When is it Safe To Share Your Creative Voice?
Have you ever shared something you created? Whoa, it’s scary.
I guess that’s what makes art so beautiful. It’s risky. Creativity carries an inherent sense of vulnerability. Some people won’t get it. They might make fun of us and criticise our efforts. That is always a possibility; nothing would ever get shared if we waited until we were safe. It takes courage and bravery.
But there are ways we can approach creative goals that give them (and our creative voice) a more robust platform from which to grow.
Why Share Our Creativity At All?
Why bother exposing our creative voice if it’s scary, risky, and vulnerable? This is a question I’ve been coming back to throughout my life!
Creativity matters. I’m not always sure why, I just know it does.
Our creative voice is often an expression of some deep and difficult-to-articulate part of life. A truth in us. Of this whole strange experience. Holding it back might feel like we’re keeping something hidden. Not just from others, but from ourselves too.
Most of us intuitively know if we’re hiding something that we want to share but are afraid to. Maybe we say we’re satisfied, but our creative voice is screaming to speak up and be heard (by us, by those close to us, by those who might appreciate the comfort, validation, and support in what we say). Our creativity teaches us who we are and points us towards who we are becoming.
Start Quietly, Keep it Safe
Sharing our creative voice doesn’t need to be a grand head-turning display. On the contrary, as we start any creative journey, we need the security to try, fail, and get things wrong without fear of fallout.
We might find the harshest critic in the mirror during this time. However, learning to hold our voice with respect while not taking ourselves too seriously is critical to finding our creative voice and vision. It will also be a vital tool for the toolbox later.
It can be helpful to distinguish between safety from above and safety from below.
Early on, we might need to protect our voice from too much outside influence and gaze.
It’s scary to play and experiment if you think everyone is watching and judging. It also affects our ability to create honestly and authentically. Creative freedom comes from having the confidence to do messy and cringe-worthy play without fear of early leakage.
During this time, we want safety to fail. We need the security to do ridiculous things and not be judged for them. We don’t want to be worrying about what people will think.
When Creative Protection Ends
There comes a moment when we decide what to do next.
This is an insurmountable wall for some people when perfectionism and procrastination kick in. Twiddling, tweaking, and endless editing can make us feel like we’re still making it good enough, but we’re putting off the decision. Do we share it? Do we keep it for ourselves? Or do we hide it?
Some things are not meant to be shared, and that’s fine. But if we are thinking about hiding, this could be pointing to an inner conflict. Resistance to a deeper desire to share our voice. We might not want to look at that desire, but if we don’t summon the courage to acknowledge it now, we will probably regret it later.
Safety is a Response to Whatever Happens
Protection is the effort to proactively prevent or lessen the chances of harm. Safety is confidence in how we will respond to whatever might hit us once we’re doing it.
If we try to protect our voice after it is out in the world, we could end up smothering it. We might prevent it from reaching people, standing alone, and going where it wants to go.
Like raising a child with unconditional love, the nature of safety evolves as the child develops. The time comes when protection of a helpless baby evolves into the confidence they can have to take risks and deal with the mistakes they might make.
This kind of safety has been eroded in many areas of modern life. We can suffer as a result. We are culturally worse off as individuals and as communities. As such, we hold back so much of the potential beauty bubbling inside people. We play it safe (protect ourselves) for fear of what might happen if we don’t.
Making It Safe For People To Share Their Creative Voice
How can we support one another in creative discovery and expression?
Maybe we find it through compassionately creative clusters, collectives, and communities where there is freedom and safety to create.
If we can build these support structures, we have both protection (nurturing things before the egg is hatched) AND support from below (unconditional backing when the bird leaves the nest).
It’s never truly safe to share our creative voice with the world. But the more isolated and alone we feel, the scarier and riskier it might feel. On the flipside, our confidence can grow when we connect and surround ourselves with creatively supportive spirits.
Creative Strength in Numbers
The Haven is a place of empowering creative safety. There is space to explore, listen, and share your creative voice for those who want to. It’s an invitation to encouragement, support, and inspiration for those who wish to ask questions of their creative voice—living proof that creativity doesn’t require grand displays and massive projects but is an approach to life that can help us better understand ourselves, our desires, and the direction we want to go next.
