Putting Creative Dreams on Hold
We bend toward the light ✨
Everyone is dealt a different deck of cards in life and a lot of incredible humans have been dealt a horrendous and rigged deck. It does us no favors to ignore this. Sometimes circumstances ARE a problem. Sometimes forces bigger than you ARE preventing you from doing things you want to do. Sometimes you’re too bone-tired and beat to see straight let alone optimize and thrive and invest in your “higher self.”
Hustle culture says it’s on you to work harder. Try harder. Try again. Do it a different way. Harder stronger faster! Grit! Toughness! Fight! Persevere! Don’t give up! No excuses! Push push push push. Only you can fix this! You’re either hustling or complaining.
This is false and nearsighted.
Life exists in the gray and we’re not about to stand here and tell you that it’s ok to blame people for their lot in life. It’s a cheap trick to sell books and bad advice. It’s an abdication of responsibility, a form of victim-blaming, and unequivocally untrue.
Some things sincerely quash you. And that is a tragedy.
What people need in those moments is our compassion and action, not our judgment. It’s a moment to listen, not to gaslight.
The people who’ve been forced by life to hit pause say it feels like they’re quitting. A pause is not quitting, we say. But we know what they mean. When you have something inside of you that wants to come out, doing anything else feels like a betrayal. Mostly of yourself.
When that creative energy gets trapped inside of otherwise-decent human beings, it can metastasize into shadow art and that’s how we end up with cruelty. But shadow artists are borne of fear and denial and if you’re forced to put creative ambition on hold, you’re not acting out of fear or denial – you’re trapped in necessity.
That’s good news because the energy isn’t stuck or being held captive, wreaking havoc on your soul, and working itself out on others. It’s still there and - from what we have observed with our own eyes - it finds new ways to apply itself.
Creative folks cannot help but be creative. We bend toward the light. It’s in our blood.
Jamal* (name changed) has been trapped in freelance design work that bores him, so at night he writes music and futzes on the guitar while his kids play in the room next to him.
One of our friends who is “stuck” in an advertising job writes fan fiction during meetings. Another friend who “used to be an actor” reads books to his kids like it’s Broadway Opening Night.
Sophia paints what she calls “bad” art. Aella sings with her kid in her lap. Marcus hosts dance parties in stolen moments when no one is watching, like when he's taking out groceries. Leilani who “used to be a journalist,” writes “silly” poems, but they aren’t silly they’re wonderful. And Kenji, who says he “used to be a writer,” writes thank you cards that will bring you to your knees.
Our creative energy seeps out whether we recognize it or not. And that seeping out makes the world a little bit lighter. And we need all the light.
If you’re someone who’s had to put your dreams, your creative aspirations, and your light on hold – we see you. We hope you know that your existing is enough.
To learn more about Brainstorm Road, what it is, and how to join, click here. For questions, concerns, or to tell us how you bend toward the light ✨, comment below.