Meet Patrick De Belen

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Patrick De Belen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Patrick, thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences and acquired wisdom with us. Burnout is a huge topic these days and so we’d love to kick things off by discussing your thoughts on overcoming or avoiding burnout

Growing up, I’ve always been drawn to the lifestyle of a performing artist: touring, long nights of performing and creating, and spending full days dreaming up the next project. So when I decided I wanted to be one, I naturally found myself living in a similar way. There would be years when I would be working non-stop: performing, facilitating, hosting, competing, organizing, mentoring, writing, recording, building – and then I would just crash. I would disappear in solitude for a month or two, maybe escape to the Philippines, or I would just rot away on the couch until I had the energy to try it all again. I spent most of my twenties operating this way.

After over a decade of trying to survive as an artist, I look back and realize that in some ways I wanted to “red-line” to truly know where my boundaries needed to be. The extremes helped me define my limitations and when I could push them.

But what made my “burnout” unhealthy was how it impacted me mentally, and the negative effects on the people I loved. I glorified the starving and tortured artist image so badly that I let that ego hurt a lot of people. I needed more routine because I neglected a lot of the work I needed to do on myself and my relationships.

Balancing this workflow took me over 10 years to learn, and I still mess it up all the time.

The pandemic, isolation and grief changed my life completely. I was forced to slow down and could no longer work at the same pace as I used to. My relationships, my family, my mental health, all became more important. Focusing on them kept me alive. The life I was living before this pain could not sustain me in the same way any more.

Though the artists I looked up to as a kid left a lasting impact on the world, many of them wished for the same things on their deathbed. They wished they worked less, and spent more time with the people they loved. It’s simple.

I am still drawn to the chase of the next project and lofty dream, but my process is better. I still burnout and then disappear sometimes, but my loved ones know exactly where to find me. And there is nothing I could ever create, that will be worth more than them.

That is how I overcome burnout. I find an output rate that works for me, as extreme as it may be, while trying not lose sight of what matters most. I make sure I have the space to submerge myself in the next thing I’m working on, come up for air when I need to, and then a process to crash that is healthier, and less destructive. I still like to test my limits, and be driven by passion, but never at the expense of my health, and the people I love.

A storyteller only gets better with time, which means it is a practice in sustainability. I need to live a full life to have more things to share, and that means recovering from the expected creative chaos and burnout, reprioritizing, and continuing to try again.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a storyteller, arts educator and a community builder. I wear a lot of hats, which I enjoy – it keeps things interesting. When I am not writing poetry, filming something, or performing spoken word, I am most likely facilitating a writing workshop or series, doing creative consulting for a non-profit, or thinking about a new way for me to gather people together.

I am a local artist in Toronto, but spend a lot of time in Manila, born from two immigrant Filipino-Canadian parents. I use creative writing to explore themes of mental illness, the Filipino-Canadian experience, social justice, grief and healing.

Right now, I’m working on finishing my debut feature-length documentary film called “Last Note”, and i’m always facilitating programming and performing poetry all around Toronto and beyond. Get connected to me on social media to follow along with my journey, and find out where to catch me: @patrick_debelen

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Using art to challenge the status quo, performing poetry on a stage, and using storytelling to explore and navigate my personal trauma, and as a tool for healing.

My advice would be to always have learner’s mindset, and consistently try things you’re scared to try. Bravery is key in creativity, and those who are courageous enough to suck at something, usually end up making something pretty great.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

I wouldn’t say it is always the number one obstacle, but a challenge I’ve been facing frequently is the pressure to measure the success of my art with metrics that don’t actually mean anything to me. I think social media really did a number on artists, by making them care so much about numbers. The creative industry has always needed to quantify the impact of art to maximize the financial return, but social media has made these forms of measurement even more personal, which has deeply affected the way we create, share and experience art. I know talented storytellers who have felt forced to quit because they lacked the amount of likes or follows or listens, I know artists who only try to make things with high potential of being viral, and these platforms have evolved from what should have been a tool for creating a community around your art, to something that feels superficial, industrial and even dystopian.

To deal with this pressure, I unplug often. I also very seriously appreciate each and every single person who tells me that my art has moved them in some way. I remember that the reason I create has nothing to do with whether or not thousands of people I don’t know, like it. Art taught me bravery, and healing, and the importance of community. I would be doing this whether or not social media existed, and I would be doing this whether or not it made me any money. I don’t care at all about being viral, and when I overcome this pressure, I feel liberated, and free to play – which often results in some of my best work.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Irene Dominguez
Sylvanus Productions
Camille NG
Cal Campos

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