What Four Days Learning About Trauma Taught Me About Creativity

What if the thing that you keep calling procrastination, lack of confidence or self-sabotage isn’t quite what you think it is? What if one part of you desperately wants the exhibition, the opportunity, or success, while another part is trying just as hard to keep you safe? And what happens to our creativity when we’re also carrying grief, uncertainty, difficult relationships, and everything that’s happened to us before, as well as everything happening in the world around us right now?

I recently spent four days in Oxford thinking exactly about these questions at a conference on trauma, healing the mind, the body, and the spirit. I came home thinking how much of this connects to the challenges that I see creatives wrestling with every single day. 

So, in this episode, I want to talk about agency - the different parts of ourselves that can want completely contradictory things; grief and trust; how we protect our attention without turning away from the world; why spirituality is still a dirty word in the art world; and why the problem that you think you might need to solve might only be the visible part of something much bigger.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

If you’re procrastinating, stuck on pricing, or avoiding galleries, it may not be a simple confidence problem. The visible snag could be connected to exhaustion, grief, old hurts, or the conditions you’re working in.

Your creative block may be tied to loss, not just bereavement. Maybe losing a community, security, or the person you thought you’d become. Naming what you’re grieving can help make sense of what feels stuck.

You can care about what’s happening in the world without taking in every update. Managing your inputs isn't indifference - it enables you to remain present and useful for longer.

Agency doesn’t mean carrying the whole art world on your shoulders. Agency is saying this isn't all within your control, so let's identify what is.

You don’t have to become fearless to make work or put yourself out there. Confidence can mean taking a step without knowing how it’ll go and trusting yourself to meet what comes next.

BEST MOMENTS

"The bit of you that's frightened doesn't disappear because you tell it to be quiet. It just keeps tapping you on the shoulder, and sometimes it gets even louder.”

“Sometimes, what we're grieving is a version of ourselves.”