What no one tells you about being a creative

Silent struggles....

Being a creative literally means having a mind that never fully rests. Creativity is not something that can be turned off, it follows you everywhere. When people think creativity they imagine effortless flow of ideas, art born from passion. Looking at it from the outside it obviously looks beautiful but from within it is more complicated than it looks. It may be a gift but it is sometimes a struggle.

One of the struggles of being a creative is the pressure to always create. As a creative myself I can say firsthand that the pressure that comes with being a creative is sometimes overwhelming. There is the notion that ideas should never stop running, inspiration should be constant. This is really draining for a creative, in times where there is no flow of idea, they start to question themselves even when they aren't supposed to. Rest begins to feel like laziness because of the amount of pressure and the side talks from the over expectant world.

Another real struggle is self doubt. As a creator myself I can attest to the number of times I've criticized my creative work to the point of not liking it. Creatives are the harshest critics when it comes to their works. There's always the "Is it enough?" factor. It gets worse when they turn to comparison. They see a fellow creatives work and are inspired but just as these fellow creatives works inspire it sometimes plants the seed of inadequacy in their heart leaving them thinking.

As a creative there are timeframes in which nothing is flowing. This time is called creator's block, a frustrating period of time where ideas refuse to come. This period comes with fear, fear of never being a creative again and many others. There is this panic and fear in the mind of creatives during this period of creative block leaving them wondering if the spark they once had will ever return.

As a creative there is the fear of being expected to always perform. Being expected to remain a creative forever. Personally I have these fears and sometimes it makes us want to give up eventually. There is also the fear of losing privacy once seen and for someone like me that doesn't thrive well in the scrutinising eyes for the public this is a big issue.

There are days where I sit with ideas running through my head and there are days where I just feel blank and useless. I write pieces and tear it up just so I don't get judged or because I feel it's not good enough. There are also the days where I just stare at the blank piece of paper only to end up not writing anything due to writers block. I start to think, "what if I lose relevance?", "what if I'm forgotten?" These are one of my greatest fears and also that of other creatives out there. The world may see us as people who create beautiful masterpieces but within us there are struggles, deep struggles we fight with daily before birthing any masterpiece, struggles we don't let the world see so we don't get judged.

In the end being a creative comes with the doubts,fear, inconsistency and inadequacy. Personally I let the doubts and fear come but I don't let them eat me up. So as a creative all I want to say is let the doubts become a part of you but don't let it become you.