Throughout the past year, I’ve been diving more and more into art. The funny thing is, when I was a kid, I was always drawing, coloring, taking photos, gluing things together, doing all the crafts! So, what happened? As I got older, the only creative outlet I utilized became choosing the color for my powerpoint presentation background. I don’t want to say: school happened. I mean, traditional educational systems prioritize math, english, history, and science more than art. That’s why photography, ceramics, music, or any type of art class counts toward “elective” credits instead of mandatory requirements. Not that art should be mandatory but it certainly shouldn’t be viewed as secondary or inferior. Now that, I think, speaks to more of a larger societal phenomenon than simply the school systems.
When you’re an artist, you automatically grow up with the odds against you.
Others may love what you create but there is still the 𝓈𝓊𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝓂𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑔 that you’ll need to find “𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙟𝙤𝙗” at some point. Or, at least, make sure you have a plan to fall back on. All while inferring that art cannot support you or be a source of income enough to support you the way a traditional job is supposed to. What can and cannot support a person isn’t guaranteed and holding the kind of job your parent wants for you isn’t necessarily going to be the safe, secure job they imagine either. This is besides my point.
If you happened to grow up never feeling creative suppression from parents/school/societal conditioning /other systems then that’s great and more power to ya but I don’t believe this is common (at least in the U.S.).
I know 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟.
I’ve rotated between drawing, writing, performing arts, audio and visual media throughout my life. Silly me thought I could just set these aside and focus on chasing the money and that would satisfy me.
Have I mentioned that I do have a tendency to go heavy on an 𝒂𝒍𝒍-𝒐𝒓-𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 attitude.
In learned that cutting out my creative outlets–basically only doing the very occasional creative, fun, hands-on project–made me feel empty. I felt cut off from my purpose and, even worse, I cut off my voice. In my most closed-off state, I even acquired a sore throat
(when I 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 get sick).
To get spiritual for a sec here, the throat chakra (one of 7 main centers in the chakra system in our bodies) isn’t just used for talking, it’s the communication center. Although art is creative, it is also expressive. I used my art as a way to share my thoughts and feelings. So this just confirms that art is as important to my well-being as much as food, movement, and sunlight. Note to self: I definitely need to write a post on this, too! 🌞
I’m always working on finding a balance between these areas of my life because I don’t believe they need to be mutually exclusive. Earning a *more than decent income* being a creator or artists is possible!
For anyone else who does creative work (yes, it is work, whether or not you get paid for it) I see you, and your work demands to be seen. If you believe in your work, then it has value; it’s as simple as that.
Go after it.
Prioritize it.
Show the world art matters.