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2.15.2015

ON BEING CREATIVE


For most of my teenage life, I have built my jobs and hobbies around creative arts. Be it writing, music, hand-lettering, photography, designing, refurbishing furniture, or drawing, if there was a possibility of it being used creatively, I was interested. I've dabbled in just about everything, taken online courses on various topics, studied and practiced, both scratching the surface of some arts and diving deep into others.

Creativity fascinates me. The fact that someone can start with an idea, flesh it out, piece it together with their own mind and hands, and present it to the world as their art is just beautiful to me. And each person's style of art is completely different! There are no two alike. The possibilities are endless, and that is tremendously exciting. There are few feelings greater than when I can look at something I've created from my imagination and be able to say, I made that. My goal is to construct my future happenings around creative arts, somehow incorporating my main loves - photography, music, and writing - into one big, creative business (which will include travel, if I have anything to say about it).

So with all that being said, I have to admit something: I struggle with creativity.

I fully accept that creativity is not always something you can force, but you do have to work at it to some degree, and it's a struggle for me. I have a hard time coming up with what I think are original ideas. I lack confidence in my work. I negatively compare my endeavors to other people's. I often allow outside influences to convince me that my ideas are not worth pursuing. I am easily distracted. I procrastinate. I feel restless and unsettled as to which direction to take my art. I have difficulty just sitting down and working hard on one thing for a long period of time. I am indecisive and unsure if my work is good enough to market.

I'm still praying and seeking direction on what exactly to do with my creative work, but in the meantime, I'm nailing down some guidelines to overcome these obstacles (i.e., setting deadlines, sharing more of my work, practicing what I learn). I guess I'm saying all this because if any of you are like me and want so desperately to make beautiful things but find it more difficult than you imagined, you're not alone. And I think creatives - artists, photographers, writers, musicians, and craftsmen alike - need to support each other, building up a community of encouragement, challenges, and inspiration. Because in a world full of cliches and trends and fads, creating beautiful originality is a hard task.
"I feel such a creative force in me. I am convinced there will be a time when, let us say, I will make something good everyday, on a regular basis. I am doing my best to make every effort because I am longing so much to make beautiful things. But beautiful things means painstaking work, disappointment, and perseverance." - Vincent Van Gogh
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As a bonus, here's a shout-out to a few of my favourite creative inspirations...
ellie be & unfolding passions | acacia rachel | jess mcghie | a beautiful mess | mr. and mrs. globetrot  | benj haisch | wyn wiley | grafted | leaking hearts

15 comments:

  1. Oh, look! It's you making your blog header. :-)

    Creativity fascinates me too. Everything I do in life is based around it, and there's millions and endlessly long lists of ideas and things one has never done before that is creative. Or whutever (cuz that last sentence was weird. :-P) You are really creative, as far as your photographic talents go, and your way of writing is creative as well. Keep it up! It's SO fun, which I know you know. :-)

    I love your blog! And congratulations on one-hundred followers!

    ~ Naomi

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    1. haha, that would actually be my lovely Jess making my blog header. ;)

      thanks for the encouraging words, dear!!

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  2. Wow! That's so amazing Petie! I'm creative in the musical way, mum and my bro draw and dad well dad's good at Physics :D
    Like Naomi said you are creative with your photography!
    Well done on 100 followers dear!
    ~Evie

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  3. Yes, I totally can relate to this. I hope you share more of your creative projects-maybe some of your artwork or furniture projects? And ALWAYS do music videos, please! :)

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  4. Can I just say how relatable this is? Wow, it's like you knew exactly what I was thinking today when you posted this. Love it! xx.

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  5. I feel ya, Petie. I feel ya. Natalie is always creating beautiful work, and I can sometimes, but often I struggle with creativity as well. And that's when I write or pick up a book or find something that inspires me. An artist's life can be tough but so beautiful...

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  6. Being creative is hard hard work. I used to think that sparks of genius just sort of came and masterpieces naturally flowed. However, I've been studying Thomas Edison recently and was impressed by his massive creativity that he attributed solely to hard work and perserverance. I mean, the guy filed over 1,000 patents in his life, and almost every single one is connected to a commercial success. He had an amazing amount of creativity and genius, and yet he attributed his success purely to hard work.

    On the other hand, I think you are completely right in saying that creativity cannot be forced. Sometimes it must be eased out through calm careful wooing.

    I second the motion for a kind creative community!

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    1. edison is such a good example!! thanks so much for sharing. :)

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  7. This is soooo relatable. I'm encouraged to know that I'm not the only one who struggles with this.
    And I totally agree with the creative community idea. Can this become a thing?

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  8. yeah, the world is so trendy + cliche...heh heh couldn't resist. ALSO! MY HAND IS NOW FAMOUS! totally feel ya on this one though. sometimes I look at my work I'm just like, what the heck. what on earth am I doing. it looks like a crabnugget. a lot of the time, I have to do stuff over + over + over + over before I'm happy with it, and even then I'm not always. amen to creative community (but can it include coffee??)!

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    1. hahaha, I was pretty much counting on you saying that. ;) ;)
      ahem. what would a creative community be without coffee? i mean, surely coffee is what fuels our creativity in the first place, right?

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  9. You need to watch this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-JXOnFOXQk - Like seriously. Take 20minutes and watch it.

    I get so down about my work all the time. I feel like I am just copying everyone else's photography style and I have no idea who I am in this big creative space. I never was creative growing up so this whole society is new to me. It's big and scary and competitive and it's flooded with doubt and fear. But it's that doubt and fear that differentiates those who succeed and those who don't. It's those who push through despite the doubt and fear (and failure!). It's about heading out into the arena knowing full well we're about to get slaughtered. It's a battle and, by golly, it's one I have not yet won, but I'm hoping to trudge along and see where it takes me, and where it takes you! you're destined for big things. I know it x

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  11. Payton, I felt like you took the words right out of my mouth! No one's ever summarized it so perfectly, but the struggle is real. I have the same difficulty when it comes to being creative. I feel like I could be happy living life for the sake of creativity, being creative simply to be creative. But there are also specific interests and dreams that I want to get better at and accomplish over time. I have so many aspirations and so many things that I love and enjoy and it's hard to stay focused. It's hard to prioritize which creative endeavors get put on the back burner while I explore others even though I wish I could do EVERYTHING all at once. I'ts hard to not overextend myself.

    Thank you for sharing this. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one...

    Cheers!

    a vapor in the wind

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    1. "I have so many aspirations and so many things that I love and enjoy and it's hard to stay focused." YES. I totally get that. You are definitely not the only one, my dear!
      cheers to you, too! :)

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