Creative Motivation
“What inspires you to do what you do?”
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. As a creative, this is an especially important question to me as I strive to learn and grow. What is the driving force behind what I do? What makes it so that I cannot stop working toward these things that make me crazy and alive at the same time?
For me, it is largely an innate part of who I am. I have always been creative. As a child, I enjoyed coloring, drawing, crafts and any type of artwork. As I grew older, sketching was something I enjoyed. When that eventually phased out, writing became an interest. I have played piano since I was seven and have long had an eye for photography. At probably around the age of 13, I wanted a journal so I could record my thoughts and our lives. Ever since that point, I have consistently had a journal going, because the older I grew, the more that words, and recording my thoughts and life on paper became life-giving to me. In college, I turned that growing passion into an even more intrinsic part of my life by majoring in journalism. This is where I found a love and grew a respect for the important work of recording the stories of others. I became fascinated by interviewing, transcribing and writing down not just basic stories...but colorful interpretations of people's lives. While I do not currently work in journalism, I freelance as a writer, social media manager, and creative freelancer.
Creativity is intertwined into my very being. It is both the greatest stressor and the greatest healer. It is a life-giving, burdensome task. It is who I am and my way of life, and I would never change that.
So there's that. Creativity is natural to me. That answers the question of what it is that makes me this way...though there's probably even more to be explored in that area.
Now for the question what inspires me? What drives me to do what I do?
First, though it might sound cliché, I deeply believe that my family is my main source of motivation and strength to continue pursuing what I do. When I feel discouraged about my work, they lift me up. When I feel as if I have failed as a creative, they don't see failure and love me just the same. The year before having my son, I felt incredibly lost and my sense of direction was skewed. Yet, when he arrived, simply by his presence, he gave me new life and a drive to finish strong and to pursue what I knew I was called to do.
And my husband? He pushes me to be better. He will be the first to critique and the first to celebrate with me. If I'm doubting whether I'm good enough to try something, he tells me that being “good enough” doesn't matter and that I should go for it. Honestly, without my boys and my network of supportive extended family, I wouldn't have the courage to be pursuing writing and creative work.
Life is beautiful and that everyone – no matter who they are – has a wonderful story that should be told. For me, that is the utmost purpose of my creativity – no matter what art form I am working in – I work to accurately represent the beauty of life.
What about you? What is it that drives you? Have you always been creative, or is it something you've had to work to incorporate into your lifestyle?
Creativity looks different for everyone. That's one of the amazing things about it. We all have our own purposes, goals, styles of art, work methods, etc., but we all can also learn from one another, and glean wisdom and insight too.
If you aren't quite sure what drives you, take some time to focus and sort through your thoughts on the matter. Being aware of what motivates you to create can be incredibly helpful during dry periods of creativity. Use that force to drive through the dry periods and push on toward creating. It truly helps.
If you are some type of creative and are reading this, I'd love to hear from you! What type of art/creative work do you do? What is it that inspires you and motivates you to success? I'd love to continue the conversation, because I believe it's of lasting importance and is a conversation so often missed!
To wrap up this post, I'm going to share one of my favorite quotes about creativity from the great playwright Oscar Wilde...
“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
Keep creating, friends.