What about amateur creatives?

In the old days, if you wanted to hear music, you needed your very accomplished daughter to play the pianoforte for the room.  If you wanted a pretty bowl, you needed to buy one from a local artisan.  People told stories around the fire.  For most of human history, the amateur artist or artisan neighbor made and played a huge percentage of the art, music and stories that we consumed.

In modern times, we have access to perfect music at the touch of a button.  Fancy cameras live in our pocket and we can always take an exact image of things we’d like to capture.  We can see high quality master-level artwork on the internet any time we feel like it.  It means that we don’t need the friend who knows how to draw or the neighbor who can sing beautifully to bring art into our lives.

If we decide that making and creating art or music adds value to our life, taking that first step can be daunting.  It is so easy to compare our first baby steps in the field to the master level artwork that surrounds us.   Our taste for beauty and expertise always outpaces what we are able to produce ourselves, especially in the beginning.  If we are going to do the work to practice and create and improve, it’s important to focus on the benefits we get from the process of making art instead of the product.

Humans are a creative animals and our creativity is a reflection of our divine creator.  We need to see the inspiration and fulfillment that comes from the making of our own art, music, and stories.  When we look at current trends around Maker Culture, we see a call back to a world where everyone is involved in creating things and implementing new ideas.  The Maker Movement pushes back against the idea that all things come from factories and large corporations and focuses on everyday people making their ideas a reality.  This is the kind of engagement with creativity that can add color to our lives.

In a world full of professionals, amateur artists need to guard our hearts against getting discouraged by comparison.  Our vision will often outpace our skills in creating something.  We must focus on and soak up the joy found in the creative process.  This intentional savoring of the process can keep us centered on the most important aspect of creativity.  We can also value the fun in sharing what we create with the world.  We can gain inspiration from the work of masters, but only to measure our improvement, not get discouraged with comparison. 

What do you do in your life to engage with creativity?  What kinds of benefits do you get from your creative pursuits?  What elements of the process can you savor to enjoy the journey instead of focusing on the product?