Some of you might have noticed that I have not written or posted anything in a while. Well there is a reason for that, took me a little bit to figure things out. I thought I was just going through a creative slump and felt unmotivated to do anything. However it wasn’t your typical “I am not inspired” feeling. It was as if a switch was turned off on my emotions and I could not physically draw or be creative.I thought for a bit that I might be going through burnout, but it felt different. Since artists and designers are generally passionate people, we feed off of our emotions to be creative. It felt as if someone came in a shut the lights out and I was in the dark trying to find the light switch. I had lost all of my creative passion and energy to carry on. I had to dig deep to see what was wrong because I did not chose to feel this way. As a Christian I knew God did not want me to feel this way. Lots of negative thoughts were flowing through my mind and I felt defeated and had no hope. So I sought some wise council in friends and family to talk about what I was experiencing and finally came to the conclusion I was going through depression. I thought “how can I go through this”, I am a highly motivated person, I look to God as my inspiration and motivation, I am a positive person in general. But after talking to people and finding out more about depression my mind is tired and taking the path of least resistance. It is much easier to be negative and not do anything vs be positive and press forward  So the first thing I started to do was be vocal about it. I let several of my friends and family know that I am going through this, yes I have depression, it sucks but I am going to fight through this. I went to the doctor and found out I had a vitamin D deficiency, not enough sunshine I guess. So I started taking vitamin D and that actually helped out quite a bit. Then found out that exercise is one of the best things you can do to combat depression, not easy to do  when your mind doesn’t want to do anything. I have had to dig deep at times to get myself to walk around the block. Every time I do I have always felt better. I have also started taking a vitamin supplement called SAM-E and that has helped with my mood. So as I push through this road block I do look to God as my rock and it is truly through Him I find comfort and freedom from this whole thing. I am being transparent so I can, hopefully inspire or help out with some of you that are going through the same thing. I can’t thank all of you enough for the support on my web page and store. I will get better as time passes and I will keep pressing forward.

Sincerely

Dwayne Vance