Sometimes I feel as though college is more stressful for creatives than it is for other majors. Most STEM majors feel at ease about finding a job in a economic climate that weighs so heavily in their favor. But for the liberal arts kids– we’re often at a loss. What in the world are we going to do with a degree that most people scoff at? How will we make our mark while also making a living? How will we manage it all? Don’t worry, I’m right there with you. Let me remind you why you chose this in the first place.
When we consider our hand in the work we choose to create– and keep that word in mind, that notion of choice– we often speak of being compelled to create, of being ‘called’, as it were, to conquer our artistry in whichever medium we like. And there are so many, many mediums– from artistic measures to poetic endeavors to visual interpretations– that it can often prove more difficult to pick which one might best express all the magic we hold inside. All that can be said, rather, is that it comes from within. The work, the art, whatever it is one chooses to bring into this world of its own accord– it is completely and utterly our own. That being said, it takes effort to succeed in such an arena, as it takes so much out of us to do and to do well. To be a creative is to defeat one’s ennui, to become one with our thoughts, to pull out our own souls and hang them to dry like wet laundry, to watch what is left drift softly in the wind as it takes shape. There are many forms that a creative can take, but still a few realities and identities that they all share.
So, for all my writers, my artists, my “huddled masses yearning to be free”, I plead with you: you are unstoppable. You are so much more than you think yourself to be, and there is so much more still that you will become. You have something valuable to contribute to the world at large. Do not dismiss your own voice. Leave all shame and self-doubt at the door– it does not belong here, or anywhere, and you would do best to leave it far behind you. Let your words tame the fires of your soul, and let your artwork sustain the chaos of your mind. Allow yourself the space to be. Speak your truth. And lastly, let yourself go.
