Monday Must: Balancing a tranquil heart and a stormy mind as a creative soul

Hi, my name is Suman Bhat. I am a designer and the founder of the fashion label, Lola by Suman B - based in Goa, India. Always striving to be the person my dog thinks I am.

I’ll be honest I was very enamoured and proud of my hustle and do it all lifestyle when it came to my business… working late nights, weekends, 365 days a year with no stopping. I truly believed that this would bring me success. What I didn’t realize is that more than being burnt out, I was spending more time doing the things I liked the least about running a business and had very little time for the craft I loved. Eventually leading to me having creative blocks. 

When I started to take time out for myself, rest, recover and rejuvenate, creativity unlocked itself more naturally and everything began to flow more organically. 

As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to make your business the centre of your being and channel every last bit of energy into it, and feel like you’re not doing everything you can. Being hard on yourself doesn’t have to be a side effect of a successful career. I’ve realized that being balanced and consistent is more rewarding.

Making time for yourself : I think the biggest lesson I’ve learnt in the 8 years of running a business is to make time for yourself, it could be 5 minutes a day, or the whole day. It doesn't matter. Getting over the crippling guilt of making time for myself over my career/family/relationships/friendships etc is something I worked very hard on. I started by setting aside thirty minutes every other day and used it to work out/ run/ read/ long showers etc  and grew to realize that the more I took time out for myself the more I was able to enjoy my job and in turn be better at it than I was before. Now me-time has become an integral part of my daily routine. Recognizing when you need to rest helps you recover.

Puppy Cuddles : Never underestimate the power of unconditional love you receive from your pets… it’s a love that was so foreign to me that it raised the bar so high as to the kind of love I will accept from any human. I think just spending some quality time with my little pupster helps me relax and unwind and feel just calm. It’s a mood elevation that I can't quite put down into words. 

Friends are the family we choose: I would let months pass by before I saw my friends or spent any time with them even if they lived 10 minutes away. It started with prioritizing work over everything and everyone else and led to me feeling exhausted to even try stepping out on a day I had nothing to do. The pandemic made me realize the importance of human contact and communication. It's something we take for granted and don't realize the effect it has on us mentally to be around the right people who help your mind ease up even with their presence in a room. Rest to me isn't spending time alone anymore; it's spending time with people that help me feel less lonely in a very uncertain world.