Being a Creative Means Being Vulnerable

He was flawless when it came to performing to just his friends and to himself. The problem came when a third person, a new person, someone who was an expert or just a layman, suddenly came and sat to watch him. He’d forget the lines and simple pronunciations, fumble with words and sometimes stutter too — all out of sheer nervousness.

He loves working in the environment he knows. I guess it came from how he’s been an introvert since he was a kid. Every time he used to meet a new person, he’d be unwaveringly quiet. Slowly, upon observing the other person, their behaviour, the environment around, he’d carefully unfold the true self of his — hyperactive, super excited, just screaming and laughing out loud. The moment he was taken away and into another environment, the process would repeat.

He liked being called a quiet person. No doubt, he used to be observant — of himself and the people around him. But the quietness didn’t quite help him as a creative.

You see, being creative is being vulnerable. You need to put your work out there for people to look at, review, comment, and judge. As long as you paint something in your bedroom, it feels beautiful but the moment you take it away from that room, put it in the display for the public to see — you will feel most vulnerable. And unless you are ready to be vulnerable and make a promise to yourself that you will not shy away from committing mistakes to learn, you’ll never be a creative.