Living to Create & Creating to Live
We all create for our own reasons, whether for work or pleasure. When I was younger, I saw a dichotomy between artists who worked for pay and artists who created for other reasons. I've realized this is a false dichotomy, that looks at art through the lens of capitalism. Author Sunny Taylor expands on this notion when she describes her experience with the question "Do you sell your art?" She explained that this question positions itself as a "test to see whether my lifestyle and hobby are legitimate."
Now I see the creative process in two ways, when we live to create and when we are creating to live.
Living to Create is when you are inspired to create and follow through on that inspiration. A flash of an idea has you running to capture it with a pen or a brush. The idea may seem like a fever, coming to you fully formed but hot and hazy.
Creating to Live is a state I previously had no name for. Creating to live is when you create because you need to, on a spiritual level. While both styles of creation involve experimentation, when you create to live you are creating for creating's sake. There may be no finished product or canvas; what you create could be "ugly" or "terrible" but when you finish you may feel a lightness, or calm.
Both types of creation can be healing. Both types of creation can be celebrated as valuable and necessary.
I've recently been thinking about the spiritual need to create in life. For the past 6 months, I've painted (almost) every day. At first, I was trying to develop a habit and honestly just learn "how" to paint, now it's my favourite ritual: sitting down to paint one page a day in my sketch book. Read more about how I learned to paint here, from paint swatches to flower scenes.
Let us know your thoughts on this idea of Living to Create and Creating to Live.
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