April 15, 2019

The Struggles of Being a “Creative”




Based on personal experiences and after being a complete entire year being so uninspired - as I had mentioned it in my previous post. - I have slowly started to get back in track, and that inspired me to write this post today.

As you may or may not know, I'm a fashion designer, and a ocasional photographer and blogger, surrounded by lots of creatives. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be part of the creative industry, but I just didn't know excatly what I wanted to be; as I grew up, I never imagined I would end up in the fashion industry; and if you know my story, you may know that my blog helped me out to find these interests and passions of mine, ones that I started to discover right after I started blogging, and thanks to it I have had the most amazing opportunities, including brand collaborations I have had in the past that have put my creative thinking to test and thus far, those are my most viewed posts and I'm thankful for it.

I learned and tend to think that everybody is a creative person on their own way but not everything seems or it is that easy, at least not for me and here are the things that I find myself struggling with the most from time to time, so first and foremost...

LACK OF CREATIVITY: One of my main struggles if related to my career as a creative is creativity, it's not something I was born with and it's not something that comes so easy, I really have to go through to a process that sometimes even stresses me out and makes me cry BUT... but, I take my own time to think of something and develop an idea I really love and find so unique that at the same time speaks my name, who I am, etc.

INSPIRATION: I feel like this one goes hand in hand with creativity, to help you out with ideas, do some research and create mood boards to plasm that idea that popped up into your mind in the first place, for everything creative I do, I'm more visual and always opt for images of textures and rarely a very few photos of peoples, etc, just to leave it up to my imagination, depending on said project; and why, here comes part 1 of this topic.

There's a fine line between inspiration and imitation.

And that's so true, I couldn't agree more; I always know my lane when it comes to this, and try my best to stay so away of copying something else from someone else, of course there are things that already exists, like for example a pencil skirt is always going to be a pencil skirt, as a designer you just alter it, add some bonus point and you can come up with something different; although it depends from designer to designer and their own creativity, again everyone is different and not all of us think the same exact way. 

This is like a double-edged sword, and something I'm completely against of and have so much respect for, because whoever does it, it takes lots of courage to do so and claim they did it "first"; just the other day I was discussing with a few girls about this topic and how there are many "IG accounts" similar to theirs, as internet can be a good tool, it can be bad, or let's just say, "influence you in a bad way or so",  nowadays, we consume media, mostly images, I - as a creative - spend hours and hours per day scrolling down on my Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest; and back when I was a University student, I would use Google too, and I have seen it all, well almost everything; in fact I'll never forget this girl that took an image from the internet did some "photoshop" to it and claimed it was her work, when I had seen it while I was scrolling Google images looking for some inspiration to do my homework, and even if there were some mistakes in my own work and didn't get a good grade, this girl somehow did, and I wans't even the only one that noticed it, but when it comes to this, I stay away and say nothing, I want to believe our professor found that out; that's honestly one of the scariest things in my own humble opinion, and like I said, have so much respect for; and like my mom says "that person is lying non to other but themselves". 

On the other hand, there's part 2 of this, and it's that sometimes we can feel so uninspired; and it's  completely okay. I used to worry a lot about it, but like I said I've felt so uninspired for almost a entire year and this has taught me to let it happen and trust in it because I know it won't last long and it's just part  of the process and eventually good ideas and inspiration will come back again, so instead of worrying, I try to focus myself by doing other things, and never but never ever force myself in order to create something as it can been seen as I'm putting so much pressure on me and that can lead me to stress out myself way more, so I avoid it at all costs. 

INSECURITY: This is something I have slowly get better at, but still something I would struggle with the most while being at Uni, I could do my projects, homework, you name it, but I wouldn't feel 100% sure of what I had done and that's because every semester that went by, I would be "hard on myself, and be my own critic", I would hear opinions and constructive criticism from my own professors, and all I could think of is I could of have done better than this, and I would even demand more from myself, no matter what I did, if was never enough and always thought I could have come up with something better, but that was part of a learning process, and like I said, I'm so proud that I have somewhat overcome this and now, I trust and follow my instincts.

But these insecurities didn't came on its own, because they came whenever I would compare my work with others, as a student, you always ask between your classmates, what you did and everyone starts showing their work, and that type of things was something I would see and made me felt like my work was never enough, but an advice for you all is, your work is the best, again everyone is different and we all do not think the same ways, it took me a lot to learn this but finally overcame it. 


Now, that I have shared it all, I'm going to give you some tips to keep in mind next time:

1. Take your time and don't rush, breathe in and out, and don't put so much thinking into an idea, it will come out at some point.

2. Understand that it's okay, to also feel uninspired; when you go through this phase, stay away from anything creative, and instead opt for doing things you usually don't do that often, enjoy that moment and surround yourself with other people, that really can help you in one way or another; for example, I have a friend who is a filmmaker, and even if he makes videos, I always learn something new and get inspired by it. 

3. Don't be insecure like I was, trust yourself always and know that your work is good the way it is. This may be a classic, because now that I think of this, the first thing that came to my mind, is my parents telling me these words whenever I had those type of projects, but like I said it took me a while to realize and learn from it, and now that I have, I want to pass it onto you all. 



Outfits details:

Earrings, top and skirt: stradivarius



Let me know in the comment box below: as a creative yourself, what would you consider are the things you struggle with from time to time? Even as a blogger, you're considered a creative, and if your career is related to the creative industry, I want to know your opinion still. Wishing you all have an amazing day and start of the week! Until next time! xx

25 comments:

  1. I am so, so glad I came across this post, and your blog in general. This is a beautiful peace of writing and I can identify so much with it, especially the insecurity bit. Like you I am slowly working on it!

    - Nyxie

    www.nyxiesnook.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww, that means a lot to me, thank you SO much Nyxie! I'm so beyond happy to know that, and I am glad I'm not the only one that's been through this too. Slowly but surely you'll also get there! Sending lots of love to your way! xx

      Delete
  2. These are good tips! I think it's common with any task to feel motivated and uninspired sometimes! It can be hard to get that inspiration going again, especially in blogging when it seems like so many other people have it all together and are constantly producing content.

    Hope that your week has started well :) It's another busy one here!

    The weekday wear linkup is live on my blog, I'd love you to join! :)

    Away From The Blue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you SO much Mica! Yes, absolutely; and despite of it being common among all tasks asked, it's completely okay to feel that way. I know right, although I understand some have more experience and it's their job to produce content on daily basis, and while I've been here for 7 years, and it's just a side thing, more likely a hobby of mine, I still take my own time and I produce quality-over-quantity content, wishing I could produce more, but at the moment I can't and this is what works best for me so far!

      It really started so well, once again thank you so much! All the best for you! xx

      Delete
  3. Love this post as I can see how honest you are with your opinion on social media and creativity in general. There are times I struggle with it too especially with Instagram as I can feel my effort is futile and not enough in comparison to others. But I learn not to look at other accounts to compare back how I'm going rather to draw and inspiration on how to get better. I still can say blogging is far better than Instagram as it is stand alone and it's where I can write and express my creativity more. Thanks for the thoughts on this, it seems like I'm not the only one.

    www.busyandfab.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you SO much dear! You're not alone and you do right on not to look at other accounts, that's the worst we can do to ourselves. Just like you, my blog is that place where I can just vent and write from the heart and as I write I keep on getting inspired. Instagram is just an app, something I have for 'personal' use but that I have stopped using that often somehow, I'm tired of the same similarities of feeds/ig accounts, tired of seeing the same things and it gets so hard to engage with my followers, but on my blog, I get to interact and even if it may seem like it's a dead community, to me is the most alive and honest in general; and it feel like if I'm gone for months, I simply log in and get the same amount of love and the loveliest comments when I share a new post and it makes me feel like even if I was gone, I didn't miss a thing, because I can easily catch up and start all over again, at least based in my opinion/experience! xx

      Delete
  4. This is such a beautifully written post, Melissa! I completely agree with what you said, and I feel like a struggle the most with insecurities but this comes it’s because we start comparing our work with others and like you also say, we demand more of ourselves, or at least this is what happens in my case. I have clear that inspiration comes and goes too, at first it used to frustrate me but then I also learned it’s just part of the process and we all go through that phase at some point in our life! Thank you for sharing this post! Have a wonderful week! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you SO much Maria Paula! You should start working on your insecurities, never be afraid and never ever again compare yourself / your work with others. Yes, it's true and it also took me a while to learn it but this year of total uninspiration, I have finally learned that is completely okay and yes, it's a phase we all go through, it may last hours of days for some, in my case it lasted a year, but I do not regret a thing, I am back in track and I'm feeling inspired more than ever! I wish you have a wonderful week too! xx

      Delete
  5. Such a fab post hun, and thanks for the tips! I tend to at times struggle with coming up with new ideas for my blog, trying not to fall into the trend game.



    xoxo
    Lovely
    www.mynameislovely.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you SO much dear! I struggle with the exact same thing, that's why I've been posting now once a month, always thinking on creating something brand-new and sharing quality-over-quantity content even if it takes me a lot of time but at the end it's worth it. You're doing great on trying not to fall into the trend game, I know it can be hard, but at the end we'll always find something different to share. xx

      Delete
  6. Hello,

    Oh, lovely !

    Sarah, https://sarahmodeee.fr/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Definitely a very beautiful and honest post! Thanks for sharing it; and I am not related to the creative industry as a career but more of a hobby as I love painting and drawing and most of the time my struggle is I lack of inspiration, but just like you I take my own time and wait for it to come back, once it does, it’s hard to stop, I can go for hours! Haha :) I am loving this type of posts, please keep them coming! Have a beautiful day! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you SO much Camille! I'm super happy to know that you're loving these posts of mine, once again thank you for your constant support, it means a lot to me! You too have a beautiful day and an amazing start of the week! x

      Delete
  8. I've been feeling so uninspired lately, it's just how it goes. It's always up and down lol.
    Raindrops of Sapphire

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is something we all struggle, and yes, that's true, it feels like a roller coaster! hahaha

      Delete
  9. Adorei o texto, excelente conteúdo.
    Beijos

    www.byglamour.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am reading this when I myself am highly uninspired and highly insecured, so relatble
    https://www.stylebasket.in

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh dear, I hope this post has been helpful for you. This is a phase we all go through but this too shall pass. Take this time do and focus on other things and also, don't force yourself in order to create something! xx

      Delete
  11. Thank you for your honesty. I definitely struggle with being uninspired. Mostly because there is so much inspiration out there and most of it these days is just a copy of another. The other is that I struggle with my own identity or how to translate it in pictures. Words not so much, I definitely feel like I've nailed my prose but when it comes to photography there is much room for improvement.

    Sxx
    daringcoco.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get what you're saying and I completely agree with you on both points. In my case, ever since I started blogging and decided to share my own photographs, I have learned and improved throughout the years, although I still want to improve more.

      To find that identity, a tip could be to ask yourself this type of question and write them down on a sheet of paper: who you are as person, what you like, what you want to transmit and what feeling you want to evoke through your pictures, do you like bright colors or dark and moody (this to help you edit your photos), and once you have all of it, you can try and experiment first, slowly but surely you'll start to develop your own style editing and type of photography. This actually helped me find my own style but I want to keep on improving until I feel 100% sure about it. PS: Sorry for my long response, but hope this helps! xx

      Delete
  12. This is a great post and very inspiring. As creative people we all go through these phases I find stepping away a little, having a break and not stress too much is a good way to get the creative inspirations flowing again. Many times we are just tired and we need a deserved break then you feel the need to create and your energy levels rise up again. Love your tips here. xoxo Cris
    https://photosbycris.blogspot.com/2019/05/grayson-monae-because-looking-and.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great and inspiring post. so honest and raw. thank you. Usually when i don't feel inspired i take a break from it and read a book or fill the bathtub up with water and relax, which seems to always do the trick. Just like what you wrote, it is ok to feel uninspired. Couldn't agree more with this post. 👏🏼💛

    Jelz Inspired | jelzinspired.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Omg I could not relate more! I have always been considered creative and I struggle with it too!
    Ele
    http://elewithlove.it

    ReplyDelete
  15. I work in marketing and sometimes trying to be creative day in, day out (and in my spare time with the blog too), is draining. I agree that sometimes you just need to step away from it and do something totally different.

    Sarah xo Oomph London

    ReplyDelete

Hi, welcome or welcome back to my blog. ✨

Thank you SO much for stopping by, reading and even leaving a comment. It always makes me SO happy to read your comments and I try my best to reply back as soon as I can.

Spam WILL be deleted. Please remember to be kind and friendly. 🤍

xo
ℳ.

Copyright @ MELISSA CUENTAS LABRADOR 2024.