Feeding Your Artistic Impulses
If you are a creative person (and you probably are), your best bet may be to allow that creativity into more areas of your life. Assuming that you have to make a living, you may find yourself, as many people do, in the position of setting aside the hope, at least for a time, of using your gifts as your primary source of income. But we urge you not to let those dreams go forever. Even if you can't find a way to use your talents to make a living at this moment, you can still use them. Use them for your own enjoyment and that of your friends and family. Use them to keep in practice so that, when you finally do have a choice, you'll be ready.
Fact
Several authors have written humorous accounts about their lives with OCD. (A few of these are listed in Appendix A.) Other artists have also put their quirky tendencies to good use. If you can see the humor in your situation, it should become easier to deal with.
Yes, daily jobs can suck a lot of the vitality and imagination from our lives. But there are weekends, vacations, hiatuses. There's the time before and after work. Even if you can't devote all of your time to your musical or other talents, you can still practice and record around your work schedule. You can take an acting class one or two nights a week, and so on. You will probably feel better for making that time count.
Exploring New Things
If you aren't particularly creative, you may still want to try a new interest or take a class. Or you might want to keep a journal, or draw, or sing. Your writing doesn't have to be star-quality, nor your art beautiful, nor your voice golden. But pursuing creative activities can help you to feel more alive and connected, and less stressed, and to channel obsessive tendencies somewhere positive.
Your Place in the World
Everybody has a place in the world. The trick may simply be finding it. Each of us, in order to enjoy any kind of a sense of well-being, must feel as if we belong: that we are not unneeded or here by some cosmic mistake. Finding your particular place in the world can take time. You might feel as if your OCD puts you “outside,” and that “everyone else” enjoys things you don't. (That part may be true, but then again, other people probably also have problems that you don't.) Sadly, no one can tell you how to find your place. Just rest assured that you have one.
