.Z.Castillo]

everyone has very good advice! And I see I am not the only one who goes through this! I guess it happens to most artists.

I feel SO recharged and ready to get back into it! I'm fine now, I think I was just freaking out last night! Hahaha! Thanks everyone for the kind comments and suggestions!

[ChipGod]

For me, its either do or not do. If i dont do it, shit. If i do, good.

[SynergyEclipse]

I also feel like I can't skip a day of working on my comic. If I do, or not get as much done as I was hoping to, I feel like I have to make up for it the next day. As others have said, and I sometimes still have to remind myself of this, there's no need to feel guilty, because sometimes recharging for a while is the best thing to do.