When you decide to get serious and work consistently on your creative project there will be some people who don’t like it.
- Your friend who’s always been the great procrastinator will be jealous of your efforts. They may be critical of them.
- Your spouse will sometimes take offence when you decide to do your work at the weekend rather than spend time with them.
- Your parents will tell you to look after your job, because that’s the most important thing.
- A friend will ask you why you bother with your creative stuff if you are not making any money at it.
- The host will be disappointed when you say no to a party invite because you need to stay home and work.
- When you don’t chat to your co-workers on the commuter train because you need to write, they will think you are anti-social.
- When you turn down lunch invitations at work because you want to sneak off and do some sketching your colleagues will eventually stop inviting you.
- Your children will be disappointed that you don’t come outside and play with them when you spend a couple of hours locked in your studio on a Saturday afternoon.
- When you are sharing out family responsibilities someone won’t see your creative time as proper work and will expect you to give it up. After all, it’s not like a real job.
These situations are part of the creative life. When you make the choice to have a regular artistic practice then you end up choosing not to do other activities.
This choice is okay. Accept it. It is part of being an artistic.
Negotiate with your friends and family to get some of the time you need as well as spending time with them. Thank them for their support. It isn’t always easy being the spouse or close friend of a writer, an artistic, an actor or a musician.
Praise yourself for what you do achieve. Very often we focus on our shortcomings, what we haven’t done or what we haven’t got time for. Turn this around. Focus on what you have accomplished. Congratulate yourself for the causes and steps that have gradually added up to significant work.
Leading a creative life is very rewarding but it isn’t easy. Sometimes you have to make tough choices. Sometimes you will get those choices right, other times you will get them wrong. All of this is part of life. All of it can be fed into your creativity.
Now I’d like to hear from you
How do you prioritise your creative choices? When have you got it right? When has it gone wrong? How have you managed this?
Next Steps
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