The joys of creating just for you
Why is it so easy sometimes, and so difficult other times?
There are lots of reasons for this, but sometimes it helps to simplify things a bit. When we make the decision to create something wholly for our own satisfaction and benefit, it can be a great cure for creative block, mostly just because it allows us to be ourselves with a little bit more comfort and ease.
Shaking off the fears of failure and judgment
When you make a piece of art just for yourself, the pressure to impress, please, or touch others is off. You don’t have to worry about who will like it, how it will be received, whether or not you can sell it, or if anyone will truly understand what you were trying to say. Taking this kind of pressure off of ourselves gives us more freedom to express ourselves honestly.
Be honest — when you put pen to paper (or whatever your equivalent is) don’t you hesitate sometimes, thinking about who will read what you’re about to write? I hate to think of the many great ideas that have been lost to the world because of an artist’s brief moment of doubt.
Artists are often perfectionists, and it’s easy to want to toss out a whole idea because it’s not up to our own standards, or to the standards by which we believe we will be judged. Throwing away the measuring stick is one of the best ways to encourage growth.
It’s a shame for anyone to have to be boxed in by the expectations of others, or discouraged by fear and the possibility of failure or embarrassment. We have to be free to create dangerously without limits. The best, most unique ideas come from thinking outside of the box, and it’s easy to be comfortable doing that when the potential consequences are less of an issue.
Art is about communication…
When we make a piece of art and show it to someone else, we are allowing that person to see the world from our point of view for a brief moment. One of the reasons why art is so necessary is that it helps us to feel less alone in a world that is sometimes scary and confusing.
Art is a means of communication that is often superior in many ways to more direct ones, despite often being far more ambiguous. When we make art, we can’t guarantee that others will understand what we are trying to say or feel the way we felt. Still, we’ve all experienced it– when you do feel that connection to another person’s art, it’s pretty hard to ignore.
…not just with others, but also with yourself
While art can be a great tool to express to others what you’re thinking and feeling, it’s often just as important, if not more so, to express your thoughts and feelings to yourself. Our minds are complicated, and sometimes it’s hard to decipher what we truly think and feel.
Art can be a powerful tool for introspection and self-reflection because it allows us to see the things that we are hiding from ourselves. Like our dreams, art tends to reveal recurring themes from our subconscious mind, which can otherwise be difficult to access with our conscious efforts.
Sometimes we don’t truly understand our own thoughts, feelings, hopes, fears, or motivations until we turn our focus inward to try and understand ourselves better. While others can enjoy and connect to your art, it’s important that we also take this inward step. If you aren’t looking inward first, how can you be confident in what you’re expressing outwardly?
Understanding our own subconscious drives is a powerful tool for taking ownership of our conscious actions. This is important for happiness because life becomes more meaningful the more our actions line up with our true beliefs. We can’t change our own thoughts or behaviors until we understand why we are thinking and behaving the way that we do.
Making art doesn’t just make you a better artist, it makes you a better person.
Learning to love the process
When I create art for myself, it reminds me that the true joy in art is in the creation of it, not in the final results. This is true about most things in life– you’ll be happier if you focus on the journey instead of the destination.
When you create just for the sake of creating, you remember that creating itself is the point. Creation is not just a means to an end but, also an end in itself. This is a very easy thing to forget.
Loving the process also improves our process. Often we can get hung up on a false dichotomy: quality vs quantity. The truth is that we can’t help but get better at the things we do frequently, and that quantity will eventually lead to quality, as long as we persevere. For every hundred scribbles we make on our own time, maybe we’ll find one that we want to share with the rest of the world– if we’re lucky. This might seem daunting, but really, it’s a good thing.
When we give our full attention and a healthy mindset to our practice, it becomes deliberate, helping us learn, improve, and dependably moving us closer to our goals. This kind of practice might not make us perfect, but it will make us just a little bit better than we were yesterday. The process is where we learn where our strengths and weaknesses are, what we like and dislike doing, and what feels meaningful to us.
No act of creation is ever a waste of time.
Brain benefits
In addition to getting your creative juices flowing, making art (even if it’s just for you) has a lot of other practical benefits.
Making art is just good for you.
In fact, it encourages the release of dopamine, a chemical that makes us feel good. It also lowers levels of cortisol, a hormone that makes us feel stressed. It’s also been shown in many studies that making art enhances cognitive function and improves mental health.
Creating art forges new neural pathways in the brain, allowing us to think more creatively at a tangible, physical level. This helps us to respond to the world in a way that is more intelligent and integrative, building connections between our logic, emotions, and imagination. Making art is also a proven method for treating substance abuse, and can help us heal from trauma.
It doesn’t even take a very big time investment to start seeing benefits. A 2016 study showed that just 45 minutes of making art is enough to improve your feelings of self-confidence. But you don’t need a study to tell you that– you’ve probably experienced it.
All of this in less than an hour.
All of this without rules, deadlines, or criticism.
All of this without worrying about likes, claps, or upvotes.
All of this from the safety and comfort of your own home.
You don’t even have to put pants on!
Originally published on medium.com on December 19th, 2019.
Esoteric Epistemology 