About this episode
Creatives, I’m looking at you. In today’s episode, I walk you through exactly how I lost my creative spark in the Internet’s sea of opinions and how I got it back. When did we forget that art is supposed to make us clutch our pearls? And how do we remember? If you want to stop praying to the altar of the comment section, this episode is for you. We’ll walk through 4 things that helped me start making chewy, brave art again. You owe it to yourself to stop sanitizing your art. This episode is a messy, raw field guide on how to do that—from another creative climbing out of the same boat. 00:00 Intro 02:09 Preorder MAKE BELIEVE! Let’s hang on tour! 02:44 Are vulnerability and nuance needed for good art? 03:13 Did video kill the radio star? Will IG poetry kill literary poetry? 04:04 Taylor Swift’s quill, fountain pen, glitter gel pen buckets of art 04:40 Sugarcoated self love: helpful or hurtful? 05:28 Should we think about the audience when we make art? 05:42 Rick Rubin & “the audience eats last” 06:20 Is social media tainting our intentions as artists? 08:13 Art as an offering vs. art as an outlet 08:33 How to gut your art of meaning 09:20 My own experience navigating this, good and bad 11:47 Should artists care about views and engagement? 12:27 Microwaving our art to keep pace with the algorithm 13:52 Having no haters is not a badge of honor 14:45 “Bad takes” vs “good takes” and the erasure of nuance 15:10 Moral imposter syndrome and curated vulnerability 16:55 The big, messy mistakes we don’t hear about 17:33 Stop sanitizing your art 17:57 Ellen Bass & art that makes you clutch your pearls 18:31 Relax by Ellen Bass 19:11 Art for likes versus art for thought 19:36 So how do we take our brains back? 19:59 Break - with a big surprise! 23:47 4 ways to take our creative spark back 23:57 1. Notice the voices in your head 24:57 2. Temper vulnerability with respect for your privacy 26:07 3. Create art with urgency 26:21 A Little Life & commodified art vs art for art’s sake 28:42 Mary Oliver on getting distracted from your art 30:55 4. Get off your phone 32:00 How to start a fire, literally & creatively 33:57 Your art misses you 35:34 I ♡ your thoughts 36:27 Challenge: make something scary this week 37:14 You are not out of good ideas MY LINKS Preorder my poetry book MAKE BELIEVE from Blue Willow to get a free poem print and a personalized signed copy Preorder MAKE BELIEVE from Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and more Let’s hang on tour!! Get the Believe Again yoga flow, guided meditation and mini-journal bundle free when you preorder MAKE BELIEVE! Join me in Bali June 1-7! Find me @thedailyvictorian on Instagram Find me @thedailyvictorian on TikTok EPISODE LINKS Joy Sullivan’s poetry masterclass - brought up so much thought and a big breakthrough for me. Dives into what it means to make vulnerable, surprising art. Taylor Swift accepting Songwriter-Artist of the Decade at the Nashville Songwriter Awards , discussing her quill, fountain pen and glitter gel pen lyric categories The Creative Act by Rick Rubin and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert - two of my favorite books on the creative process, both talked about in this episode Relax by Ellen Bass - one of my many favorite poems by Ellen Bass, who IMO is the blueprint for writing gutsy, gritty poems. Could not recommend her books Like a Begger, Mules of Love, and Indigo more. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara - the novel with the passage I read about commodified art vs art for art’s sake. Upstream by Mary Oliver - the book with the passage I read about getting distracted. If you need a reminder of the cost of hiding from your truth, read chapter 3.