The Truth Is That the Creative Life Isn’t Very Exciting

It is a life defined by the act of fully inhabiting yourself.

It only took 20 years of adult life to work it out, but I can now say that I am living the creative life. What do I mean by that? I think it’s probably different for everyone, but for me, this is what that looks like: I dedicate a portion of each day to my creative work, and I try to the extent that I’m able to pass the rest of my time in ways that are conducive to fostering creative flow.

I didn’t always know there was such a thing as the creative life. As a writer, I saw life in terms of the dichotomy between successful writer vs. still trying to be one. And I was very much on the side of still trying, because I visualized success as having achieved publication. The life of a writer, I imagined, would feel more real and alive than my sad life as a wannabe. There would be events, inspiring friends, possibly travel and interviews involved! 

And possibly there would be, and certainly are for some writers. But I’ve jettisoned my old ideas of what success looks like; I now think being happy and creatively fulfilled is success. And now that I’ve found my happiness and fulfillment in the creative life, I have to laugh at such imaginings. Because the truth of the creative life is that at its heart it really is rather boring, at least viewed from the outside.

Here’s the main of it: I sit down and write today, then I do that same thing tomorrow, then I do that same thing the next day after, then I do that same thing the day after that…. And that’s it. That’s what it’s all about. Some days I come away from writing feeling awesome, but most days I just feel satisfied, not particularly excited. For every day I do feel on top of the world about my project(s), there are more days that I do not.

The creative life is about doing the same thing day after day with patience and persistence. It’s about iterated effort over time, and about understanding and accepting that that’s the sum total of the foundation of a creative life. Regardless of any successes you experience or don’t experience along the way, the creative life is constituted by the quiet act of dedicating yourself once again today to your work. 

There is absolutely no glamour about it.  

That, in fact, is what I love about it. The creative life is a humble thing, and therein lies its beauty. It is a life defined by the act of fully inhabiting yourself. It is what happens when your focus shifts from trying to fulfill external expectations, real or imagined, to the task of expressing your internal, lived experiences into the world in the way that suits your nature. This is what creative practice is about. Not the goals or singular achievements, but the iterated act of being yourself in the best way you know how.