At a conference recently, I left at the afternoon break. I could have stayed. The sessions were good and the people were kind. But I'd reached the point where nothing more was going in. A limit is a fact about you, not a fault.
The first thing it tells you is that your limit isn't one fixed number. At some events you might manage a couple of hours. At others, most of a day. The difference is rarely effort or interest. It's the conditions: how fast things move, how many people are talking at once, how much you're expected to respond rather than simply listen. Some settings hold you longer than others. For some people that's a calm one, for others a lively one.
Once you see your limit as a fact about you and the conditions, rather than a flaw, you can work with it. Choose the format where you can. Decide beforehand where you might step out. Leave a little space on either side of a long day. Planning around a limit isn't avoidance. It's how you get to take part in more of what you care about, not less.
A limit is a fact about you, not a fault.
It matters for creative work too. We're encouraged to keep feeding ourselves: another workshop, another reference, another source of inspiration. But if you've ever come home from a full day with pages of notes, and a week later couldn't say what you'd taken from it, more input wasn't what was missing.
Knowing where your limit sits is part of knowing how you work. And how you work is a large part of your creative identity, whether or not anyone has ever told you so.
Some settings hold you longer than others.
A small invitation
Before your next long day of talks, meetings or workshops, decide in advance where you might step out. You don't have to use it. Then notice how the day feels with that option in your pocket.
Notes on Creative Identity is a weekly reflection on creative work, creative practice and what it takes to remain connected to the person inside the work.
Parish Stapleton
Creativity Coach, artist and writer