The modern world is full of creative opportunity and we are living in a time when creators have more control than ever before. The lock-downs we have endured in recent years led to a vast increase in submissions being made to publishers, literary agents and record companies, as people finally found the time to dust off their dreams and indulge their creative tendencies. Add to this the fact that there are now so many ways to just do-it-yourself, and lock-down life generated a society of creative people who were suddenly writing books, starting blogs, creating You Tube channels or setting up recording studios in spare bedrooms. For a time, the therapeutic concept of Free Play was in charge and people embraced it with gusto!
A creative life is something lots of people want. They sit in their office dreaming of writing a novel and working from home as a full time writer or children's author. They want to become a successful Influencer, gleaning all the free products and travel perks that entails. They want to pen heart-wrenching songs based on their own life, inspired by the likes of Taylor Swift and her tear-splattered guitar. And for some people, myself included, the dream of a successful creative life comes true.
However, living a creative life means that you must learn to take the bitter with the sweet, because disappointment and rejection are an unavoidable aspect of the job. In any industry there is always a degree of competitiveness, professional envy, personal jealousy and negativity. The Arts are no exception to this rule and the more successful you become, the more negativity you will have to deal with. When your name becomes known, in any field, in any genre, you will inevitably become something of a target for those disgruntled individuals who think they deserve it more than you do and they may try to tear you down in order to feel that they are leveling up with you.
This can lead to Creative Wounding and such wounds are slow to heal. There is a myriad of ways in which a creative wound can be inflicted. Rejection, sabotage, slander, people stealing your ideas and passing them off as their own, losing a creative contract that you’ve had for a number of years without any warning, plagiarism of your work, a scathing review, thunder-stealing and so on.
Moreover, no-one is immune to the pain of creative wounding, no matter how successful and celebrated they might be. Charles Dickens suffered a creative wound when his novel Martin Chuzzlewit didn’t sell as many copies as he was used to. Kylie Minogue experienced a similar wound when her album Impossible Princess didn’t do as well as expected. More recently Taylor Swift was so visibly creatively wounded by her spat with Kim and Kanye that she felt the need to withdraw from public life for a whole year.
Creative wounds are very real. They inflict pain deep in the psyche and they can even be life-altering. This is because artists and creatives identify themselves so closely with their work, that if the work is rejected, doesn’t sell, has bad reviews or if the work suddenly dries up completely, it feels like a personal attack. Losing an agent, a publisher, a platform, and the income that goes with it, is like losing a limb. It can be that life-altering, that painful and it takes time to heal from such an injury.
Other ways you can suffer from a creative wound is when someone close steals your thunder. That wedding you’ve been planning for months is suddenly upstaged by your sister’s glittering engagement party. Your best friend has a baby before you do, giving it the name you told her you would give your own child, way back when you were both 10 years old and playing with dollies. While you’re busy saving up the fees to do a Masters Degree, your boyfriend suddenly announces he’s going to do one through his workplace, which won’t cost him a penny and ensures that he will graduate before you do, thus subtly trying to keep you in your place. All these are examples of how a creative wound can be inflicted by a thunder thief. Such wounds run deep and life can often pour salt in them when you least expect it, adding to the pain.
So how do you even begin to unpack this and start the healing process? Well, as with most hidden injuries, the first step is to recognize it. Feel the pain and name it for what it is – a creative wound. Acknowledge that you have been deeply wounded and treat yourself gently. Know that you can come back from this, that you can heal and that your creative energy will come back to you when you begin to take steps towards closing the wound. This might mean that you take some time away from your creative outlet and disappear for a while just like Taylor Swift did. Take time out for yourself. Keep a low profile, stay off social media if it helps. Don’t torture yourself by ruminating on the missed opportunity or the lost contract or the rejection. There will be other opportunities for you, and you can come back even stronger, just like Kylie did with Spinning Around.
Another step towards healing a creative wound is to put the sense of wonder back into your creativity again. When creativity is also how you make a living it can sometimes lose its magic, as the pressure to generate enough income to pay the bills takes over, and takes the fun out of it. A creative life should be fun, joyful, vibrant and dynamic. Forget agents, publishers, galleries, editors, producers, music labels and the like for the time being. Create something just for fun. Go into it gently, no pressure. See what you can come up with when you enjoy the process once again, without a deadline looming, without looking over your shoulder watching out for a rival to stab you in the back, or a pal to steal your thunder. Just create. A little bit, every day. Art for Art’s own sake. Just like the Bohemians.
Finally, learn to play your cards much closer to your chest. If you don’t mention what project you’re working on, or what your plans are, no-one else can steal your thunder, steal your ideas, or sabotage your work. If you don’t share details of your professional contacts, no-one else can hang on your coat tails, piggy-back on your success or pitch for the same contract.
Remember that nothing heals a creative wound like a new spate of success and achievement, so keep working on your projects, envisioning the smug moment you'll have when all your new books, albums or paintings come out at once! Spend time daily, proving your enemies wrong, because they cannot sabotage your success in the long term unless you allow them to. Work on your new ventures, but keep the details to yourself until release day. Know that while your enemy might be working on and enjoying the success of their first project, you will soon be enjoying the success of several!
A creative life is lived creatively. Creative wounds are slow to heal, but they do heal and in the meantime you can learn from the experience, deploy a new creative daily routine and enjoy your talents, with no expectation, no rejection, and absolutely no competition! Trust in your talent and the Universe – when the time is right, a golden opportunity will come your way once more, taking you to the next level of success and you will be more than ready for it when it does! Most of all, enjoy the creative process because each thing that you create is helping to heal that old wound and prevent it from festering.
Serene Blessings
Marie Bruce x
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