Getting Over Overwhelm

Being an illustrator is overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be.

The feeling of overwhelm is often my default response to almost everything.

Hardly a day goes by in which I don’t get that familiar tightening of the chest. It’s usually fleeting, quasi-manageable. But, on occasion, it bubbles up into full-blown anxiety.

Life’s been a bit overwhelming of late. It’s mostly for good reasons. Some bad (I wonder how the “Harris is just as bad as Trump” voters feel these days…). In fact, one could say I have nothing to feel overwhelmed about, personally or professionally.

But it’s there. It’s annoying as hell. And it’s a feeling shared by many illustrators. So let’s talk about what’s behind overwhelm, and how to conquer it—or at least get it down to just “whelm”.