Art and the Pressure of Time

Do not let your creativity  suffer from the rush of time. 
 

There is a ton of pressure on artists  to create work and to do  it quickly. The speed at which social media  runs is wholly  unnatural  and is having an affect on our  mental health. Never before have our brains  been confronted with so much information at once and this is impacting  our mind and body. 

Today's  speed of the spread of information gives artists a false perception of productivity. It makes us  believe  that we  need to be creating quickly in order to share the work, gain more traction and be successful. It's  made  us forget that the art we put out into the  world  is timeless and not merely dependent on the algorithm and a 24 hour tag.  This  pressure  is causing the artist  to give up creating altogether which can lead to  depression because we  feel we  can't keep up with our peers  who  are creating  fresh and impeccable work almost every day (or at least look like they are). 

Once upon a time, the  artist  could shut the  studio door and forget about the world and time, focusing just on their art  and connecting to  their  creativity. Monet and  Matisse  were  not  waking up bombarded with photos of all the edited, beautified versions of  paintings  that others were working on. They painted partly to forget the worries and concerns of this  world -  a  big one being time. In fact, Monet allowed so much time for his art  that he had to grow his garden before he started painting it. 
These artists were not constantly being  seduced by social media, they  had the space to think more about their own work and where they wanted it to go. Ignorance is bliss they say, and here I wholeheartedly agree. I'm not however protesting against social media - we all know the obvious advantages of these platforms. What I am saying is that we need to be aware of when it starts to have  a negative  impact on our creativity, learn how to use it to our advantage, and recognise the moments we need to step away from it (something I'm still practicing).

It's wise to remember that in  this capitalistic age we are only worth how much we produce - how much we do, how much we earn, how much we create, how much we have, how much, how much, how much... it really is never ending. So I'm here to tell you use rest as resistance . Because creativity (and I'm talking about the purest form) does not come when we constantly feel rushed and in comparison mode. Ideas have to take their time to arrive, to settle, to form. So allow for this and do not feel guilty about it, it's all part of the process. 

Sometimes though, action really is the remedy and it is good and natural to question our productivity. But when you do it's important  to ask whether you're measuring your  productivity by  what you're witnessing on instagram, or  by yourself. This can relate to any area of your life, not just art -  Bob over there uploaded  another  finished painting,  Susie over there just got engaged,  Bill's started his own business... whatever it is,  just make sure to centre yourself and ask  whether you're living life at your own pace or someone  else's.
Society puts huge pressure on us  to get things done at a certain time and in a certain way, and social media  adds to this container  by constantly pushing  us to just do it and get things done. But when you feel behind and unproductive in any area of your life, please first check whose standards you're worried about and ask yourself if it's truly what you want and how  you want to live. Cultivate your individual values and what your needs really are.  Make it a choice, make it about your  own  goals and don't confuse it with anyone else's. 

Also, something  that has helped me:  make use of that  mute and unfollow  button. This is your  space, you are free to unfollow or mute any accounts that do not make your head space a positive one. Streamline that shit. It is a form of self-sabotage when we continue to allow things in that hurt us and bring us down - becoming aware of this was a game changer for me.  So mute and unfollow, it  saves so much energy that you can direct elsewhere. 
 
Finally, please remember that  no matter  how  insignificant you think your work is, it is sacred  because it's a part of you that you are giving  out to the world. So take the time you need to create and don't let anything rush you.


Stay safe and much love, 
Shehana   

'The purpose of art is to stop time'

-Bod Dylan

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