The Weight of the Ordinary World

Beware the Doldrums. image taken from http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~bcohen/phantom_tollbooth/excerpts.html

“I wonder where I am,” said Milo in a very worried tone.

“You’re . . . in . . . the . . . Dol . . . drums,” wailed a voice that sounded far away.

He looked around quickly to see who had spoken. No one was there, and it was as quiet and still as one could imagine.

“Yes . . . the . . . Dol . . .drums,” yawned another voice, but still he saw no one.

“WHAT ARE THE DOLDRUMS?” he cried loudly, and tried very hard to see who would answer this time.

“The Doldrums, my young friend, are where nothing ever happens and nothing ever changes.” (pg .23)

From The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, Illustrated by Jules Feiffer

 

So you want to be creative, eh? You have a story that you’ve always dreamt of writing, or have a neat idea for a comic? You like spending your day scribbling story ideas on pieces of paper, or doodling imaginary worlds on a notepad? Do you have a cool idea for a movie that you want to produce? That’s great. I wish you the very best for your endeavors. You have the ability to go out and make those dreams of yours a reality.

The problem is those words of encouragement I just told you might be the only ones you’ll ever hear. See, the world loves successful creative people, but it’s downright hostile if you’re starting out; and it will do everything possible to derail you from following your dreams.

See, when we think of artists and writers, we imagine these free spirited people who sit around all day in their work space, hunched over a computer or sketching, unencumbered by the world around them. I had that mental picture as a new Graduate student that this would be my life. Now, a little older and a little wiser, I’ve come to realize this is just a fantasy given to us by Hollywood.

The reality creative people discover is everything costs money. From the tools that they work with, to the very space they work in, it all has a price tag. Unless you come from a very well off family, or you find a winning lottery ticket, you’re unfortunately going to need to work. Rent, bills, food, utilities, it all has a price tag on it, and that money has to come from somewhere, and it’s not coming from that neat project you’re working on at the moment.

So you go out and hopefully find a job or two to pay your expenses. Great, now you have the means to create! But hold it right there! Now comes the other problem. You come home (which takes time), you have to make meals, you have to bathe (please do), you have relationships to maintain, and other odds and ends you don’t really think about. Now it’s finally time to create! Except you’ve just fallen asleep on the couch from exhaustion. Then when you wake up, it’s time to start the fun all over again.

It’s not easy, is it?

Then lets look at your job. Your job could care less about your dreams. Your employer will look at your resume and your creative skills and say, “Oh, you’re a writer? Good, that means you can write emails with punctuation and grammar. Here’s a mindless job you can do that doesn’t take advantage of your true skills.” All of your talents and God given gifts will be used for the most mundane of tasks to further their business. They don’t care about that cool story you’re dreaming about; there are reports to make. You can draw amazing pictures? That means you can update their website so it doesn’t look like its from the 90’s anymore. Unless you are very lucky and find a position that gives you some freedom, your talents will be wasted on things that will be forgotten a year, no, a month from now.

The world does not want you to succeed in your creative efforts. Chances are, your job doesn’t want you to succeed, either. If you were successful, then you wouldn’t have to work there, and they don’t want to lose you while you’re still useful to them. They’ll smile and nod when you tell them about your latest projects, but they don’t care. They want you thinking about work.

Then there’s your family and friends. They might support your work, but that usually involves only a few words of encouragement. You might write or draw something and share it on Facebook, but that doesn’t mean they will read it. Most will most likely scroll right past it, leaving it only to a few who will check your work out, and even less will give you any sort of feedback on it.

So now you’re stuck in this never ending cycle of work and home life, and somewhere you have to fit in your creative work. Home is where the true battle is for the creative person. Here you’re surrounded by your comforts after a long and frustrating day at the office. Do you really want to spend a few hours writing a chapter in your first novel that few will read, or would you rather marathon that funny show you like on Netflix? Early on, it’s easy to make the right choice and write. But other days, after a brain-draining day at work, or a painful argument with a loved one, Netflix will win. Then there are the moments where you get into a creative funk. Do you really want to stare at a screen to hammer out that scene that’s going nowhere, or do you want to play that fun new video game you just bought?

Being creative takes much more discipline than non-creative people realize. They’re used to seeing finished products by people who have made it. You’re still figuring this stuff out and finding your voice. That takes time, and you can’t quantify that. Most day-to-day jobs require little training for someone to master it. The creative person has only their mind to summon forth stories or images to put to paper. That takes years to develop, with many abandoned stories and sketches thrown in the trash bin that no one will ever see.

With all of these challenges, no wonder so many aspiring writers and artists give up on their dreams and accept the doldrums of life. The temptation to just surrender your dreams and just embrace the ordinary is all too alluring. All you need to do is put the computer down and just sit on your couch and let life take you along like riding the lazy river in a water park. You just veg out and allow yourself to be carried along with the current. No more fighting, no more nights of frustrated writing on a story only a handful of people will ever read. The world is more than happy to enable you to just give up.

This is where the true fight lies for the creative person. It’s the most deceptive of dragons, one that will just sit on you until you stop moving and fighting. But what can you do to fight it?

Remember the reason why you are creating, and hold onto it! When I was a child, all I ever wanted to do was to become a writer. I’d go to a library and look at the thousands of books around me and think, “One day, I want something I wrote to be here.” I’d dream of holding a book I wrote in my hands, and flip through the pages of my work, or see a picture of myself on the back cover. I didn’t want to be a fireman or astronaut; I wanted to be a writer.

I have to remind myself of this every single day of my life. There are countless days on my commute home where I think of every mindless task I have to accomplish at home before I can get out and write and throw up my hands, ruing the day I chose to follow my dreams. I’ll submit a story to this blog and share it on Facebook and Twitter, only to see maybe two or three likes and watch it disappear from my feed. It’s incredibly frustrating, especially when I’ve spent hours planning and crafting my short story with the utmost care and love. In those moments, I have to remind myself that it doesn’t matter, because in the end with every finished tale I write, I grow in my skills as a writer.

Another strategy I have is writing stories that mean something to me, even if it means nothing to another person. I have a story I’ve been working on since last year that no one will ever read but me, but I feel fulfilled writing it because its what I want to read. Write stories or make drawings that only you will care about. Don’t make it your only project, but when you’re frustrated or discouraged, it’s nice to just unwind and spend a few hours with something that will remind you why you’ve chosen to follow your creative calling.

I chose the above passage from The Phantom Tollbooth specifically for this subject. In the scene, Milo has lost his way after just arriving in this new land. Here, he finds himself stuck in the Doldrums, surrounded by the Lethargarians, who do nothing all day. All thinking is outlawed in the Doldrums, and you accomplish nothing but lazing about. Milo, to tired to think or figure his way out of this mess, almost ends his journey just as it’s begun. It takes the Watchdog Tock to rouse Milo from the doom of lethargy. Our jobs can feel like being stuck in the Doldrums, where our minds are not allowed to think about our creations. In the face of this foe, we must persevere and not allow ourselves to become like the Lethargarians, but to set forth on the creative adventure that is just around the corner.

So if you choose to be a writer or artist, understand you will face these challenges. These are trials testing to see if you are up for the task. It’s not easy, and you will need to give up some of your comforts to make your dreams happen, but don’t lose hope! Remember that many people you admire and respect were in the same position as you, and they eventually found success. Life will do everything in its power to take that away from you, but don’t let go! That breakthrough might be just around the corner.