Overcoming our nihilistic, uncreative world
Everything is getting blander: creative sectors like music and movies are a shell of themselves, entertainment championed and art mocked. But no one is forcing you to join the circus...
I recently shared some thoughts on the plight of modern creatives. It’s tough out there because of how little our current world values this type of work. Art is on life support, entertainment is championed above all else, even things like ads won’t take risks. But I hold onto crumbs of optimism on the fact that, hopefully soon, deeper work will be valued once again. Everything is cyclical. Anyway, here’s some thoughts on how to nurture a genuinely creative mindset for those interested in such a thing.
Is being creative something that can be taught? That’s a question without a simple yes or no answer. The more I experience in life and grow as an artist and writer the more I try and put into concrete terms what conditions are necessary for the best moments of clarity for doing anything interesting. Creativity may not be able to be taught directly, and our current world seems to outright disdain and discourage it. But what I am getting better at is frequently aligning the circumstances of life which foster the greatest chances for creative expression I find value in, and rising above our broader stuck culture.
Pushing yourself for greater productivity in your art or profession is great and you shouldn’t stop that – but I think we’re all over-optimizing for ‘productivity’ when equally important is putting your life on a path of being a true creative. There isn’t nearly as much value in doing things slightly different than have already been done versus things which are unique to you and finding your own style to iterate on. I’d like to share a few philosophies on life I have that may help you in producing the most creative results. Hopefully this will help you not succumb to the widespread nihilism surrounding us.
Ruthlessly limit your selection of tools to only the most vital
I have found time and time again that the more limited your set of tools is, the more creative and high quality the output will be. Having a limited set of vital tools forces creativity and challenges you to use what you have to produce the desired results. As a byproduct, you’ll get incredibly good with that small set of tools and refine your use of them to a point you can do pretty much anything you like with them. You’ll be far sharper than someone who merely dabbles with a larger set of increasingly baroque products. Everyone posting lists of ‘new AI tools’ etc is very lost here as amateurs obsess over more tools, pros over mastery.
Don’t listen to feedback, keep following your own path
If you are pursuing art for the sake of art, you shouldn’t listen to feedback from others. The problem with asking for feedback is invariably the feedback will be given infused with that person’s preconceived notions of what art should be. And, there is no wrong answer with art, not if you are doing it for yourself. Others will unconsciously push your work in a direction that they see as best. This is done with good intentions, however it is wrong because it actually hurts your internal creativity. Now this is different than sharing your work occasionally on social – by all means share, but I don’t think listening to feedback is a good decision if you want to truly find your own path of creative self-expression. For a long time, I actively asked and listened to feedback on my own music, but now when I share I neither ask nor listen for feedback and I am producing work that I personally enjoy even more. It has really brought the heart back into it for me. I’m also not sharing most of it with the world right now, but I will one day. If you listen to feedback you will be creating entertainment not art.
Having a routine is actually not a bad thing
A lot of people talk about the negativity of having a routine for creativity. I would argue just the opposite – having a routine forces creativity. Routines are positive if they reinforce a healthy, creative consciousness and negative if they destroy that. While breaking your routine once in awhile to force new ways of thinking is good, what if growing/learning/experiencing new things was built into your routine organically. It might not be such a bad thing. The people who get stuck in a monotonous existence and speak negatively about routine have simply not developed one that puts them on a healthy path. Guiderails are good, you need them otherwise you’ll remain pure potential and nothing realized.
Don’t try and be “right”
Some of my best days producing creative material is when I stopped caring if I would produce something which was ‘correct.’ Don’t worry about being right or wrong – just go for it. Your natural output uninhibited by concern for creating something correct or incorrect will always produce creative results. It is unfortunate that institutional education prides itself on being one of those two things. This yes or no programming occurs at a massive detriment to the creativity of modern society. There are limitless paths to achieve creative success. You have to free yourself of this small minded, institutionalized thinking if you want to truly produce something creative.
Imperfection is beautiful
My favorite art is art that is imperfect. Imperfection is human, and sometimes the most creative artists leave mistakes unfixed on purpose. Nature itself is beautifully imperfect but still symmetrical at visible levels. Many try to be so perfect that they scrub away what made their work special in the first place. I have seen this happen to many artists over the years – they become too conscious of their productions. In a world saturated by overproduced, unnaturally perfect, and clean – the unpolished is the most creative and in many cases most inspirational. AI can’t do this like you.
Ignore trends
If you want to be truly creative, you absolutely must ignore trends. Block them out – pay zero attention to them. Trends are the polar opposite of creativity especially in an algo-driven world. In many forms of art (especially music) the masses of artists are following whatever the hot trends set forth are. Then there is the other, smaller group of artists that are pursuing their own path and not really paying attention to external trends in their form of art of choice. There is certainly more money, fame and instant notoriety for following trends, but most of what is popular is hardly creative. Typically the opposite. If you want to make something truly unique trends are irrelevant. Looking inside yourself and forging your own path is where you will discover a greater wealth of creativity than available in any new or in-fashion trend.
Spend a lot of time alone
Personally I love my alone time. When not working, I spend a majority of my time reading, writing music and words, watching lectures, studying philosophy, reading blogs, experiencing different genres of music/forms art, and essentially pursuing a path of curiosity. There’s a rare glimpse into my life for you (I don’t do that often here) – but I’m trying to prove a point. It’s not that I am anti-social, I just find my creativity really starts to open up when I am removed from others and able to have quiet focus for my words or music. It is then and only then I am able to let go and achieve results that I’m happy with.
Don’t watch TV, don’t listen to radio, remove (vapid) elements of popular culture from your life
These things aren’t bad for you in moderation – but I do not believe truly creative individuals spend more than a fleeting amount of time with them. They are great at normalizing your thoughts with the rest of society, and do not foster true internal creativity. Realize everything that you experience, every idea you consume plays a role in shaping your personality, even if at a subconscious level. It is all influence one way or another (may just breed nihilism as it’s so vapid). You are in many ways a product of your experiences and stimulus. In one sentence, your creative output can be thought of simply as a personal interpretation of external stimulus. The best part about this is you get to control the input.
Don’t try and fit into a genre
Actively trying to fit your art or work into a genre is severely limiting and a detriment to its quality, if creativity is desired. Don’t try and write for a genre, don’t try to follow trends within a genre, in fact don’t even consider genre when working. Labeling it in a genre is a necessary evil for people to be able to find your work, and you will probably have to do this – but it shouldn’t be something that crosses your mind when trying to work. Genres, styles and methods don’t matter for creativity and originality.
You’re going to have to take risks
A lot of the above holds most true for independent artists. But I recently read this story in the WSJ and subtext here is the bar has been lowered so far for companies and teams no one should even try to do anything fun or clever, just don't offend anyone, as you're obviously all terrible at your jobs and aren't trusted to do anything remotely interesting or creative.
But, risk (of offending someone, somewhere) is literally the job of creative sectors. Just because a few idiots caused a reputation crisis for their brand over at a certain beer company should not be sufficient reason to chill an entire industry from doing their job. It’s incredibly dystopian, and really ads are the one part of corporate America that should be relatively free from lawyers and HR to do creative work, free of threat from the longhouse. My point with sharing this example is everyone, not just those who write albums or do things independently has lost their way.
Parting thoughts…
In a world over-saturated with ideas and output, learning how to be more creative is essential for producing anything memorable or attributable to you. It probably involves a good amount of looking past or ignoring today’s nihilistic world, which is possible with some work. Spending time to carefully craft a life that encourages your most crafted output inevitably leads to greater levels of inspiration and success in everything you do and greater levels of happiness and motivation. The more I experience, the clearer I see creativity is not like a lightning strike, but more a fire that burns inside those who foster it and nurture the right conditions for it to prosper. Of course, only you will know how to best accomplish this for you personally. But it won’t just happen on its own and requires some conscious effort.
great piece. another thing I've tried to cut down on recently are podcasts. slowly came to realize that they are a Trojan horse to fill your brain with other people's beliefs.
thank you for so cogently articulating what has been floating in my mind like a blinding fog. This crystalizes so much for me.