As a creative, doubt and uncertainty often come with the territory. Being a creative can be so difficult and isolating, especially if you’re the only creative one in your circle. One of the things we’ve been so grateful for over the past couple years is the creative community that we’ve been introduced to through this blog. We’ve been able to share our woes, confess our creative dry spells, wildest dreams, and creative ambitions. With all of the advice we’ve received over the years, we thought we’d devote a blog post specifically tailored for the Creative – all about advice. For those of you struggling to come up with new creative ideas, or even for those of you feeling weighed down by the numerous projects on your plate, know that we are here for you as fellow creatives and are rooting for you! So without further ado, here’s our advice for YOU, our lovely Creatives.
Share your work!
Oh man, this one is tough. It sounds so much easier than it actually is. Sharing what you’ve been working on can seem like the most daunting thing in existence. There’s no way of controlling how the other person will receive your work. Will you be scoffed at? Mocked? Perhaps even…encouraged? For years we struggled to open up about our projects and share what was on our hearts. We kept waiting and waiting for that day to come when our work would be magically welcomed and praised without us even having to do the work of spreading the word. Needless to say, that silly wish of ours didn’t come true. That magical day did not come. In fact, quite the opposite ensued. We had to tell our closest friends and family. We even shared our aspirations and passion projects with our acquaintances and people on the internet! Sound scary? Long story short, opening up does leave you in a position of vulnerability. It’s terrifying, but there’s far too much to be gained out of an experience like this. Sometimes all you need is a little bit of encouragement from your recipient, or sometimes you may even need that constructive (or not so constructive) criticism to fuel that fire in your belly. Either way, it’s all about growing and learning and making mistakes.
Write down EVERYTHING
We’re still trying to establish this habit in our lives. In the day of Instagram, Pinterest, and even Facebook, physical journals can seem outdated. Why carry around a journal when you can organize and share inspiration on the internet? It’s true, not many of us carry around a journal with us on a day-to-day basis, but man, this simple little act can change so much. Now, there’s nothing wrong with having mood boards on Pinterest as a go-to source of inspiration, but keeping a journal and writing in it daily can provide that extra little kick of inspiration. For those of you going through a creative dry spell, tracking your moods, writing down quotes that speak to your soul, or even jotting down simple observations throughout your day can provide that creative inspiration that you’ve been looking for.
Observation is key
This piece of advice goes hand in hand with the journal. This particular piece of advice is very dear to our hearts – especially as individuals who are constantly blogging, Instagramming, taking pictures, holding a phone up to our face, etc. Listen up all you wonderful bloggers and partakers of social media: take a break! This sounds rather harsh, but sometimes a break from social media can be the perfect remedy. Look around you when you’re in line at the grocery store. Who’s in line with you? What’s playing on the radio? There’s so many little moments in our day – moments of boredom, where we reach for our phones instead of simply observing what’s around us. Namely, the people around us. Now, we are 100% guilty of this too. We long to be entertained and standing in line for groceries is not entertaining. What good can come from spending five minutes in complete and utter isolation from our phones? Sometimes not too much. Sometimes a lot. But when you open yourself up, put your phone away, and really take in the environment around you, you are fully present. You’re awake, taking note as an observant surveyor of your world. There’s something so telling and important about being fully awake.
Remember: You are radiant!
It’s true! No matter how much doubt you may be feeling towards your creative talent, there is so much that YOU have to offer to this world. There’s so much noise on social media. We can often get bogged down, feeling overwhelmed with all the opinions, perspectives, the practically perfect Instagram feed that makes us think Why even share my photos? They’ll never look as good as hers. But we have a secret for you: seeing the world through YOUR eyes is a very special thing – a thing to be shared. You have a right to be heard and seen, and we wait anxiously to see what you create. Do you ever worry about being original? Are you paralyzed with that crippling fear that what you create won’t hold a candle to the beautiful work of someone else? We have one last thing to leave you with, and it’s words of wisdom that perfectly encapsulates how we feel about this:
“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.” – CS Lewis
That’s our advice! Being a creative can be such an isolating thing, so we hope that our advice can help you in your area of need. Please leave a comment below with your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you. As always, tag us through the #GraceBelleCommunity hashtag so we can connect. Happy creating!
Leave a Reply