By Calli Howard, Purple Hydrangea Project Creative Director
It’s dangerous to place your worth in what you create rather than who you are.
You become obsessed with your creations, meticulously watching for mistakes. Waiting for yourself to mess up. Your art is complete, but it isn’t what you wanted - it isn’t the perfect scene you were eager to type out or put on paper.
The more you see other people’s intrinsically superior creations, the lesser you feel. But it’s not so simple that you could just stop making. No, no.
A halt in production means crawling guilt and anxiety over wasting good time. It means a sharp decline in self worth because, after all, that is where you placed it. I know this firsthand, and if you do too, I’m very sorry.
Writing and drawing and music and art of every kind were always meant to bring people together and lift spirits. To bridge gaps and increase understanding.
The sadness so many creators feel as a result of harsh comparisons and aversion to their own work is nothing short of tragic. I want to see artists healing and using their medium as a means to tell their message. Instead, so much time is spent dwelling over skill level and sinking into depression.
I think we can remove ourselves from this downward spiral by separating our value from that of our creations. If we focus instead on who we are and how we treat other people, our art will improve and be a byproduct of the happiness we both spread and have.
Of course, this isn’t to say art shouldn’t have negative themes or be a way to vent. But I do believe placing your value in yourself instead of your creations (while focusing on being kind to others) will bring a nice perspective to making things.
Self esteem won’t be directly tied to what we create, and there won’t be relentless pressure to create something flawless.
I’m saying this because you matter indefinitely. From one artist to another, you are enough - and so are your creations.
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