Recently I asked readers of this newsletter to suggest a topic they would like me to write about.

One reader, Lisa, flipped it on its head and asked me: “If you had one more post to write in your life, what would you need to write? What would you want to be known by, what do you want to share with the world?”

I’ve taken that inspiration and come up with something a bit different this week. I’m not sure if I’ve articulated it well enough, but better to create something than to have done nothing. If you don’t like it, I understand, please don’t unsubscribe (lol).

One step at a time

I am not an advocate for ‘pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.’ Some people have no bootstraps to pull. Some people try pulling and are hit with myriad obstacles that society throws at them: the discrimination and prejudice inbuilt in our societies. Poverty, violence, oppression, and much else besides.

There is no basis for telling people that life is what they make of it, because for so many people, life is shaped by the words and deeds of others.

I think a lot about how the barriers people face in life can prevent them from fulfilling a creative ambition. Of course, there will be those who do not care to have a creative practice in their lives at all. But I believe the vast majority of us want this for ourselves, the space to dream, create, build and express ourselves, untethered from outside expectations or demands. A safe space, either literally speaking or just the mental space to be yourself and play.

Every person on this earth should be free to express themselves. Every person on this earth should be free to create art for the hell of it. Yet of course, I don’t live on cloud cuckoo land. People across the world are doing their best to just stay alive. For so many, there is no capacity to think about anything above and beyond basic survival.

Everyone has a unique perspective and experience of the world.

Every person who dies without having lived a life that allows for free creative expression is a unique creative force never to be seen again, lost forever.

Of course, this doesn’t just apply to creativity. Think of the millions of potentially great scientists, mathematicians, engineers, academics and goodness knows what else that slipped through the sands of time in a flash, unable to explore their own talents because they found themselves in the wrong environment and without the means to change it.

I want to caveat all this by saying that, on the other hand, it is absolutely a person’s right to just not want to do any of this and live a life without creating anything whatsoever. I’m talking about the freedom to choose to create if you want to.

There are an unimaginable amount of people across the world who are trying to create for creativity’s sake, to express themselves and their ideas. So many of them will be running into barrier after barrier, preventing them from creating the work they wish. I feel angry that oppressive systems and pervasive negative attitudes in this world put these barriers in place for people who want to explore their art.

I think of the neurodivergent community, particularly us autistic and ADHD folks. I think about the kind of environments we need to thrive and how we just aren’t seeing those yet. I wonder if we ever will.

What are we to do? Roll over in defeat? I don’t think so.

If I was to say one thing on the internet (and obviously this is hypothetical because I say a LOT of things on the internet), I would simply tell people who are struggling to try their best to keep going.

One word, or brushstroke, or step at a time.

It applies to your creative practice, and it can also apply to your life. The smallest action that makes progress towards your creative goal is better than no action at all.

Even better if you can help someone else you know who is experiencing a barrier and help facilitate the creation of their art. Community is a beautiful thing that we need more of.

It is hard to fathom the infinite amount of different experiences one can potentially have in a life, particularly when you are just one human being with one point of view. I’m one person with myriad privileges. It is probably very rich of me to say ‘keep going’ to someone who is currently going through situations I have no experience of. I get that.

‘Keep going’ is not me saying ‘produce something’ regardless of what you are going through, or me being blind to the realities of the lives of other people.

It is my small rallying cry to the marginalised of this world - try and keep going if you can, don’t back down, don’t give up, we need your work, we need you here.

Thank you so much for reading. If you liked this, please press ‘like’ or leave a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Take it easy,

Ren

PS. If you liked this one, you may like some of my other stuff. Take a look at my list of posts here:

Neurowavy Thoughts: Start Here - by Ren Riley

A directory of all of my posts