Ep 38: CREATIVE VULNERABILITY
Why Sharing Your Work Matters
SUMMARY
Discover why creative vulnerability is crucial for artistic growth in this intimate episode of Creativity Made Easy. Host Dustin Pead shares personal experiences and practical strategies for overcoming creative isolation, building meaningful creative relationships, and sharing your work effectively. Perfect for artists, designers, and creative professionals struggling with creative isolation or fear of sharing their work.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
⚡️ Self-editing and fear often stop creatives from sharing potentially valuable ideas - the key is pushing past initial self-doubt to share work with trusted peers.
⚡️ Creating in isolation limits potential - collaborative creativity and community feedback enhance creative output significantly.
⚡️ Building a creative circle and fostering relationships is essential for creative growth and combating creative loneliness.
⚡️ "Vulnerability in creativity, while scary, leads to better work and deeper connections within creative communities.
NOTABLE QUOTES
💬 "What we do in these circles, these creative circles... makes a difference in our work." - Dustin Pead
💬 "Relationships are an important contributor to creative growth. Make certain to carve out time to connect with others who inspire and challenge you." - Todd Henry (quoted in episode)
💬 "I know vulnerability with your creativity can be scary... but trust me the reward far outweighs any fear that may be keeping you from being able to experience that." - Dustin Pead
EPISODE RESOURCES
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TRANSCRIPT
Creative Vulnerability: Why Sharing Your Work Matters
Welcome back everyone to Creativity Made Easy. I'm your host Dustin Pead, Creative Coach and Consultant, and we are here today to talk about something that can be super scary: creative vulnerability.
Introduction
Thanks everyone for joining the program today. I'm so happy to be with you, whether you're watching on YouTube or you're listening as you're driving down the road. You can follow along with me online at dustinpead.com. If anything that I say in any of these episodes rings a bell for you, I would love to chat with you about how I can help make your creativity thrive and make it easier for you to create your best work. You can follow me on social media - Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube - all of it is at Dustin Pead (P-E-A-D).
The Scary Side of Creativity
With Halloween just around the corner, creativity is in abundance in our house right now. But speaking of scary things, as creatives, one of the scariest things for us can be sharing our work and being vulnerable with our creativity. We can tend to hoard it for ourselves and keep quiet about the thoughts and ideas that we have.
Just last week I had an idea that I thought was so crazy and so stupid. I told one of my friends, "This is the dumbest idea I've ever had, but I'm gonna tell you about it right now." His response surprised me - he said it wasn't a dumb idea at all, that he and his wife had been talking about something very similar. Now I'm thinking maybe it's not so dumb after all.
The Problem with Self-Editing
We often stop ourselves in our own minds before we ever even voice an idea. We tend to self-edit, and that stops us from creating our best work. We can keep to ourselves in our own little huddles, but as you've heard me say before, we need to get out. We need to go to:
Art museums
Coffee shops
Cool new restaurants
Fall festivals
We need to go to these places so we can be surrounded by other people and their creativity, spurring each other on to create greater things.
Breaking Out of Creative Silos
We can create in silos too, saying "No one's gonna help me with this project. I'm gonna do it all on my own in the name of myself, my brand." But friends, that can be a scary place to create from. You can create so much better if you don't create in silos, if you're willing to open yourself up and share your creativity.
Learning About Creative Community
I've been learning a ton about loneliness lately. I just finished reading "The Art of Gathering" by Priya Parker - a super detailed work about why and how we gather as humans. I've also been following Liz Bohannon, who's building a beautiful community of people to do life with. If we're honest with ourselves, we all long to have that same type of thing because we need our people.
The Daily Creative Practice
I recently rediscovered Todd Henry's book "The Daily Creative" - it's like a creative devotional, one page a day to spur you on in your creativity. Coincidentally, the day I picked it back up, the reading was titled "Your Circle," discussing how we need our creative circle. As Todd writes: "Relationships are an important contributor to creative growth. Make certain to carve out time to connect with others who inspire and challenge you."
Personal Vulnerability
Just in the last seven days, I had an instance where I really wanted to seclude myself. But I knew what I needed was to be vulnerable enough to text a few people and say, "I want to be alone today but I know it's not the best place for me to be." I did it, and I'm so much better for it - it's been a fresh new wave of creativity ever since.
Call to Action
I know vulnerability with your creativity can be scary. I know that putting yourself out there, sharing your work and your struggles with other people can be frightening, but trust me - the reward far outweighs any fear. How can you be intentional about creative vulnerability this week?
Send the text
Share the thing
Post the blog
Tell your friend the crazy idea
Walk across the street and have a conversation
The world needs your creativity. Get out there, be vulnerable with it, share it with the world, and let's make some beautiful things together.
Looking Ahead
Starting next week, we'll begin releasing podcast episodes in series. During November, we'll focus on creating from a place of gratitude. It's going to be an amazing time as we learn to grow and be creative and vulnerable with each other in our creativity.
Visit dustinpead.com to learn more and connect with Dustin.