Ideas I Invite You to Challenge
Your writing/art is too basic, immature, pedestrian
You are not a real artist
No one cares or will see what you create
What is the point of art?
Don’t you have better ways to spend your time?
You write/create the same thing over and over
Everyone is going to laugh at you
Anyone who says they like your art is lying, humoring you, or just being nice
You are not special/cool enough to be a part of this
You/your art is not special, unique or worth it
Whatever you do don’t write about THAT risque, dark, personal thing
Keep yourself, your body, your feelings hidden
Don’t talk, share, or feel too much
You are not talented, pretty, smart, popular, trendy, thin, whatever enough to succeed
You are too old/young. No one wants to hear what such a boring person has to say.
Here is my response to most of those statements:
If you are enjoying what you are doing, are not neglecting the people you need to care for or your own needs, are not hurting anyone (including yourself), then creativity purely for the sake of producing something that wasn’t there before is a more than worthy way to spend your time. Maybe it won’t make money. Taking time away from capitalist pursuits is good for the soul. Maybe it won’t change the world. We all need time to recharge by pursuing something that has no point other than making us (and maybe others) happy.
No matter who you are there is an audience for you. There are other people living a similar existence who are grateful to find art they can relate to. You can never be too old or young to create. It’s not like being an olympic athlete or driving a car. There is no age limit and there is no prerequisite of having a certain level of talent or experience. All you need is the desire to create.
If you create something bad, who cares? No one was hurt. No wars were started. If someone laughs at you because you had the desire to create, had fun doing it, and put it out into the world - those people need to spend more time creating something of their own and less time being assholes.
Maybe you’re not unique. Or special. Maybe it’s all been done before. Maybe someone will think it’s garbage. It doesn’t matter because it’s about the act of creating and not about what happens once it’s released to the world.
People may choose not to follow you. They may even block you. That just means that your art isn’t for them. Plenty more might decide you are just what they were looking for. You are enough. You are worthy of creating the thing that lives in your heart.
There really are no rules. We have made up rules, but they are not real. You can do it any way you please. Fuck the critics and the people who say you’re not doing it “right.” Dare to break their rules because that’s the only way art will ever advance.
It is really ok to use your time to make shit. You don’t have to justify it or understand why you want to make shit or explain to the world what your shit is about. You just have to go where your heart leads you. That’s the only way to be happy. Let the rest go.
November 11, 2021