Creativity Means Risk, and That Takes Courage

As we’ve discussed creativity through several blogs, we’ve touched upon getting out of your comfort zone, just doing the work, ignoring the critics, and so forth. It’s been hinted at; however, now is the time to come out and state it plainly, creativity takes courage. As the French artist, Henri Matisse says, “Another word for creativity is courage.”

Perhaps this kind of courage is not as obvious to some as fighting for what’s right or bungee jumping in Macau, but it’s just as real, just as death-defying; the difference here is this type of courage makes your art real.

But now the question is, is it worth it? Is facing the fear, praying you have support, and dropping an original idea in front of a room full of strangers worth the risk? What is that risk? And the bigger question is, why do it?

The answer is because you have to. If you’re creative, your drive to create is ever-present, and it only grows over time. This need to create is what gets you out of bed, what moves you from moment to moment, and it is how you define yourself in the most private moments. So, yes, it’s worth it. However, that doesn’t make it easy, thus the need for courage. Courage, like creativity, is not an option; it is who you are.

Creative Courage

Courage is defined as doing something that frightens you, having the strength to face pain or grief.

That seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? When talking to artists, they all love what they do. They are full of passion and ideas, shun the nine-to-five world, and work at odd hours in strange places. So, why does that take courage?

That’s the view most people take when it comes to creatives; they love this, have fun, and it’s like playtime. Must be nice just to breeze through life doing what you love, not having a real job. Well, facing that kind of ignorance and judgment every day certainly takes a bit of courage.

But when you look beyond the surface and understand what goes into creating something, a painting, a dance, a play, a creative way to solve problems at work, there is something more significant at the core that the general public doesn’t know. That core is what requires courage.

The core is a molten pool of risk

Think about an office birthday party. Kathie in accounting gets a cake, cards, balloons, and all the attention. She blushes, hunches her shoulders, is shy, and, oh no, now everyone wants her to make a speech. She trembles, fumbles with the front of her blouse, stammers, and makes jokes about not being an actor; maybe Stan, who does shows at the community theater, would be better suited for this. She is nearly paralyzed with embarrassment. Why? It’s just a birthday party; she’s not creating anything, she isn’t being asked to do anything dangerous, she was born, and she is being celebrated.

Most people react the same way Kathie does when the attention is on them, and they haven’t planned on being in the spotlight. Even when the situation is planned, say you have to give a presentation on Friday, you have the whole week to prepare, but you’re still nervous, still fretting over what will go wrong, what to wear, and how you will be judged. At times, the panic factor gets so high you think about faking an illness to get out of it. But you don’t. You show up, prepared and ready, give your presentation, and live. After a week of doubt and panic, you found the courage to do the job.

Now, imagine the feelings you had that week. The fear, doubt, worry, and panic and then mustering the courage to step up and do it. It wasn’t easy, and now it's behind you for at least a year.

Think about living that life every single day. Every time you go to work, every morning when you wake up, every night when you come home, you’re in a constant state of, will I be judged harshly? Will I be accepted? Will I be understood? And each day you rise and do it again, you risk the chance that it won't work this time. This time I will be judged. This time they will see I’m a fraud, an imposter. That’s the creative's life. Every day they rise and step into the molten brew of risk, find the courage to go on, say yes and do it.

The courage for self-exploration

If, as a creative, you’re struggling with courage, where to find it, how to harness it, having courage at all, perhaps now is the time to take a look inside and find out why.

When you were younger, did you have a fantastic idea, a magical thought that was shut down? When you were playing and getting into it with all your creative juices flowing, were you told to act your age? The courage is there in you, but it may take some digging and self-exploration to discover what’s blocking it and allowing you to connect with it completely.

This is another risk, but one that has to be taken if you’re going to have a fully connected and functioning creative life. This risk requires courage. But, you feel a lack of that courage, and now you have to find the courage to look inside and figure out what’s standing in the way of that courage. Feels like a catch-22, doesn’t it?

The truth about creativity is that it's not done once you find the courage. You must find that courage again each time you start a new project. It’s not cumulative; it must be rediscovered and reignited each day. That requires risking every day. Keep that in mind when outsiders say must be nice just to do what you love every day. It is nice, but the cost of that nice is frighteningly high.

The metamorphosis of courage and risk

A lot is going on here, finding courage, blocking out the nay-sayers, and risking every day. At times it will feel insurmountable. You will want to walk away, plug into the “normal” world, and just go about the ham and egger life, no risk, courage on the weekends, and normality during the week. There’s nothing wrong with that life; it is a good life. For some. But not for the creative.

Stepping away is not a bad idea. If the constant risk and mustering of courage feel like there is no payoff, step away for a little bit. Try something else and let the creative life step back for a while. If you’re creative, this time will reinvigorate yourself to the creative life. You’ll learn why you love it and why it is worth the risk and discover the courage to go back and go after it again. But remember, when you return to it, nothing in the creative life has changed, you have changed, but the rules are still the same.

So, yes, you need courage to create. To push through the uncertainty, the self-doubt, the nay-sayers, the risks, and the world that calls what you do easy and childish. On top of that, there are the anxieties, the critics, and the constant rejection. All of that requires enormous amounts of courage. But, when you connect to this courage, challenges become opportunities, risk becomes growth, fear becomes healing, and doubt becomes accomplishments.

Those are the rewards of courage and risk for the creative.