Most Creatives Can't "Just Quit"
Artists and writers are easy to take advantage of because they’ll always make art.
Most artists/creatives are struggling right now. They do painstaking work only to be paid in ‘exposure’ and AI theft if anything at all. So why do they still do it? Having coached and been one of them I can tell you- we literally can’t stop. The calling has become the curse. here’s a series of reasons why a lot of creatives can’t ‘just stop’ even if we want to. (Perhaps this is what has made us so easy to exploit!)
Most artists probably just started making art without thinking. Meaning whatever their particular craft is, it is somewhat instinctual. Even if they’ve taken classes and spent years in school developing the skills to be a better artist, entertainer or writer, they probably started on the playground, passing notes in class, etc. I realize now reading Garfield strips as a kid was a great way to learn basic joke structure without being distracted by any punchlines. I dictated stories to my mom. I was writing before I knew what writing was. I’m even doing it now that brain fog has decimated my skill set. Because I can’t stop.
Even though art is instinctive, for many it is also a highly developed a skill honed over painstaking time and effort, a skill that expresses one’s feelings in a healthy way. Some artists also process our feelings creatively. Therefore, to be without your craft is akin to emotional constipation (ew.) If clients or I don’t have the time or energy to even come up with creative ideas, we feel like a piece of our lives is missing. We struggle to find motivation for anything. If you’re creating, even the worst tasks and day jobs can inform creative endeavors. If you’re not, motivation behind all the other tasks we have is harder to come by.
Artists developed a healthy addiction that satisfies our brains so we cannot leave, even though this takes up time and energy. Even if we are no longer under the conditions we developed these skills to survive, they have become part of how we see the world- I actually can’t tell you how many times I’ve convinced a creative person that treating their depression or anxiety won’t make them less creative, and their former coping mechanisms will actually flourish under better conditions (they always do!) Unlike unhealthy addictions, when creativity stops being a coping mechanism it really thrives.
You can literally get nightmares if you leave it be and stop making stuff. I got hit with chronic fatigue (me/cfs) due to covid and other genetic propensities and for a long time I wasn’t creating anything. I could help others create, but I couldn’t do it myself. This is when the nightmares started, and they literally didn’t stop until I began writing each nightmare into film pitches I had no intention of pitching/drafting out. And I had to earnestly write them with as much intention and skill as I could muster under shit mental and physical conditions. I’ve seen clients go through similar. Not necessarily nightmares, but all sorts of cognitive plagues if they stop creating altogether. Said plagues gave us insight into our work together, but they didn’t leave until the client in question was creating again.
If your brain has been torturing you because your life doesn’t serve your creativity, not only do you get priority for my discount slots (since art doesn’t pay shit!) But I can help you build a life that will serve your needs. Where you feel whole again. Where your motivation and passion is redirected back to the artistic journey from whence it came.
