Let your creativity lead you

Do you at least sometimes create just for the fun of it, without expecting success and words of praise?

Do you sometimes feel a need to express yourself no matter how amateurish the result would be?

There have already been so many pieces of advice told regarding this topic… You’ve heard them surely: “Don’t let yourself get discouraged by others, don’t compare yourself with others (especially with those skilled ones), listen to your creative needs and satisfy them mindfully…”

All those nice and well-meant words may be hard to swallow when you don’t believe in yourself, when you don’t find your skills good enough. Who wants to hide their creative pursuits behind their backs or in their drawers not to be laughed at?

I think that basically there is nothing wrong in the expectation that our “art” should be liked. But that expectation must not be the goal to which our creativity is subordinated. Of course, that’s great when we are successful but if we are not and yet we enjoy what we do, we walk along a path of improving our self-knowledge and self-expression and that is priceless.

Don’t get fooled, I struggle with this as well even though I understand better today in what the problem and its solutions lie. I created the image above yesterday from one of my recent photos based on sheer longing to create something expressive. The result appeals to me but I thought, no one would like it anyway, as overdone as it is. And yet I decided to share it on Facebook and to dedicate a post to it here on my blog. You may not like it – my husband does not, and who knows, in a month or two I may not like it as well – but now it’s a step on my path I want to share with you.

Just like the life itself is not a goal but a journey, creativity leads us through it in many more or less conspicuous ways. Let’s not hamper it…