Five years ago, I was at a crossroads. I had recently stepped down from an arts organization I co-founded and was at a bit of a loss for what would be the next step in my life. As someone who spent her life in an eternal state of planning - strategic planning, program planning, budget planning, life planning – It felt odd to not have a plan. I felt nervous, unsure, and like I was floating aimlessly.

But then I remembered art. Making things, whether paintings, drawings, doodles, collages, stories, or films had always been my place of comfort. Ironically running an arts organization gave me very limited time to work on my own art. So I pulled out some art materials that had been collecting dust in a drawer and just made stuff for no other reason than pure enjoyment and feeling like it was the thing that kept me buoyed in that endless sea.

The beauty of letting your creativity run free when you are feeling stuck is that this can sometimes lead to other creative breakthroughs. After I created a personal website to promote myself as a consultant as I explored what my next step would be career-wise, I decided to return to something I had wanted to do for a long time. I had the idea for a book, but, for years, I had been so busy with the daily grind of managing a nonprofit that I had little time to make much headway beyond a table of contents and the first paragraph of the first chapter.

So I began to write again. I built on many of the ideas that had been swimming in the back of my mind for years about how creative people could navigate the ups and downs of the process. That led to this blog, my first public writing about creative resilience. 

The Creative Resilience blog began five years ago. That led to a book by the same name which was published a year ago. Along the way, my idea of what it means to be resilient has evolved. While my writing is aimed at artists – the aspiring, the emerging, the established, the consistent, the inconsistent, the doers, the dabblers, the dilettantes – I think that some of what I have explored is as relevant to those who don’t consider themselves artists. And maybe some of us need to revisit resilience at this moment. Here are some elements of resilience I’ve been thinking about lately.

Don’t go it alone. Sometimes when we feel unmotivated, stuck, or bogged down by other things going on in our lives or the larger world, our natural inclination may be to detach from that world. The idea of the “lone wolf” has a certain mystique, the idea that one can be truly independent without a need for others. The reality is this is a bit of a myth for both wolves and artists. Yes, solitude can be restorative, especially for those of us who lean more introverted. Ultimately though we may struggle if we try to go it completely alone. At times when we face setbacks, connecting to community is important. This can take many forms. It could be as simple as going out to interact with creativity in some way – visiting a museum or gallery, seeing a play, concert, or poetry reading. Even if you do this alone, you are still among people and there is still something magical about experiencing art with others. If you can find an experience that includes an interactive element - a Q&A or artist talk,  an opportunity to mix and mingle with others in attendance, that is a way of building on the creative experience. If you want something even more active, consider something where you can make art in the company of others - taking a painting or improv class or participating in an open mic night. If an arts organization in your discipline is hosting an event that incorporates networking or workshopping works-in-progress, go. Or if you have a friend or colleague who is also making art, get together. Even if you connect with just one other person, it could be a catalyst for coming out of your funk and moving forward.

Don’t sleep on rest. I had big plans during Thanksgiving weekend. With simple family responsibilities and 4 ½ days off, this was to be a time to get things done and make progress on some projects. Guess what? I didn’t do ¾ of the things on my list. My body decided instead it needed some rest. If you are like me, this can sometimes feel like giving in to laziness, but actually it is a time for rejuvenation and reflection. I read. I napped. I watched TV. I met up with some friends. I worked on this blog. I made some lists of small achievable goals to get done another time. I let myself reset after what has been a very busy few months. One of my favorite quotes from Alex Soojung-Kim Pang’s book Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less reframes rest as an essential tool in our practice, “We have “a tendency to focus on focused work, to assume that the road to greater creativity is paved by life hacks, propped up by eccentric habits, or smoothed by Adderall or LSD. “This is how we’ve come to believe that world-class performance comes after 10,000 hours of practice. But that’s wrong. It comes after 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, 12,500 hours of deliberate rest, and 30,000 hours of sleep.” 

Choose joy. In researching and writing about creative resilience, I asked many artists I talked to why they make art. For many, it was not a choice. They had felt the call to be artists their whole lives. Whether they made art full-time or part-time, they still found a profound need to make their art. Yes, the creative process can be full of challenges - not only the costs of time, tools, and toil, but unanticipated setbacks of creative blocks, self-confidence, or life getting in the way. Yet one of the keys to resilience is to return to what calls you to it. The joy of beginning, learning, making, and sharing. Sometimes, when we are in the thick of the challenges, we need to remind ourselves that art is ultimately about joy. Let joy be that buoy.

Resistance is a key element of resilience. How many times have been told something isn’t possible? Or feel like those around you are not supporting you in your creative pursuits. That can be a source of motivation when you decide to make art anyway. We may also face obstacles in making art that seem insurmountable. Yet sometimes those obstacles end up being blessings in disguise, forcing us to be even more creative in figuring out alternative solutions. We also don’t exist independently of what is happening in the world around us. When the news of the day feels overwhelming or depressing, I always look to the artists because they are not only tuned in to the human condition, but also have the skills to keep moving forward in spite of the obstacles. If you need a dose of inspiration, check out the video below of the late folk musician Len Chandler singing his beautiful 1964 song Keep on Keepin’ On and reflect on the meaning of these powerful lyrics:

One ship sails east and the other sails west
While the very same breezes blow
It's the set of the sail and not the gale
That bids them where to go

As we come to the close of another year, may you find the set of your own sail on your creative pursuits.  

If you stumbled upon this blog entry on the Internet or got it from someone else forwarding you a link, please consider signing up for Erica Ginsberg’s mailing list so that you will get the next entry in the Creative Resilience series right to your Inbox.