You Don't Have to be an Artist
Permission to Quit.
You don’t have to be an artist. You might think you do, but you don’t. Nobody needs you to make stuff and put it out into the world. Even if you might be the next Leonardo da Vinci or Joni Mitchell or Meryl Streep if you tried, the world will survive being deprived of your potential.
Before I continue, I want to make clear that this is not meant to discourage anyone from pursuing the artist’s life. If you feel the deep need to make stuff, I beg of you to satisfy that need. Rather, this piece is meant to give permission to quit to anyone who wants it, and to provide relief if you feel trapped in the thinking that you must become some sort of great artist in order to have value.
This piece also isn’t speaking to those who make art purely for enjoyment without the goal of generating income or public acknowledgement, because if it’s purely enjoyable, why would you want permission to quit? Rather, this is aimed at those who wake up every morning with dread and regret that they haven’t yet “written that screenplay” or “tried stand-up comedy” or even those who have done those things but are miserable doing them.
You might not actually want the professional artist’s life. You might want certain side effects of it, whether it be autonomy, attention, or being perceived as “cool,” but the slow, unreliable and tedious process of creating good work that generates income and public acknowledgement isn’t necessarily something you want to engage in.
It’s also worth noting that these side effects can be achieved without being an artist:
Autonomy: get one of the myriad jobs that offer flexible hours or remote work, or start your own business.
Attention: run naked through any city street.
Being perceived as cool: wear sunglasses.
With the rise of social media and the increasing ability to find success without the need of “gatekeepers’” approval, there’s more pressure than ever to create something and be somebody, because hey, it could actually happen. The only thing standing in the way is you.
But while the possibility of finding success as an artist might be greater in the age of social media, the actual steps it takes to find that success are no less difficult. There will never be a shortcut to creating deep meaningful work. More paths may be open now, but they’re all incredibly steep, and you might not actually want to climb any of them.
You may feel uninspired, and you may never create something “brilliant” that gets critical acclaim or results in a big paycheck. It’s all okay. You are still worthy of love. As wonderful as it can be to contribute ideas and feelings through art into the stream of life, if you don’t do this, you aren’t wasting your life or depriving anyone. The world already has everything it needs: the sun, the ocean, the trees, and you. You are a part of this earth and came from its matter. You don’t need to earn a living by being creative in order to belong. Nor do you have to try and be creative at all, because you already are. Creativity is what makes us human. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote in his 1996 book Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, “Without creativity, it would be difficult indeed to distinguish humans from apes.” I guess this is a bit offensive to apes. Sorry. Also yes this quote can be found on page 2 of the book, but I’ve actually read well into page 7!
Humans can harness creativity in our every day choices and actions, like finding an out-of-the box solution to a conflict with a loved one, coming up with a replacement ingredient for something you’re allergic to in a recipe, or figuring out how to clean your plunger without having to actually touch it (I did this yesterday). If we celebrated the creativity in our everyday lives more rather than employing it for our own ego, imagine what kind of world that would be.
Updates
I’ll be at the Albany Funny Bone TONIGHT for one show only! Tickets here.
On October 24th I’m presenting a very special evening of comedy and music in Brooklyn at National Sawdust. I’ll be joined by comedians Kyle Dunnigan, Josh Gondelman, and Jamie Lee, and musicians Chelsea Starbuck Smith, Kate Dreyfuss, and Mitch Lyon. Jokes, songs, string quartet performances, and who knows what else? Come and find out! Tickets here.
In the coming months I’m also coming to: Corvallis OR, Dayton KY, Stanford and Sonoma CA, Washington DC, Royal Oak MI, and Gettysburg PA — All tickets/tour dates can be found at isabelhagen.com
If you want one of my “Imagine I’m Someone Else” black baseball hats (photo below), you can order it on my online store at isabelhagen.com
