I read a superb piece by Joanna Pieters this morning: Creators, We Need Your Strength Today, written in response to the US election.
‘As a creator, your voice has never been more important,’ she says. ‘You have energy that the world needs, right now.’
I recommend a read.
It got me thinking about creativity more broadly, and particularly in the context of writing and business. I was running shortly after reading Joanna’s piece and idly wondering what might be the best app for tracking runs on an Apple Watch [ooh look, a Christmas present hint] when it struck me that I hadn’t even stopped to ask whether there WAS a running app for the Apple watch. Of course there is, in fact there are several – there’s an app for everything. If there’s something you want to do online, the chances are that someone else has identified that ‘need’ and coded a solution.
It’s an exciting time to be a creative or an entrepreneur, but it can feel disheartening too.
Sometimes it can feel that every point has been made, every story told, every metaphor explored, every new product idea launched. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had a new insight or idea and discovered someone else there before me when I turned to Google.
But Joanna’s piece is a good reminder that creativity is a group effort, and there’s not only room for every single individual’s contribution, there’s a real need for it too. It serves our world and it serves us too. Don’t focus on originality at all costs, focus on bringing your unique creative vision to the day job, day after day.
She urges creatives to ‘Be brave. Be strong. Be practical.’
It’s a great mantra for entrepreneurs too.