*This post was written in the midst of a pandemic but is still just as relevant today.
Dear Artists,
We’re not going to pretend things are easy or normal right now. Things are hard. Things are sad. Things are very hard to process. As artists, you probably normally process things by creating, right? You put words on paper or get lost in the colors on a canvas or the music coming from your guitar. When words fail you, art usually saves you…usually.
But over the last few months, something strange has been happening to artists. Between a pandemic, isolation, economic uncertainty, racial tensions, friends fighting for their lives, and trying to just do life in the middle of all this…you might have stopped creating. And that might feel weird. You might feel a lot of pressure to create because well, that’s what you’re supposed to do. When things get hard, artists find ways to bring messages of hope and connection to the world, right? When you feel like you can’t breathe or speak you’re supposed to communicate by creating. But…you’re not.
Yes, we see you. We see you trying to process your emotions and trying to make others understand and trying to survive. We see you worrying about the state of the world, and the future, and where the money is going to come from and wondering if it’s really safe to get back out there and who is more safe and who should be extra careful. We see you avoiding your notebook or canvas or piano or yoga mat or ballet barre. We see you not creating…and we forgive you.
You feel like you should be creating right now and it’s killing you that you’re not but honestly, you just can’t…and that’s ok. You want to bring beauty into this world but you can barely get yourself into the world and that’s ok, too. Whatever you’re feeling right now, whatever you’re doing or not going, it’s ok. You will create again when you are ready and you will share your message and it will be beautiful. But for now, if you can’t bring yourself to create…we feel you and we forgive you.
Much love to all the creators who are struggling right now.
Your friends at The Artist’s Umbrella