Creative Control
Being creative isn't something you do. It's what you are.
For the first half of my life, I thought being exquisitely sensitive was wrong. Other people hoped I'd get over it, so I could be like them. But for the second half of my life, I've realized that the best part of me is my sensitivity, and without it, I'm just another pretty, witty face with a bad back.
Period.
I have worked as an artist and with artists of one kind or another all of my adult life, and I feel confident in saying that a creative person who isn't creating is a threat to society. The frustration can make a person physically and mentally ill.
I believe a writer needs to write. A painter needs to paint. A businessman needs to create a new marketing plan. This is a fact - non-negotiable. It's the truth. Living a stale life is dying.
I use my world of ideas as a cozy, safe place I visit every day, to make my life fuller and richer. As a consultant, it pleases me to help other people do the very same thing. I believe that a person who should be creating, who wants to be creating and isn't, is a time bomb waiting to explode. I've watched my own highs and lows, and I can sure diagnose the reasons for anger and tears very quickly. Am I writing or not? If not, I gentle myself into getting to work and getting through the bad mood.
In addition to the "danger" factor of a creative life lived as a "civilian" who squashes ideas, consider how many gifts we, as the general public, are being denied because someone in Cincinnati should be dancing to"Swan Lake", but is a computer nerd instead, needing a real job with dental benefits.
We all need dentists. Especially those of us who underwrite cute Dr. Ward's summers in Sicily. But being creative means taking risks. Somewhere between the insecurity of "I'd really like to invent this thing" and seeing it successfully launched in the marketplace, there is a moment when you hold your breath and jump into your imagination, letting it rule your life.
That's what creative control is. It's what we all long for and have, as long as we are willing to accept responsibility for it and move ahead.
I've always trusted my imagination to feed, house and clothe and entertain me, get me to yoga on time, find me the right agent, publisher, recording group to do my songs, and especially, the right clients to truly benefit from my input.
My imagination has never let me down. I feel I have control over my creativity, instead of being a victim to it. And as a consultant, I've helped thousands of other creative people - some of whom thought they might be, but weren't sure - find their good and flourish.
I hope you'll let me know when I can help you, too.
Write Well!
© 2024 Molly-Ann Leikin