On the Pain of Creativity

Artists are a different breed.  We are driven to create, but there is an emotional toll to pay.  Always on the line is our insecurity about whether what we do has merit.  I know it's like that for me and for many artists who are honest enough to voice it.  Whether you are a visual artist, musician, actor, dancer, or writer, whatever your artistic discipline, the emotional element of what we do can be a driving force, or can actually be a hindrance to our own success.  Fear of failure, I tell you, can be immobilizing.  I guess that's why the image of the slightly insane, self-destructive artist is so pervasive, and there are so many examples to site.  Whether imploding or exploding, the creative energy needed to do what we do can be fuel or fodder.  And with today's up to the minute social media ready to record and disseminate every misstep or misdeed, there's nowhere to hide.  It's vital that artists support and encourage each other, because it's only other artists who truly understand and appreciate the pains of "birthing" our creations.  Collectively we enhance life not only for ourselves in the act of creating something we can be truly satisfied with, but for our larger community, we enhance the living experience through our toil by producing something others can relate to and in this act, reflect back our collective humanity.