Stepping away from the familiar and immersing oneself in unforeseeable and unfamiliar circumstances is undoubtedly a more challenging task than mere words suggest.

It takes courage to leave something stable behind, something you know inside out and that feels safe. Especially these days, we seem to deal with plenty of uncertainty already, right? But then, how do you invite growth and learning into your life? Through spicing it up a bit and changing routines, jobs, friend circles, cities, and so on.

I am that person who would not walk slowly into a cold ocean. I walk straight, fast, and jump in as quickly as I can. That’s my way of shortening the “period of pain” that your body takes to get adjusted to the cold water.

Leaving the comfort zone will feel uncomfortable and you will have those days where you sit somewhere, reminiscent of almost everything before. It can make you feel sad, questioning if you’re doing the right thing, it can also make you feel like a fool and loser as you start at zero with at least one big part in your life whilst others around you proceed and keep building. But not many people dare to leave their comfort zone that easily.

Once you’re in that phase of change, you get to know yourself better. That is always the surprising part for me. But I am learning so much about myself that I haven’t seen before. And that feels good, to be honest.

In terms of being a productive artist during those times, it’s not that easy either to keep it up as most of the energy goes into managing the changing situations. But I get a lot of new inspiration and motivation and I feel alive. I listen to more stories and I’m able to take it all in. And what better could feed your art than all those different stories you hear that you would not have heard if you stayed where you were?