Image by Nicole Todd
Outrage. Powerlessness. Panic. Anxiety. Insomnia. When this year began, those were the words that best described my state of mind. So much was at stake—rights, protection, immigration, and even my home. I’m just one of millions of people who felt this way, and there are millions more whose lives are even more affected than mine. I added their worries to my list of concerns, as if I didn’t have enough of my own.
But I had work to do, and on my list of favorite things in the world, storytelling for clients is near the top. I had to be sure that these negative emotions didn’t affect what I was born to do. I needed a plan. So, I made one. And with a little help from a LinkedIn post by an indie filmmaker named Kennon Fleisher, I’m going to share it with you.
End the doomscrolling
“Doom story after doom story. Ad after ad… Why not give your attention a break from the noise and MAKE ART instead?” Why not indeed, Kennon?
I’m a doomscrolling news junkie. But as 2025 rolled in, it was too much. So, I went cold turkey on the news, deleting all news apps, hiding X at the end of six screens, and reconfiguring my phone’s news aggregation capability so it only showed me sports and music news. I also started a creative project to fill the free time in my personal life and keep me off the phone.
I started sleeping better. I wasn’t as worried. My natural good mood in the morning (don’t hate me!) wasn’t derailed by misery and anger. When I get enough sleep and I’m feeling good, I can give 100% of my attention to creative storytelling.
Live like the chickens
I have four hens and a rooster, and they are living their best lives. They greet each new day with joy, going about their business of wandering our yard and looking for food. They don’t think, “What if a fox gets into our coop and kills us all? What if another rooster comes along and messes up our rhythm? What if we stop finding food?”
The chickens also help one another. They hunt for food together, and the rooster lets the hens know when it’s about to get dark and they need to get in the coop.
As best as I can, I live like that now, focusing only on the day ahead and making an alphabetical gratitude list every morning. I make sure I’m helping my 2A colleagues and clients wherever I can. Another 2A storyteller has taken a different approach to being helpful. When tornadoes damaged neighborhoods in her city, she volunteered to assist with cleanup.
Remember your passion
I see a lot of the sentiment that “There are much bigger and worse things happening out there, why should I be writing a script or creating an illustration or learning an instrument when there’s so much pain in the world?” … and I hear you, but that’s exactly why you need to be doing it anyway. Art is quite literally how humans have been able to navigate some of the most difficult periods of time throughout history.
Kennon’s wise words apply to anyone who has a passion of any kind, including managing, dancing, accounting, math, and more. Mine has always been storytelling, and I’ve been doing it since I was 6 years old. To make sure I keep my head in that game, I remind myself that I love it more than scrolling through my phone.
The joy of hearing a client say, “This script nailed it” or “This ebook is just what we needed,” far outweighs any misery I can find in a news app. It reignites my passion and keeps me focused on work.
I’m not alone, either. At 2A, we support one another through collaboration and communication. We lift each other up and keep the momentum going when times are challenging and when they’re good. Nothing gets in the way of our passion for helping clients market their technology and delight their customers.