In my senior year of High School, I had an interesting conversation with two close friends about songwriting. The question was Do you share your songs with others or do you just keep it to yourself? I was in the minority opinion. I thought Of course you should share it with others. Why wouldn’t you? They had a compelling response. But songwriting is a beautiful experience on its own. I don’t need to release it. This is actually a very good point. Songwriting, like any form of creation is already valuable.
You don't need to release, in order to be "good enough".
Creation is inherently valuable. A song is not any less well-crafted if it isn’t a “hit”. A poem isn’t any less impactful if it’s buried in a dusty forgotten book.
We should create for creation’s sake. Because it’s in our bones and it makes life worth living.
It is self-expression, even if the only person you are expressing yourself to is your self.
These words are important and I don’t want to lose them, but I don’t think that they are telling the whole story. I can respect this perspective. I can’t say that I am entirely convinced that it is wrong but I can confidently that releasing is a vital part of Creativity, and we lose so much if we neglect it.
Consider the Cost
In The Two Towers, Pippin and Merry plead with the ents to join them in battle to protect the world from the dark forces of Sauron. But the ents are pacifists to a fault. This is a matter for humans to deal with, not for ents. In the Peter Jackson movie version, Merry cries out in futile desperation:
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But you’re a part of this world! Aren’t you?
But the ents didn’t change there minds. That is, until tragedy struck. They finally changed their minds when the war hit their own home, and they lost their loved ones.
I hope this point is not overly dramatic. For most of us, most of the time, this is not a life or death question for us. Should I release or not? It’s up to you. But I think Merry’s question is important. Aren’t you a part of this world? Is the world truly better off without your contribution?
Regardless of your choice, you live in this same world as everyone else. The world is going to influence you, whether or not you influence it right back. And everyone everywhere is expressing themselves whether they want to or not. All our actions are self-expression. Even not doing something, is a form of self-expression.1 So shouldn’t we express something worth expressing?
Don’t forget this. The world will continue to move, with or without your input. But you do have input. Yes, you. Even if you live in a hateful, corrupt, prejudiced society. Even the most oppressive society can’t take away your thoughts. History is filled with small “nobodies” who made a big difference. It may be difficult, you may have to fight for it like you’ve never fought before, but you are a part of this world. So please, don’t deprive the world of your contribution, whatever it may be.
Feedback
The world is missing out on you, but you are missing out on the world. Think of all the invaluable feedback that you are missing out on. Nothing is created in a vacuum. The world moves us, and in return, we create and move the world right back. When this cycle continues back and forth, magic happens.
Consider Your Motivations
This next part may seem cold, but please hear me out. Consider your motivations. Why, do you think it is better to keep your creativity to yourself? Why should you choose not to release? I think it’s important that we consider if our motivations are legitimate:
- It’s not ready yet.
- The world is not ready for this yet. There are perfectly legitimate reasons not to release something. Certainly some things shouldn’t be release yet, and perhaps, some things shouldn’t be released ever2. But all too often, we use legitimate reasons to cover up our illegitimate reasons:
- What if they don’t like it?
- What if they reject me?
- What if I offend someone?
- …the truth is I’m scared.
It’s scary to release your creations.
Footnotes
Footnotes
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Often times it’s the things that we don’t do that say far more about us than the things that we do. ↩
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Dr. Seuss is a fascinating case study. He of course is known for his children’s books, but did you know that he was an avid painter. Interestingly, he chose not to release his paintings publicly during his life time. And I think he did so for a perfectly legitimate reason. His paintings deal with more adult themes. He feared that his paintings would detract from his children’s books. Likewise, his fame as a children’s book author would certainly detract from his paintings being taken seriously. His paintings have recently been released, long after his death, and I think that they are worth a look. ↩