Episode 080: Why You Should Be Making Bad Art

Hey creative soles! How are you? How are your creative projects going? I’d love to know - if you want to reach out feel free to leave me a comment on instagram at @thephilosophersstem or send an email at hello@thephilosophersstem! Also, if you have any questions about creativity or topics that you’d be interested in having me to cover, let me know! I am super curious to hear more about your experience with creativity, and I’m happy to explore topics on the podcast that would be most interesting and helpful to you. 

And I also wanted to jump in before we get into the episode to share a special gift - if you’re listening to this episode when it comes out, in January 2022, I’m including a bonus mini feng shui consultation for everyone who signs up for my three-month creativity coaching services before February 1st. I’ve talked before about the importance of making space in our physical environments for creativity, and feng shui is one really powerful tool that can help us set up our spaces in ways that really support our goals and intentions. So if you’re interested in exploring that, head to the link in the show notes or to my website at thephilosophersstem.com and you can submit an application there, and so if you send that in before February 1st and we do end up working together in the three-month coaching package, you’ll get that bonus mini feng shui consultation for one room in your home. So we’ll look at either the room where you do your creative work or your bedroom, since your bedroom is really important in feng shui. But don’t stress about what it would be because We’ll chat about that together to figure out which room would make the most sense for your situation. But I just wanted to share that if you’ve been thinking about creativity coaching I wanted to share that gift with you. 

Moving on. Alright, check in time: are you wearing fun socks today? Did you take that opportunity in your day to play with your creativity? If not, if fun socks are not really your thing that’s ok, you are still allowed to listen to a podcast called Never Wear Boring Socks. If it’s not socks, how can you bring some little moments of creativity into your day today? Maybe you can be creative with how you make your lunch. Maybe you can be creative with how you write your to-do list for the day. Ok my kitten is like reaching up the side of my desk trying to attack my notebooks. I apologize if there are weird noises in the background. Anyway I was saying maybe you can be creative with how you make your lunch, maybe you can be creative with how you write your to-do list for the day. For me, of course, as the host of a podcast called never wear boring socks, my socks are one way that I use my creativity on a daily basis and it’s really fun for me. So I am, of course, wearing un-boring socks today: the ones that I’m wearing today are grey with dark red accents and owl faces, which feels very appropriate for today because they feel really wintery, they’re like a nice thick weight, plus the owl faces and the colors just like has a really wintery vibe, and it is cold and snowy here in New England. And even though I am feeling quite ready for warmer weather, I know we have quite a long way to go until then…and in the meantime I’m really doing my best to embrace the current season that we’re in by wearing fun, cozy socks. 

Ok. So let’s get on to today’s topic. In this episode, I want to talk about why you should be making bad art. Tell me, or think to yourself if you don’t want to actually tell me: when’s the last time you made bad art? If it was a long time ago, I hope that I can convince you in this episode to get back to this very important activity. And if it was quite recent, good for you. Here’s my follow-up question for you: while you were making bad art, or after you made bad art, how did you feel about it? How did you feel about yourself? 

I know that may be a big question - how we feel about ourselves is a really complex and layered and deep topic. And it’s an impactful one. So let me ask it again: how do you feel about yourself when you make quote-unquote “bad” art? 

We’ve talked about perfectionism here before on the podcast, and we will keep talking about it, because IT IS REAL, PEOPLE. It is so easy, especially in the world we’re living in right now, where we can see other people’s successes so easily on the interwebs, to have super high expectations for ourselves. There is just so much out there I think to compare ourselves to. And if you’re a smart person which I’m sure you are, you probably intellectually know that what you’re seeing on Instagram or wherever from some artist that you admire is not a full picture of all of the things they create. I am almost certain that they are creating some - or possibly even lots - of bad art behind the scenes. Maybe they even made bad art for years and you’re just now seeing the results from thousands of hours of practice that came before. 

And again, intellectually, you probably already know this. But how is that knowledge translating to how you’re treating yourself and your creative practice? Are you allowing yourself to make bad art, or are you holding yourself to really high standards, and getting frustrated when you can’t meet your own expectations? 

I also want to point out that perfectionism can be kind of sneaky. Because sometimes it looks like consciously thinking that your work isn’t good enough, and being frustrated by what you create, and I think that we can all recognize perfectionism pretty easily in that kind of scenario. But there’s another kind of perfectionism that I’ve noticed in myself that feels a little bit sneakier to me, and I’ve noticed it in people I’ve talked to as well, is the kind of perfectionism that keeps you from even creating something in the first place. It’s the kind of perfectionism where you think “I don’t have any good ideas today” so you don’t even bother sitting down to make anything. 

But, on those days where you THINK you have no good ideas, I want to challenge that thought. What if you DO have good ideas, and you just have to excavate them? What if they are hiding under a pile of rubble and dust and clutter in your sweet little brain and all you have to do is a bit of (perhaps tedious) clean-up to get to them? 

I firmly believe that everyone is creative. If you think you’re not creative, I want to challenge you on that thought as well. Can you think of any situations in your life where you’ve come up with an innovative idea? Where you’ve seen or perceived something in a new way? Or where you’ve made something that didn’t exist before? Maybe it was a dinner you cooked. Or maybe it was an outfit you put together. Maybe it was a better, more efficient system for doing things that you proposed to your team at work. Or maybe it was a clay pot you made in third grade. If you can’t think of anything now, keep pondering until you can. Because like I said, I really believe EVERYONE is creative, and that means you as well. 

But I also understand that you might not feel like a creative person. So, how can you get to actually FEELING like a creative person? My solution, that I would like to propose to you now, is: to MAKE BAD ART. I know that making bad art is probably not your end goal, but in my experience, it’s an important part of the process of making good art. (and I just want to note here good and bad are obviously subjective, but for our purposes here think of your personal definition of what kind of “good” art you would like to be making. What feels good to you, what counts as good to you. Your personal definition.) 

I’ve talked before about the idea of making space for creativity. And I have found, time and time again, that making bad art makes space for inspired ideas and it even makes space for some of my best work. When I sit down to write poetry, and I just sit there staring at a blank page, waiting for a “good” idea to come to me, what usually ends up happening is that I keep staring at a blank page until I get tired of staring at a blank page. 

So many times I’ve had the experience where I sit down to write and I feel like I have no ideas. But I’ve learned that, instead of staring at that blank page, it’s best to just start writing SOMETHING. Even if it is truly, undeniably bad and something I would never want to share with anyone. And what I’ve found is that it’s beneficial to just keep writing. Even when it is bad. Because what happens when I do this is that the act of writing starts to warm up my creativity muscles, so to speak. And often, after a while of writing things I don’t like and am not proud of, I come up with something intriguing. Something that leads me in an exciting creative direction. Sometimes it turns into a poem that I am really happy with, and sometimes it turns into a poem that is just okay, and sometimes it turns into a poem that is just okay but then with some edits at a later date turns into something that I’m really happy with. It’s kind of the same process when I’m writing a blog post for work, or even back in college when I was writing academic papers. My first drafts were, and are, generally quite bad. But, they make way for better writing, by again warming up those creative muscles, AND, bonus, writing those bad first drafts leaves me with a draft - it’s some raw material that I can work with and revise and edit, which is a lot less intimidating than a blank page. 

So instead of asking you some reflection questions to wrap up today’s episode, like I often do, I’m going to give you a little homework assignment. Your mission, this week, should you choose to accept it, is to make bad art. Draw a silly drawing, write a story that makes no sense, do a craft project that will probably turn out weird…and then, here’s the second part of your assignment: I want to challenge you to be okay with it being “bad.” If it inspires you to keep going, and you end up making something you’re proud of afterwards, or if it turns into something great, that’s awesome! But that is not part of the assignment. That’s just a bonus, so consider it an extra if it happens. 

If this feels hard and challenging, I just want to say you’re not alone. Like I said, perfectionism is real and a lot of us struggle with it, myself included! And if you want more support as you navigate this sometimes rocky terrain of learning to be okay with making bad art, learning to prioritize your creativity, and ultimately making more art, I’d love to support you! You can apply for one-on-one coaching with me at thephilosophersstem.com/creativity-coaching, I’ll put that link in the show notes also. I’ve said this before but I am so excited for your art and your creative ideas to be out in the world, making the world a more beautiful, creative place…and I’m honored to be a part of making that happen, whether it’s through coaching, whether it’s through this podcast, whether it’s through something that I said in my newsletter or Instagram that inspired you. Whatever it is, I’m honored to help get your art out into the world. And if you are interested in coaching, remember that if you sign up for coaching before February 1st, you’ll get a bonus one-room feng shui consultation to help set up your space for more creativity. 

Thank you so much for being here, for listening to this episode, and thank you for sharing it with the creative people and creativity-curious people in your life who might enjoy it also. I love doing this, I look forward to talking to you again soon, and in the meantime, remember to never wear boring socks.