Breaking the #1 myth I have about my creative practice
Flow state may be ideal, but remember that creation is labor
What fantasy do you believe about your practice? Do you have a vision for how it should go and get frustrated or become mean to yourself when this vision doesn’t match reality?
The #1 myth I have around my creative practice is that I should always be enjoying myself when I make art. I should be in flow, in “the zone” like in the movie Soul—immersed in my work, bursting with energy, and free of anxious thought.
Flow state is definitely possible, and I have greatly appreciated the times I have been immersed in it! But it’s unrealistic to expect that we can enter this flow state every day at a moment’s notice when we are managing so many different emotions and life complexities, not only about our art but outside of it as well.
The funny thing is, an artist making their work will often look like they’re in flow to the outside eye. This is especially true when you see the process of an artwork through beautifully condensed videos and reels. Everything about the practice looks beautiful, without struggle or doubt. Often this curation makes us feel worse about our own messy mistakes, our bodies contorted into balls of stress while trying to work through a problem or salvage a piece.
What’s helped me break the myth of needing to always enjoy my practice is the reminder that creation is labor. You are making something from what was previously nothing! You are bringing your work into existence. No one would fault a mother birthing a child for experiencing messy feelings and all sorts of pain during labor (I hope). Flow state and joy may be an ideal state, but should it be the metric we measure our creation upon?
What matters is that you showed up, despite the chaos of your feelings and thoughts, and created something. Some of those days felt great, others not so much. Maybe all of it felt terrible. But you did it—you made the thing. And you will make more.
I had a fun illustration assignment last weekend for
's latest issue, "Parenting Advice from Child-Free New Yorkers". All the sketchbook drawing I've done in NYC parks really came in handy for this one!The serendipitous collaboration came by way of Notes, Substack’s answer to Twitter. Hello and welcome to any new subscribers who found me through there!
Relating the creative process to labor/delivery is such a helpful image for me! Thanks for sharing.
I love this - a good reminder! I think flow state only exists because the rest of the time the creative process is so grueling and messy and ugly.