Slow Living for Artists: How to Create Without Forever Hustle

What if the only thing standing between you and your most soul-aligned art… was slowness?

There’s a big trend of nostalgiacore and cottagecore that I’m sure you’ve seen, too. And I think it’s because there’s a glorification of hustling until the cow’s come home.

What I find the problem with that is… what are we hustling for?

We don’t need to be hustling all of the time. If we use hustling as a coping strategy, then even when we achieve our goals, we will never be happy because we’ll just want to keep hustling.

And IDK about you… but there is nothing like a slow morning wake-ups with tea, yummy smells, going for a walk, smelling flowers, spending time with your loves and just getting warmly, softly excited for the day.

Slow living IS possible for artists. And 7 years ago? I would have never thought that was possible, with all the auditions, the running from job to job, the classes, and everything in between.

But First — Why Do We Equate Chaos With Creativity?

The Pressure of Needing to Do “Enough” (& the Shame When We’re Not)

For so many of us, our worth has been tangled up with our output. (It’s me, hi 👋)

If we’re not making, sharing, producing — we’re somehow not doing enough.

And then, we’re not relevant.

And then, we’re not real.

And alllll that internalized belief gets loud in the quiet moments. Suddenly, when we’re scrolling, we’re thinking, well, why is SHE getting all these opportunities and not me? She’s obviously working harder.

We need rest, but guilt creeps in. We don’t see other people resting on social media. So if we pause, we lose everything? Like our art has an expiration date?

Most People Wear Overworking Like a Badge of Honor

Busyness has become the default setting.

Our parents raised kiddos who are in 11 sports and after-school activities and extracurriculars so we’re constantly busy. Then in college we sign up for all the classes and programs and clubs and want to graduate early. Then in work we want to show how smart and resourceful and high-achieving we are so we can get a raise.

And throughout all of this, we scroll through creatives and creators who are sharing how busy THEY are because… well… so many of us feel this need to prove that we’re succeeding. It’s practically human nature in this era!

And so on. And so on. The hustle perpetuates in this endless loop.

That speed doesn’t always mean things are happening, though. It doesn’t always show ~success.~

Hustling can also very much be survival mode. A coping mechanism. A trauma response. Heck, imagine we’re seeing other people’s hidden trauma responses and thinking we need to be more like that!

In the same breath — slowless is allowed to be intentional.

Many Use Hustle as a Trauma Response

Okay, so let’s actually talk more about this.

I do this… so much.

Lots of us have addictive behaviors and things we turn to when we’re feeling stressed.

And after time, I’ve realized that productivity is one of those things that I run to when I’m running from something else. Perhaps you’re the same?

I treat it like a way out, believing that if I just stay busy enough, I can outpace the discomfort.

Slow living invites us to stop outsourcing our safety to our schedules. It reminds us that this is a lifestyle, and one that people are allowed to strive for. Even if you have dreams, even if you want a career. Slow living CAN be a part of that reality… and it can ebb and flow as much as you want so slow can look the way you want it to.

What Slow Living Can Look Like for Artists!

Not Including Too Many People In Your Process

You don’t need to earn your rest, and you don’t need to post to prove you’re a real artist.

Like when you tell yourself you have to upload a reel on Friday because you did a challenge and told yourself you could even though you’re feeling low-energy and uninspired because you just worked all week but otherwise, the algorithm will forget you and you won’t get followers and people won’t see your art.

(Weeeew.)

Or when you force a painting to completion, not because it feels ready, but because you told your friend it would be done this week.

What if your creativity was allowed to emerge only when it felt right? Not like clockwork, but like a tide — natural, seasonal, sacred.

That means creating only when you feel an abundance of energy ready to create. When you have so many ideas that you’re ready for it to spill out.

And if you don’t right now? Don’t. Focus on caring for yourself and honoring your artistic process. It’s an ebb and flow, and the flow WILL come. You’re allowed to stop a challenge mid-way through, not promise things to people, and hold yourself to an internal standard that others don’t know about.

Using Rest as Part of the Artistic Process

Picture this: It’s 10 a.m. on a Tuesday. You’re in your comfiest clothes. The kettle is hissing softly, and there’s a book open on your lap. No to-do list. No urgency. You and maybe a patch of sun warming your floor.

Rest is not a break from your creative life — it is your creative life.

I often catch myself thinking that rest is a delay. Like it was stealing time from my dreams. But now I see it differently: rest is rehearsal. It’s reverie. Where ideas steep like tea leaves, quietly gaining color as they grow.

Every time I’ve had a breakthrough — discovering a new meaning within my acting, a lyric or song title idea, a cotnent idea — it never came when I was forcing myself to hustle. It came while folding laundry. On a walk. In the bath. Or talking out loud to myself. 😂

Slow living is fertile ground.

Let your rest be part of the rhythm. Not the reward.

Getting Inspiration From Things Other Than Art

We forget sometimes that art doesn’t just come from art. It comes from living.

If you paint ethereal landscapes and you start collecting thrifted perfume bottles and your next series becomes all about glimmering glass and memory.

Or how your poetry can get softer in the summers and colder in the winter or how your latest visit to the mountains can influence the modern dance you choregraph, based on growing trees.

You are allowed to be inspired by soup recipes, love notes, antique stores, bike rides, astrology podcasts, and awkward dates. You are allowed to let life be weird and wide and off-topic.

The more slowly, deeply and intentionally you live, the more honestly you create.

Having a Cozy Girl Job So You Can Have More Time Freedom

If you’re reading this and are like “well I love this idea but I literally work 6 days a week so I have no time to have slow mornings KIRA.” I GET IT.

Firstly, I want to say that gosh, that took me YEARS to really absorb the fact that am even allowed to make money from things other than art at first. I wanted to do art the right way. I wanted to EARN my spot, and only get paid from doing what I love!

Well, that dream ended quickly after graduating college and realizing that financial abundance is a tool I can use to manifest my artistic dreams. 💸

Sure, it was a little weird for me to think at first. I took all sorts of jobs. I was the Easter bunny at a mall. I catered to tech start-ups in NYC. Then I worked at a tech start-up. Freelanced as an SEO writer, started my own content + branding studio, and, well, here we are!

Here’s where the cozy girl job comes in.

Or as Gabrielle Judge calls it, and as the inspo for that, a lazy girl job. A cozy girl job being a remote job that doesn’t drain your energy but that pays your bills consistently so you have the location, time and energy freedom to fill your cup as an artist and carve a pathway to your dreams. I have a blog post all about it so you can dive more into the cozy girl job life!

Slow Living is a Secret Path to Being a More Intentional Artist

You were never meant to rush your way into resonance, even if you’ve felt the pressure to do so.

Your art, your rhythm, your creative voice — they all bloom in their own time. And maybe slow living isn’t the opposite of ambition… maybe it’s the container that lets it breathe.

Start small. One slow morning this month! A no-pressure project! An unplanned nap with your cat in the middle of the day!

Because sustainable, soulful creativity isn’t a fantasy — it’s a lifestyle. And it gets to be yours.

Let’s go slow. Together. If you’re a video-lovin’ girlie and want even more musings, join me on YouTube and we’ll talk more about cozy artist dreams together!