When disaster strikes there is not usually a trigger warning. Shocks to yourself, your arts practice, design business, or employment can take many forms. From coping with a sudden loss, such as a death of a family member, an unexpected fall out with a friend, cancellation of work, being rejected, having an accident, or coping with a difficult situation at work.

Many articles say that new beginnings can arise from the desolate ashes, as your life sometimes appear to crumble around you. Well, it is possible to triumph over adversity. But what I plan to discuss here is how to cope with bad situations.

Firstly, when things are going well, any expectation of something terrible happening usually does not enter our mindset. However, it’s important to be prepared for a sudden change or something more catastrophic occurring at any point. Risk is an important subject to comprehend, in one sense it is how to minimise the likelihood of things going wrong.

Often when a calamitous event takes place we are in shock, and perhaps unable to react as we should do. This is called being human. Though previous experience of dealing with problems can stand us in good stead for coping with future difficulties.

It can be you see a cluster of dark clouds and instinct informs you that there may be trouble ahead. These signs can act as a warning, but sometimes there is no such alert. When things go wrong in life or business, it still can hurt even for the most experienced creatives. So, if you are currently feeling a bit annoyed or sad, then rest assured you are not alone. In time hopefully you will recover, and I suggest trying to do things that raise your spirits, whether that is going for a swim, having a night out with friends, or a trip to the seaside.

It helps if you can develop some good friendships, so there are people you can talk to in times of crisis. Equally, acquiring a mentor, especially if they are more established within the visual arts or creative industries is highly advisable. They can act as a sounding board, as well as act an essential guide during a crisis.

If employed in any capacity, even if casually, then join a Union. Bullying can occur in businesses, or institutions, and without good guidance it is difficult to achieve a reasonable resolution. If freelance or running your own business, then consider joining a professional body such as the AOI, or AOP. Please refer to the back pages of my book The Essential Guide to Business for Artists and Designers for an index of associations. Equally, signing up to self-employed and business membership bodies such as IPSE or the FSB can be invaluable. The Federation of Small Businesses has personally dug me out of many holes in the past.

Have some savings stowed away, as you never know when you might have to rely on them. I know this is extremely hard to save, but saving with a Credit Union, even a small monthly amount, can be helpful for a number of reasons.

Many years ago, I read a book called ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ by Spencer Johnson. It was a business lesson in the form of a story about several mice, a maze, and cheese. Basically, one day the mice go to feed and the cheese is not there. The story is about how the mice react differently to this disappointment. One mouse puts his trainers on and goes off in search of new cheese. Whilst the others, at first, are kind of hesitant and hopeful the cheese will simply reappear as usual. Slowly the rest of the mice, apart from one, realise they have to adapt to a changing situation and put their trainers on and discover the whereabouts of new cheese.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is basically taking your cheese. This new phenomenon is starting to drain work and sales away from artists, designers, photographers, illustrators, etc. It’s an unstoppable change and every creative needs to react now. It may mean some uncomfortable truths have to be faced, a change in direction, or something more drastic. But don’t wait until the cheese has gone before reacting. If you don’t know much about AI then I suggest it maybe a wise decision to learn more and possibly invest money into AI learning, advisors, generators, or systems now.

Getting ahead of the curve can take some doing but it will pay off in time.

These are just a couple of thoughts that I hope you might find useful in some way. Any observations please do get in touch.