Why Do You Create? — You Don’t Need to Know

Knowing your “why” is fine for business, but unnecessary for the artist

Many years ago I went through a creative period when I wrote at least one or two songs per day. I felt inspired. I had something inside that just had to come out and find expression. Have you ever felt that way?

Some of those songs were pretty good, and some of them just so so, but they were still my babies. I recorded at least rough tracks so I wouldn’t forget them. That was a prolific time for me, but also an emotional time. My music was a way for me to funnel deep feelings into some kind of story. My catharsis.

I later married and got busy with life. Two kids, a dog, and a mini-van. Oh yes, and a mortgage. So what happened to my songwriting? I put it aside, postponed it, back-burnered it. I know that’s not a proper word, but that’s where I put the songwriting.

In the years since then, I’ve found it hard to feel the same inspiration to write songs. The desire is there, but the songs aren’t. Have I lost my mojo?

What can you do when you feel like your well has run dry? The insecurities of feeling like an imposter are tough enough, but when you can't “find your song” you feel lost.

Why did I want to write so many songs back then, and why haven’t I continued?

Know your why

The answer I am finding within myself is that I need to make the feelings more real by bringing them out in the open. Make them tangible, either in music or words, or both. Until I expose the creative fire, it lingers in self-doubt. It’s like terrible heartburn that won’t go away.

I read somewhere that everyone needs to discover their “why”. The reason for what they do. Somehow that will motivate them to persevere when the going gets tough and to produce results consistently.

I can see the reasoning behind that, and if you’re pursuing a business start-up, you need to focus on goals and objectives. But I’m not so sure that advice applies to creativity, at least for me. Do I need to know why I want to create something? For me, I think it’s the process that satisfies.

Albert Einstein once said:

"I very rarely think in words at all. A thought comes, and I may try to express in words afterwards."

When you feel the need to create, do you think in words? Or do those words come later when your creative voice finds its expression?

As Einstein explained it, the value of a complex idea is in the concept. The expression of that concept may come later, but that doesn’t devalue the idea.

Words are only a translation of the idea, regardless of what language you speak. With songs, as mentioned earlier, that includes the music. The translation may not always be faithful to the idea. But the idea must give birth to something. You must translate it into some form of creativity.

You don’t need to know

So what is your “why”? What is your reason for having to create? Stop! Don’t tell me. Even if you think you know, I don’t want to know. It might spoil the wonder.

I believe a creative person has something unfinished in their soul. There’s something left undone, and it won’t ever be done. But that’s okay. The fulfillment you get from creating is enough.

That brings up an interesting question. Do you need to share your creation with someone before you say it’s complete? Or are you one of those creatives that keep a secret file?

For a long time, I created songs, photographs, and even poetry that would wind up staying private. I’m only now opening up by sharing some of my stuff.

Famed street photographer Garry Winogrand passed away in 1984. He was a unique and prolific photographer. After he died, they discovered he had 2,500 rolls of undeveloped films put away that nobody saw, and 6,500 rolls developed but not “proofed”. Nearly 300,000 unedited images.

Apparently, he was so satisfied after shooting those pictures that he didn’t need to develop and view them. Or, another theory is he was so unsatisfied that he didn’t even want to develop them. We’ll never know. When you take a picture, you usually have a gut feeling if you “got the shot”.

The story of Vivian Maier is similar. Huge numbers of images left that nobody saw when they were alive.

So when you create something, maybe a photograph, or painting, or writing, do you keep it in a drawer? Or do you share with others and let them enjoy it in their own way?

If you don’t share it, then why did you create it? Don’t tell me. It’s none of my business. Your process of creating is uniquely yours. Your drive to express something doesn’t need an explanation.

It’s your inner self wanting out.

Let it out to see the world and to be seen by the world. It deserves it. So do you.

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