Creativity: How Do We Keep Our Heads Up High?
Creativity is already hard as it is.
Living a creative life isn’t an easy proposition either.
While it is true that we like to say that creativity is available for everyone as a practice, the truth is that it takes a combination of persistent practice and inner talent in order to be creative in the first place. Otherwise, we would all be creating ground-breaking works of art or producing mind-blowing content, when in fact, it’s not the case at all.
It takes time and effort to compose a decent piece of art, let alone a masterpiece. We are not even talking about the theoretical side of things; not all of us can synthesize both abstract concepts and concrete life experiences into something that reflects the human condition and displays the layers of beauty that we appreciate in art.
As a result, making art, regardless of the type and genre, is not easy even without the sobering challenges of the global pandemic.
The COVID-19 situation made it worse for artists of every garb around by world by ensuring that we did not only have to contend with the economic and creative concerns that come with the practice of our art; we also have to come to terms with the societal, personal, and medical concerns that came as a result of the novel coronavirus.
Of course, this is not to say that the pandemic hasn’t given some of us opportunities to break through and make a mark in our respective creative pursuits, but on average, many of us experienced an existential crisis when it came to the production of our respective art forms.
Generally, many of us who worked in the arts or served as cultural workers in allied industries had access to predictable income streams before the pandemic began in the first quarter of 2020: travel and exposure grants, content production subsidies, and revenues from exhibits and book launches were just some of the common sources of income back in the day.
However, when COVID-19 came to the fore, many of these ways of earning money either dried up or reduced in scope, and as such, many of us have indeed experienced the horror of having to think about how to get through the day without catching the virus, going without a meal, or getting evicted from one’s house.
Indeed, all of these challenges were really hard to ignore, as they caused us to really think about whether pursuing creativity is worth the physical, mental, and emotional suffering that we were getting along the way. Coupled with the fact that artists of all types worldwide do not receive enough financial and institutional backing from the government or the private sector, we can all clearly see that the COVID-19 pandemic has turned art into an arduous mountain to climb.
Yet, there are things that we can do in order to preserve our creativity in the time of the global pandemic.
Refresh, reboot, reset
We all hear these buzzwords when it comes to creative pursuits and the creative culture. However, did any of us even consider what it looked like?
Since a good part of our creative pursuits is done via a digital screen, it would be a good idea to stay away from it for a period of time and find a non-electronic pursuit. For those of us who do our creative pursuits by hand, a way to refresh is to do something unrelated to your creative pursuit (or just walk out, explore nature, and do things outside of your home if you have the chance).
This has been taught in many of the top art and creative writing courses worldwide for a long time now — and considering that it is still considered by many of us to be solid advice even in 2021 (despite the prevalence of neurotic attitudes among artists), it should work for most of us out there rather effectively.
Learn how to break from the mold
Find new ways of expressing your creativity. Pursue blogs, podcasts, vlogs — or join a community and share your ideas. Do it through food, drink, travel — or even do it through a hobby that allows you to explore new things while at the same time expressing your creativity! This may range from producing handicrafts and collecting items to time-tested methods such as crocheting and gardening. Through these hobbies, maybe you can find a way to fuel your creative drive and even discover a new way to approach your craft!
Search for the new within the old
I do hope that you weren’t throwing your old stuff out the window. I do hope that you stored all your old works or products on the shelf.
Guess what? Time to take them out. Look at them from a new perspective and see whether they can be repurposed or reintegrated into your new art. Maybe you can even think of turning them into digital forms!
If you think that this is a funny practice, here’s a newsflash for you: Many of the world’s greatest writers did a lot of their later works in this way! One example of this is when George Orwell did it by looking at his old book “Keep The Aspidistra Flying” when creating “1984.” Yes. He looked at the old to see whether he can find something new — and lo and behold, history already recorded the rest of it.
Take care of yourself.
While it is true that there might be deadlines to catch up, negotiations to wrap up, and business plans that need to be followed, we should always remember that we are, first of all, human beings that deserve to be cared for, loved, and treated with dignity.
In the time of the pandemic, this advice has also gained multiple literal meanings: On a very basic level, getting the corona comes at a huge cost to your body in many ways, be it physically, mentally, or financially. On a deeper level, being alive as an artist or creative means that you get to do more things and create a positive impact around you. At a philosophical level, taking care of yourself allows you to keep your mind pure and receptive to more ideas; instead of worrying about your physical and/or mental health, you can use that extra brainpower too.
Final thoughts
Being creative in the time of the pandemic is definitely a huge challenge to overcome; after all, the uncertainty that the pandemic brings to us is a huge existential and social crisis that we need to face head-on. However, if we get the chance to get a foot forward, we would be able to assume a better position in our respective creative journeys once the pandemic is over — which, based on the rate vaccinations are proceeding worldwide — is going to be sooner rather than later.
Yes, it is hard. But we can get through this together, and we will be able to witness a brighter future for the arts through grit, determination, and perseverance.
We are all on this climb together.