A Creative Thought on Art

I am an artist. I am an artist. I am an artist. This phrase is scary to me. It brings a fear of failure into my mind. In reality, it is an affirmation. A truth. I don’t often feel creative especially lately. I run from one thing to the next and barely have time to pause, but I still believe it to be true. I am an artist.

Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk on creativity is a powerful example of the power the mind has over our creativity. Early on in the video she hits on some major points that have hit me for years. For me, I ask these questions, “What if I wrote my book and it actually did really well?” and “What if I started writing songs and people wanted to listen?” Even now as I write it, I am feeling anxious and nervous and excited at the same time. The next thought has often been, “If it was successful (whatever that means), then people would expect me to keep producing and make the next book or album even better. What if I wasn’t up to the task ?”

I wouldn’t say these thoughts are what has kept me from moving forward more quickly on these goals, but I would say they have made me doubt whether they are worthy goals. What if reaching those goals isn’t what I expect it to be? I could take the same route and just never write, sing, or play guitar again. That way, I could never fail. Right?

Not even close. Not doing anything IS failing. This thought brings me back to the purpose of art. What is my art really for? In truth, isn’t it more about God and myself than any audience? God gave me the passion to create and praise him with this act of creating art. I want to create art that I am happy with and makes me feel whole and purposeful. This does not require anything from an audience. A book written that’s never read is still an amazing accomplishment. A song sang, but never heard is still a gift even if only for yourself.

The beautiful thing about this is that some people are lucky enough to take their art that is 100% authentic to themselves and make a career out of it. Yet, that art can still be art without a wide audience appeal.

Taylor Swift and George Lucas are by far the two most influential artists in my life. They both are a great example of authenticity. Being true to themselves has not always made them popular. Taylor has been criticized for all sorts of reasons one of them being that her songs are too personal. At the same time, I think the realness of her music is what makes her so appealing to so many people.

George Lucas was absolutely destroyed by many Star Wars fans for what he did with the prequel films. The backlash being a major reason he decided to sell the company rather than make episodes 7-9 himself. (And from what has been said about what he wanted to do with those movies, the backlash would likely been even worse than the Disney backlash that we got.) Yet, what did he ultimately want to do? Tell his story and do it in a way that expanded the movie-making industry. Guess what? A lot of people, including myself, loved what he did with those movies.

At the end of the day, I am an artist if I produce art. Not whether I share it or whether people actually even like it. I am an artist when I set aside the fear of success and produce something true to myself. I am an artist. Are you?