“I’d like to paint but I’m not very creative.”, “I’d like to learn to play the guitar but I am not talented.” I have heard people say this when I tell them I am an artist and poet. I have heard this most of my life, in fact. And it never felt right to me when I heard it; it never felt like an absolute truth.
This is one of the biggest myths that keep people from being creative, especially for artists starting out. Newbie artists have the expectation that their initial efforts should produce the same results as an artist who have been doing their craft for years. They tend to set the bar way too high. And when they don’t meet those unrealistic expectations, they believe that it must be because they were passed up when the “Talent” was issued.
The problem with this binary thinking (all or nothing) is if we believe it, then we delegate creativity to only those who are supposedly the best at it, depriving ourselves (and others) of the joy and rewards that creative expression can bring.
Yes, I agree, there are those who seemed to be born with a natural talent. They produce incredible work with little effort. However, I’d be willing to bet that those are less common than we think. Being born with a talent is not the only way to a creative goal. What makes an artist a master is the willingness to persist despite the challenges and setbacks. There are plenty of examples of artists who struggle with their craft, even after being commercially successful. Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic comes to mind. She openly admits that she has to really work at writing. It doesn’t come easy and yet she stills to write. And if Thomas Edison had given up after a few failed attempts, instead of trying 10,000 times, we may not have had the modern light bulb.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” -Thomas Edison
If we applied the same reasoning to other aspects of our lives, we may seem silly to others. For example, if I said, “I’d like to walk but I am not very talented at it. I don’t have the best runway saunter, so I think I will not walk.”, you’d think I was a bit off. When a baby learns to walk, they try and fail hundreds of times. They get frustrated and cry but they keep trying until they eventually walk. They first must master standing before they can walk. Once they have learned to walk, then they can master running. It’s all about taking baby steps when you are first starting out.
Another myth that people hold dear is if they are not talented in one area, then they are not creative in any other area. “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.” is a common motto people will adopt. If you have really tried to master one art form and it hasn’t panned out like you have wanted, then maybe you haven’t found the right venue for you creative expression. Give it a go somewhere else.
For me, I have drawn and painted since I was a child. I even got a BA in Art. I have gotten into shows, had exhibits and sold my work but I knew that my artwork would not be an overnight success because it wasn’t cutting edge art. I do it because I enjoy it. Later in life I took up writing and poetry. Now I am finding that I have more of an aptitude for and can express my thoughts better with writing than painting. And I have gotten more recognition for my writing and poems than I did for my visual art.
So if you want to be creative, let go of the binary thinking and be open to explore different areas of creative expression. Don’t set the bar so high or set too narrow a goal that you give up before you get started. And when you decide to master a certain art form, then give it lots of time and your all. Do the work to really learn the skills and get support from those who have mastered those skills by studying the masters and taking lessons.
The most important thing is if you love what you do and the process overall, that’s what is what matters. That is what will sustain you to mastering any skill.