The hardest thing about creative work

I should be devastated, the feedback was raw and direct, but my skin has grown thick. On some level, every creative person is waiting for someone to tell us we are rubbish, waiting for the day that someone calls us out for the fraud that we are. But we are also egotistical, so I had to suppress my need to explain every single decision that was made in a condescending tone.

Creative work is never simple. By its very nature it demands a new effort from us — not once, not twice, but every time. Creatives by our nature:

Give it our all every time.
Challenge our assumptions every time.
Question our abilities every time.
Learn and become someone new every time.

Creative work craves approval and recognition but creatives rarely look for someone to like their work instead they would rather someone understand their passion and dedication. Compliments are brushed aside or offered to the gods of luck. It was simply a fluke.

Creative work requires a degree of separation that we are often so unable to maintain and as result we have learnt to be comfortable in euphoric highs and crushing lows. But with each and every low, we get a little stronger, learn something new or maybe we just become a little more tainted.

However the hardest thing about creative work is that as you grow and become more knowledgeable and more capable each creative will move their own goal posts. Each time we will set the bar a little higher, knowing that it will be a struggle to achieve this new mountain we have created for ourselves. We know that it is unlikely that we will achieve our desired outcome, but it does not mean we have failed. Creative work will tire you but it will also continue to inspire you.