My name is Kamiah Vickers — I’m a NYC-based playwright and actress. As a creative, it’s important that my mental health is prioritized, as so often it’s easy to forget about it in a fast-paced industry. My goal is to help fellow creatives understand their creative conscious, and prioritize mental wellbeing.
I think a lot—there are rarely moments when my mind isn’t roaming with thoughts. As an actor and playwright, I’ve noticed that my thoughts often reflect what’s happening in my creative consciousness. What am I going to sing for this audition? Who should I reach out to? Ooo, I wonder what script I’ll write next. Creativity is meant to thrive inside of me, but I’ve realized it can’t have the power to take over my entire life.
Working in a field that constantly demands your time and attention, it’s important to find ways to stop your mind from spiraling. Think of it like this: your head is a flower pot, and your thoughts are the flowers trying to bloom. In order for them to grow, they need to be nourished and watered. That made me ask myself an important question: As someone in a demanding creative industry, am I properly watering my mind?
The misconception is that to “water” our minds, we need to feed them more creativity. That’s what I used to think, and it led to complete burnout. I believed the only way to fuel my writing was to write more. That the only way to grow as an actor was to go to more auditions and film more self-tapes. This thinking comes from the idea that in order to be something, we have to be doing something. But I want to reject that. We are simply because we are. We don’t have to prove anything—to ourselves or to anyone else.
Trust yourself and your art enough to know that you don’t have to earn the title of “creative.” You already are. And when you truly believe that, seasons of artistic stagnancy won’t unsettle you. Instead, they might inspire you. They might allow you to rest. They might allow you to just be.
Creative dominion starts with stillness. Read that again until it becomes an affirmation within you.