1. The danger of creativity
Today, an unusual topic. The danger of creativity for the artist himself. Yes, the creative life is dangerous. Creative work can lead the unsuspecting wanderer down paths he would have been better off never entering.
The golden path that leads to the glittering world of self-aggrandizement, a world where you are the only god and everyone else is incapable of recognizing your unique genius.
It can be a dark path that leads you deeper and deeper into the gray night of hopelessness. A fog that envelops everything, you, your future, and ultimately the path itself.
It can be a path of no return. A path that leads in only one direction, with no turnoffs. A path you walk alone until you disappear into silent solitude.
The most dangerous path is the one that slowly and imperceptibly eats away at your energy until you have to stop because you can no longer go on. You are now just a shell, a shadow of your former self. Hope? Long gone. Energy? Used up. Creativity? No longer there. This is the end. And only now, at the very end, do you ask yourself whether it was worth taking this path.
2. Who are you? Artist or human being?
The core problem is that some artists define themselves solely through their work. You sell a painting? Then you are valuable, your life has meaning. You get the movie role? Then, and only then, do you feel alive. Your books sell well? Then your life has meaning.
That is the artist’s mistake. You are not the art itself, you are not the product of your creativity. Your value as a human being does not depend on whether your last song was a hit.
If you define yourself solely through art, then every artistic defeat is also a human defeat. You will never be able to control how the public reacts to your art. If your life is your art, then that means nothing other than that you no longer have control over your own life. You are just a plaything of the public, controlled by others, manipulated by others. Helpless in your own life. Maybe your art has value, but you yourself no longer have any value.
No wonder that with these prospects, many artists slip into depression. Who wants to live their life without control? Who wants to be helpless, at the mercy of an anonymous audience? The critic, the publisher.
3. They took your story
In recent weeks, I have spent many hours on websites and forums looking for artists and collaborators. Perhaps it is a curse of the internet or perhaps a blessing, but in any case, it is possible for artists to talk anonymously online about their problems. About their fear of the future. About the only important question: What will happen to me next?
Someone writes that they haven’t had a job since last year. Someone writes that they are no longer successful at auditions, they don’t even get rejections anymore. Someone writes that they invested 15, 20 years to work in the film business, now they have to admit to themselves that they have achieved nothing. A lousy side job to survive, debts, and no real prospects for the future.
And so, after many days, a picture slowly emerges: artists who gave everything, everything for a dream. The dream is shattered. And this dream took even more from you, or rather, you allowed this dream to take it from you: you lost your own story.
You feel empty—you have lost your story. That is the reason why you are unhappy, why you are prone to depression. You have no story for yourself that would give your life meaning.
You are not your art. Art is not you.
You have your own life, outside of art. You have a story outside of art.Maybe your dream took your story away, but it’s time to get your story back.
4. What is your story?
We tell each other stories because stories have meaning, they are exciting. People who pursue a goal. Goals that are worth fighting for.
Yes, you should live your art, but you should also live your life.
Let’s try it together: What is YOUR story? What is the MEANING in your life? What is the GOAL in your life? What do you reward yourself for in your life? What do you hope for, what do you cry about, what makes you laugh?
Your life should be like a story. Exciting, thrilling, with ups and downs. Tell yourself your story. Invent your story.
Create the story of your life. Art is part of it. But you are so much more.
There is art. But there is also family, friends, adventure, the incredible life that surrounds you.
It’s your story. And as I often say:
Make something of it. Make something great of it!
