We Need Your Art: Stop Messing Around and Make Something

by Amie McNee

The act of creation makes a better version of you. It gives you purpose, agency, and challenge. It demands that you explore the caverns of who you are and discover what lives within—the beautiful and the messy.

Creating gives us agency, it gives us control, it gives us delight.

We are storytellers by nature, which means we get to rewrite these stories about what we are meant to be doing with our lives. And we get to put creativity at the center of them.

the making of things means the making of you.

Would it be worth your time, during your one precious life, to pursue your creative dreams?

Creativity is the missing pillar in self-development.

creativity is the missing pillar in self-development.

the simple act of regularly making art will make you a fuller version of yourself.

understand that a lot of these limiting beliefs about creativity are there to keep you “safe.” Making art is vulnerable. We weave a web of stories around our lives to keep ourselves from such vulnerability.

Magsamen and Ross explain that art is a vehicle for neuroplasticity. Making art changes the way your brain works because it allows for the creation and strengthening of synaptic connections.

A study by Girija Kaimal from Drexel University found that people who created for as little as forty-five minutes reduced their levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Most importantly, the skill of these artists didn’t matter. It was the process of creation, not the product or the outcome itself, that lowered their cortisol.

Because you’re not actually looking for their approval, you’re looking for your own approval, but you’ve been rejecting yourself every single day of your creative life.

Waiting for permission is a safety net, a comfortable space to sit without having to face the vulnerability of creation.

You are here to make things. You have qualified simply by being born. Your curiosity about creativity is qualification enough. This is your purpose. You can prioritize art. You are doing what you are meant to do. Even in your mess, even in your inconsistency, even in your learning phases, you are Artist. Creative. Maker.

Every time you sit down to create, you are calling yourself an artist and then following up that proclamation with an action to prove it.

I want you to take a step back and set goals that are reasonable and doable. Small goals. Bare minimums. Minimum viable progress,

You’ve been taught that creativity isn’t safe, but we are taking deep breaths, safe at home, completely and utterly protected.

What we are doing, however little, is a generous act.

You are allowed to be upset; we are going to try...

But failure doesn’t mean self-betrayal. Failure isn’t a full stop.

The anger you harbor against yourself is learned and undeserved. When you fail, you need compassion. You deserve compassion.

When you meet with a creative block in your journey, you are feeling the tension between where you are right now and who you are becoming. As Steven Pressfield has taught us, resistance is an invitation to your own creative evolution.

Creativity is a process of knowing yourself. Art reveals all. Which is why so many of us avoid art. We would rather not be confronted with all that darkness. But creativity will also reveal the light within you. It will reveal the treasures within you and demand that you express your potential.

Too often, we witness our procrastination and then misinterpret what we are seeing. We avoid the art and then start asking all the wrong questions: Am I lazy? What is wrong with me? Am I not meant to be an artist? We translate avoidance of the art as a sign that we are not enough. This is a mistranslation that ruins lives and robs the world of art. Procrastination means nothing of the sort. Procrastination is simply evidence that we are, in some way, afraid.

My favorite question to ask myself when I am avoiding my art is this: What am I running from?

When you avoid the art, ask yourself, What am I running from? Check in with your body. What’s happening physiologically? Are you in flight mode? Why? Procrastination holds the keys to some of our most monstrous blocks if we only dare to determine why we are running away.

If you leave procrastination unchecked, it can be an incredibly dangerous and debilitating form of self-sabotage.

if you’ve had a pattern of procrastination in the past, it will probably be difficult to access your intrinsic motivation. You will be in too much pain and emotional dysregulation to connect with curiosity.

To rebuild trust, you need to do something super-duper unsexy. You need to start very, very small.

Once you’ve built that trust back up, you can begin to rediscover those feelings of curiosity and purpose that initially attracted you to art.

You can and you must actively foster curiosity in your life.

Perfectionism creates a terrible relationship between art and artist because you can never fulfill your own expectations. Perfectionism stops creatives from being witnessed because you’re never good enough to be seen. Perfectionism cockblocks artists from satisfaction, joy, delight, purpose.

people with persistent perfectionist narratives are unlikely to finish projects, and are even less likely to share their art.

you fulfill your creative potential when you befriend imperfection.

I need you to stop pushing so hard and just create in your way, because there is no other way. I need you to focus on your own unique brand of magic. This is how we take the defensiveness of perfectionism and transform it into active, vibrant creative energy.

Perfectionist creating is a conservative way of making art. It’s playing safe and small. You can’t discover your treasure trove of weird and wonderful ways when you are trying to be infallible. Discovering your own unique magic requires experimentation. Creative experimentation abhors perfection. Let the mess in.

Shitty art is how you find your voice. It’s how you discover what it is you want to create. It’s how you discover your style. You get so much information when you make something you don’t like. You can use that information to become a master of your craft. You can use that information to make art that has an impact. Stop trying to skip the shitty art.

No artist completely evades the temptation to compare or the feeling of wanting what someone else has. It is a normal part of the creative journey.

Jen Sincero writes that “jealousy is a road map.” I read the sentence and felt immediately empowered. Jealousy can take us places. Jealousy can be our compass. It can be an insight into our creative vision and desires. It can point us in the direction of our creative dreams.

Jealousy is when you want what they have. Comparison is when you look at what you have and put it side by side with what they have. Jealousy can be used as a compass, pointing directly at what it is you desire. Comparison, on the other hand, can be disorienting and distracting, fertile ground for cruelty. It can be a playground for the inner critic. It is incredibly difficult to use comparison to elevate yourself as an artist.

Dweck explains that a growth mindset is the belief that your abilities can be developed through dedication and work, and that having talent or a natural aptitude is a bonus but not necessary for excellence.

You can’t use art to hide from the difficulties of life. Art is not a numbing mechanism. No, art exposes. Being an artist requires coming home to yourself, every time you create. And if we are still overwhelmed with narratives of perfectionism, impostor syndrome, and creative shame, that can be exhausting.

You don’t have to be struggling to be a worthy human being. You don’t have to be tired and exhausted to deserve joy. You don’t have to be busy to be a real adult.

Guilt hemorrhages energy.

Here are some of the multiple ways you can invite ease into your creative practice, many of which we’ve discussed: Creating habits, thus taking away the constant need for motivation Practicing bare minimums, thus allowing us to show up easily, with low expectations of output Practicing bare maximums, thus protecting our energy so we don’t go too hard Allowing ourselves to make shitty art, thus relieving ourselves of the pressure of making good art while still showing up Cultivating patience and trust, thus relieving the feeling of constantly pushing and waiting Choosing yourself before you are chosen by others, so the power originates from you, not from depending on others

Notice things. Know yourself. Daydream. Play. Have interesting conversations. Keep a notes file on your phone. Pay attention. Move slowly, with intention. All of this is in service to your art, to your voice. Stop thinking art must be a deeply serious, painful slog. Artists are meant to have lots of interests. We’re meant to have full and random and interesting lives.

Nothing truly wonderful is made without first being a little bit cringe.

I have a protocol before sharing anything online, and it consists of two questions: (1) Is this generous? (2) Is this vulnerable? If I say yes to both, I post and can feel aligned and good about myself.

finishing is the peak of vulnerability and one of the hardest things to do as an artist.

Unconsciously or consciously, perfectionism is the reason for a lot of abandoned projects. Finishing means accepting the imperfect.