For Creatives: A Lesson in Creative Resilience
I took this photo a few weeks ago, and in many ways, it inspired this blog post. The sky is a wondrous image of creative resilience.
It keeps on going, at its own pace.
Becoming a resilient creative is all about your ability to bounce back with love and grace and find your footing when life squeezes lemons in your eyes, horrible visual, right? But really, how do you find your footing and reestablish your vision when your eyes are hurting and everything looks blurry?
I have found the answer to be simpler than you may think:
When my paternal Grandma passed away in 2020, I was in the middle of editing my first book. Within 24 hours' notice, I was on a plane from Atlanta to London to say goodbye to my last living grandparent, who taught me so much about resilience just through the life she lived. My whole life paused for several months as I worked through a plethora of emotions I had yet to feel as an adult. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to continue editing my book; my eyes were still blurry, but I knew I needed an outlet to bring me joy in the midst of my sorrow.
So I stepped outside and explored more of London–my home. I spent more time with my family and friends, I cooked more, and I chose to be present and plant my feet where they were so that I could feed my soul and nurse my heart back to health.
I gave myself the opportunity to create in a new way.
I shared memories of my Grandma on social media, wrote words in my journal, took a few short solo trips to process my emotions, and sent voice messages to friends who gave space to my desire to keep my Grandma’s memory alive. I allowed myself to put a comma where my pain could have easily placed a period. I knew I would get back to my book, but I also knew I needed to first get back to me.
Creative resilience requires us to first acknowledge why we give up when challenges arise. Why do some life experiences feel impossible to move through while others feel like the atmosphere necessary to produce our greatest work?
Writing is my art form. Writing has felt like home for as long as I can remember. From writing in my journal and blog to publishing my first book, I’ve always had a soft spot for words and the beauty of piecing them together to evoke change, inspire growth, and provide others with the written tools necessary to create the life they were created for.
But some seasons have silenced my words, crushed my soul, and left me speechless. It is often in these quiet moments that I am challenged and called to find deeper meaning in my work and dispel the belief that creativity is only ever good enough when it is colorful, shiny, and available to the whole world to consume.
When I wrote that we must first acknowledge why we give up when challenges arise, I want to clarify something here: I am not speaking of the inner need to pause our work to recenter and replenish the areas of ourselves that need it most. I am speaking specifically to the common misconception that our creativity is only meaningful when consumed by others within a particular time frame. This misconception causes us to only create once we are ready to share our work with an audience.
It’s okay to create *just for you* for a season.
When challenges arise in my daily life, I don’t always have the words to share with my email community, but I may have the words to share in my journal, which may or may not later be shared with others. And if I am the only one to read the words I wrote yesterday in my journal, that should be enough, and this is not a selfish act. It is a liberating one. It is a reminder that you shouldn’t block your stream of creativity because it isn’t seen and validated by others at all times.
Creating is a part of your being and shouldn’t be contingent on who gets to experience it. Sometimes, you are the only recipient of your art, and sometimes, that is the medicine your soul needs to heal from life's challenges and reestablish your vision.
So, embrace peace in seasons of pause and give yourself permission to create in a new way.
Replenish your mind, body, and spirit when need be.
Create just for you, too.
Know that you are still a creative, even if the world isn’t always consuming your art.
Shandice xo
Ps: Here’s a reflective journaling question: How can I embrace creative resilience in challenging seasons?
I write a monthly newsletter for purposeful creatives, sign up here.
