On Wednesdays, I share articles related to various aspects of the creative health landscape and at the end of those articles, I share links to other articles you might like. Why? Because other people’s words can provide a different perspective on a similar topic or a similar perspective in a different way. And because I like to do what I can to share the work of others to help move it through the world towards the people who are meant to come across it.
Here are the links I shared in January’s articles with a quote from each one:
On Unfinished Creative Work
From Lesley Riley: “To be creative, one must create. You must begin. Finishing is not as important as beginning. In fact, finishing, in many cases, may not be important at all.”
From Amy Cowen: “The rules we make about what counts in our creative lives are our own. Make your own rules. When it comes to your creative life, you don’t have to follow other people’s rules.”
From La Scarlatte: “Do you experience the same, leaving things because your head isn’t in it, you lose interest in them, or it’s not worth finishing anymore? Do you ever get back to those works of art? Ultimately, it’s all a process; you need it to move forward, so it can never be a bad thing.”
From Andrea Jurjević and Georgia Writers: “I’m teaching myself to relax and see the slow low periods not as a reflection of my worth or a proof of my own inadequacy, but as precisely where I need to be. Mid process. In the mess and uncertainty of it. This is how creativity works. It’s a natural part of it. This is what is supposed to happen. I can relax because I’m on track.”
These links related to unfinished creative work were shared in my article:
Your Incomplete Projects Aren't Random: Where You Stop Tells a Story
Many creative people have a graveyard of unfinished projects. We tend to interpret this as a character flaw: lack of discipline, scattered attention, fear of commitment. But when I look at patterns across years of observing how health shapes creative work, I see something more specific.
On creating with a body in pain …
From anna: “The best creative advice in the world still won’t work if your body is saying “you have to go to sleep, and you have to go to sleep right now.” When your eyes blur the words in front of you, that is not laziness.”
From Philip Yassenoff: “When one is creating, the focus in more outward. The what if’s recede, and ones own spirit and hidden voice is made manifest. Creating can entirely change the meaning of the pain.”
From Sage Garrettson and Sam Dixon: “The slow down of illness sensitized me to the ordinary beauty that might be found in a puddle or pinpricks of light coming through exposed floorboards. I had periods where almost everything was stripped away except for my aesthetic sense, and I remain deeply affected by that experience. The place inside myself from which I create is one that I am in touch with largely because of my experiences of suffering and brokenness.”
These links relate to my article:
Creating Through a Body That Resists: What Your Body Knows About Your Art
The relationship between physical pain and creative medium is more complex than most people realize. It’s not simply a matter of “body limits what I can do.” The body shapes what we make, how we make it, and often, what we discover we never would have found without the constraint.
From Andy Patton at The Rabbit Room: “Creativity might start in the invisible incubator of our minds, but the moment it leaves the boundaries of our brains, the rules change. Collaboration introduces new challenges, fresh obstacles, and unfamiliar dynamics that we can’t solve by simply doubling down on solitary effort.”
From David Garcia: “Don’t wait for perfection. Show drafts to trusted people in your field. The feedback loop is part of the creative process, not a step that comes after.”
From Cesca Centini: “Being part of a scenius is nothing extraordinary. It’s the quiet recognition that our ideas breathe through others, that creation is a dialogue, not a monologue. And perhaps that’s the most comforting truth: we don’t have to carry the weight of beauty alone.”
These links relate to my article:
The Lie of the Garret: Why Isolation Doesn't Make Better Art
The idea of the lone genius persists as one of the most enduring myths in creative culture. We envision the artist tucked away in a garret, the novelist writing in solitude, the visionary making breakthroughs in isolation. This narrative feels romantic and it’s culturally reinforced. It’s also rarely true, and often harmful.
From Raquel Souza: “Here’s something interesting: envy gets a bad rep, but it can actually be a map. It reveals what we care about. What excites us. What we wish we had the courage, time, or clarity to create.”
From Raphael Atlantis: “Part of creating art is to also be a consumer of art, and I feel like often while looking at my peers’ artworks there is a sense of envy or jealousy that starts to sneak up on me. I’ve always felt very ashamed of these feelings, but through speaking about it with other creatives, I’ve realised that it’s something a lot of us experience and might need to shine a light on to bring some peace to those feelings of shame.”
From Kat Mills Martin: “One thing I’ve learned about envy is: it’s probably showing us a part of ourselves that needs attention. My envy highlights my desires, oftentimes ones I didn’t know I had. When I embrace these parts of myself, I don’t feel as much shame and it inspires me to make work rather than fixate on what I’m lacking.”"
And from Nora Logan: “I don’t envy material largesse (at least not with the laser focus I reserve for talent or creativity); I’m not particularly interested in big shiny things or flashy cars. But plop me down in a cinema and show me a good film or ply me with a good book and I’ll froth with envy.”
These links relate to my article:
Your Comparison Targets Aren't Random: What Envy Reveals About Creative Identity
We compare ourselves to specific people for specific reasons. This is worth noticing. We don't measure ourselves against every artist we encounter. We fixate on particular ones, and those particular ones carry information about what we're actually seeking, fearing, or becoming.
There are so many inspiring people writing about so many interesting aspects of health and creativity. Visit these writers and support their work.
Oh my god thank you so much Kathryn!! Sometimes, when writing online, it feels like you’re throwing words at the wall without anyone truly resonating with it. You made my day🫂
Kathryn, Thank you for quoting me in Wise Words. I appreciate your work, so it’s an honor. Philip