The Awesome Power of Being “A” Creative
The “A” needs to be bold, underlined AND bigger because it changes everything…
I left my swanky job at LinkedIn a couple months ago to build a creative life and most of my limited brain capacity has been consumed with answering the question: What does it mean to me to be creative? Spoiler alert… I don’t know yet.
Uhhh WTF Rob… that seems like a pretty simple question.
Hmph… You’d think so Snarky Voice in My Head, but like most of the truly important yet simple questions in life, the answer is elusive, multifaceted and different for every person who asks it. This will probably sound trite, but everyone is creative at some level.
Dude… that IS trite… take a stand!
Dude… Chill the F out and let me make my point… Is a mom cutting her daughter’s food into funny shapes to get her to eat creative? Yes. Is a corporate accountant funneling money into offshore accounts to limit his organizational tax liability creative? Yes. Is a homeowner putting up shelving in the bathroom creative? Yes.
The issue is that none of these people are TRYING to be creative. They’re simply doing what humans do every day. Using their brain to solve problems. That’s kinda one of the many definitions of creativity. It’s also why it is so hard to answer the question “What does it mean to be creative?”
Maybe the better question would be: What does it mean to be A creative?
That one change to the question makes all the difference. If you call yourself “A Creative” then it implies that you’re trying on purpose to be creative. And that is something very different than simply being creative.
YO… don’t be playing those semantic games!!
It’s more than semantic games Snarky! It’s a critical distinction that changes the psychology around creativity. For some reason, trying to be creative is much more difficult than simply being creative.
So what’s the problem? Just be creative and STFU.
Dang dude… Do you think if it were that simple I’d feel the need to spend an afternoon writing about it? We’re talking about “psychology”… and if there is one thing Creatives with a capital C are good at, it is psyching themselves out.
Imposter syndrome, comparison culture, and fomo, are bad enough on their own, but people trying to be creative get double doses of them all at once. “I’m not good enough to post my work” - “I’ll never be as good as that Rusted Pixel guy.” - “Beeple just got 1 zillion likes for an image of a pig wearing a codpiece made of dollar bills… I need to post something asap!”
Bleah… That seems like a formula for low self esteem.
Indeed it is Snarky… All Creatives fall prey to this at some point in their journey. Why the hell is that? A person who figures out how to fix their toilet with a rubber band doesn’t have any of those thoughts even though they were supremely creative in fixing their toilet. They’re just glad the stuff in the toilet goes away when they pull the handle.
Hmmm… fixing the toilet is probably just a bit more useful than a 3D animation.
Wow, Snarky that was harsh, even for you!! But, I have to admit that you might be right. At a purely utilitarian level yes, everyone needs a toilet, and almost nobody “needs” a 3D animation. Humans though, have always done things they didn’t “need” to do. Art, literature and music won’t keep you alive like air, water, and food… but could you imagine a world without them? THAT would be bleak.
If this is something humans have always done, why is being “A Creative” so hard? At the risk of sounding all philosophical and shit, I think it comes down to the ego.
Uhhh Rob, it might be #discolsuretime
Good call Snarky… I am NOT a mental health professional and I don’t even play one on TV. The words in this article are my thoughts based on observations about my own mental health and identity as A Creative. I hope they do help someone but they are not intended to replace the academically grounded insights you would get from regular visits to a licensed therapist…
Whew… Now back to the ego…
People trying to be creative are driven by ego and tend to have an overinflated opinion of the importance of their work. It’s kind of inevitable… We put so much of ourselves into each thing we create that it becomes tied to our personal identity… a symbol of our own self worth and our value to the world… sounds like the essence of ego right?
We pour our very being into the thing we’re creating hoping that it will say something like “Rob has value!” or “Rob is amazing!” or “Rob has changed the world!”
But, how often does a person trying to be creative actually change the world?
Dayummmmm… now who’s being harsh??
Hmmmm, I guess it was a bit harsh… Yes, people creating art, design, film, music, or literature have a huge impact on the world, but did any painting alter the course of history as much as the steam engine? Did any piece of music affect the world as much as penicillin?
So you’re saying creative pursuits are worthless?
Oh heylllllll no… I’m a person trying desperately to be creative on purpose, and I suffer from all of the psychological side effects I described above. No matter how confident I might seem on the outside, my personal identity and self worth are tied directly to the things I create.
OMG! You just said Creatives shouldn’t do that!!
Nope… that’s not what I said. I said that all Creatives do that to themselves and it has a negative impact on all Creatives at some point in their journey.
So then WTF is your point?
I’m hoping that the historical and emotional context above will provide a change in perspective. That thing you just made is not going to alter the course of history, so stop worrying about it and instead ask the question…
Do the things I create connect me with other people?
Unless you’re living in a bubble, the answer should be “I hope so” because right alongside being creative, making connections is a fundamental part of what it means to be human. No man/person is an island, and our value as humans is not in what we make but in our collective experience. If the things you create bring you closer to other people, THAT might just change THE world.
Since you’ve made it this far, here’s a short timelapse of how I created the banner image…
