As a creative person and one who’s plagued by existential questions, I get trapped into that circle of thinking if what I’m doing matters.
Am I just wasting my time and energy torturing nice people with my substandard prose?
I work with writers and for writers (and this applies to all creative people), and I think we all have that dream of becoming famous (even if you say you don’t, you wouldn’t mind it, would you?).
We all have that hope of changing the world with our work.
We want to be praised and validated.
We want to communicate on a deeper level.
We want to be admired, at least just a little bit, and be able to say “I told you so” to all the haters.
Most of all, we want to leave a legacy after our death.
But our dreams deflate each time we see the sheer numbers of other people who have the same exact dream as we do and are pursuing it more efficiently and more fervently.
They write better, market better, sell better.
We see other artists kicking ass out there, and we wonder how in the world they do it.
Maybe we don’t have the resources, the time, or the energy.
Maybe we don’t have the savvy or the persistence. Maybe we’re suffering from imposter syndrome.
It’s easy to get caught up in the race to the bestsellers list, but let me wrap my arm around your shoulders and guide you into my existential realm here.
Although contemplating our place in the ginormous, black Universe can make us feel insignificant and pointless at times, this simultaneously it frees us from our anguish.
Look at it this way…
- You only have one life (as far as we know). If there is anything noble about it, it’s living in the pursuit of creating and appreciating beauty in all its forms. It’s one of the only redeeming qualities of our species.
- Your one life is very short. You could spend it watching Netflix. Or you could live a life of passion and do what makes your soul sing.
- You have to be yourself. If there’s one thing I learned about being happy in this life, it’s being true to who you are. If you only behave and do what you think you’re supposed to do instead of what you really want to do, you will be a miserable person. Guaranteed.
- Your audience doesn’t matter all that much. Human beings are a very small, messy, and crude part of the universe. Having their mass approval is not necessarily anything special. There is much of existence beyond our little blue sphere that might marvel at your work if they ever got to experience it.
Creativity is a gift. In making something out of nothing, we can be the gods of our own little universes.
I hope you all found this comforting.
Happy Monday and Happy Creating!
–Christa
Do you ever wonder if what you’re creating matters?
How do you think your work fits into the Universe?
What are you working on right now?
What are you writing for?
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