Should You Create, Even if Nobody Ever Sees It? Yes.

Photo by Dushawn Jovic on Unsplash

“If I could go back in time and give myself a message, it would be to reiterate that my value as an artist doesn’t come from how much I create. I think that mindset is yoked to capitalism. Being an artist is about how and why you touch people’s lives, even if it’s one person. Even if that’s yourself, in the process of art-making.” -Amanda Gorman

I stopped writing for myself over 3 years ago. After writing and creating art through the endless content-creation grind for about 5 years, I got burned out, essentially had a breakdown, and stopped creating entirely. Cold turkey. I’ve published basically nothing for myself since.

Since that low point of my career, I’ve been wrestling with the question: why create something if the point isn’t for as many people as possible to see it?

Why would an actor be content to simply act by themselves, alone in their apartment? At least join a local amateur theater. Why would a passionate singer be content to simply sing in the shower, with no one around? At least record a demo reel and throw it on a website. What’s the the point of writing something if nobody ever reads it? At least have a blog or something. I couldn’t understand the idea of writing and creating something just for me.