What’s Hindering the Creative in Me?

This is Day 2 of #WinterABC2021 and still in the Creatives Week. For my Day 1 post, I questioned whether I really am a Creative. True, I have a keen interest and moderate proficiency in music, art, and writing, but is that all it takes to be called a Creative? 

Surely not. I am reminded of a wise man who said “If you do not have a market, you do not have a business.” You might have a product like bananas on a farm but until they are in a market stall for purchase, you cannot say you are in business. 

I guess in the same way, however much I am appreciating lyrics, melodies, and harmonies, well-decorated spaces or well-written stories, until I am creating actual content and putting it out there for consumption, I probably am not a Creative. 

But I have a published book *cue smug-faced emoji*.

I guess I am a Creative after all, a side-hustle Creative, but a Creative nonetheless… Hooray!!

But beyond the book, what else have I created and put out there? Why am I not creating, despite my self-proclaimed proficiency in the arts? 

Let’s skip right to it and say FEAR. Whichever reason I come up with, it can be boiled down to that four-letter word. 

I wouldn’t exactly say I am afraid of the unknown. It is known that living as a Creative is not for the faint-hearted. It takes courage to break boundaries, seek out new horizons, or dance to the tune that only you can hear while others call you crazy. So I guess I am afraid of being brave, of being the different one. Following the beaten path is safe, predictable, and acceptable. Being accepted is nice. 

Then there are the expected hardships that Creatives supposedly go through. The uncertainty about where the next meal is coming from, the writer’s/creator’s block, being looked at as a failure or being asked to “get a real job” until the big break comes…. I know this is probably too cliché and Creative or not, one faces all sorts of hardships in whatever field but there’s a certain narrative around being a struggling Creative that seems accepted as the norm. I am afraid of having to find out that this narrative is true. 

There are a couple more reasons that I will probably explore over the next few weeks, but let me stop here for now. As I work to overcome my fears, I will continue to be a side-hustle Creative. 

#Day2 #WinterABC2021 

#SideHustleCreative