Creating during the pandemic: don't sweat it
It won't be possible to measure the damage to mental health that was done by COVID.
It hit everyone differently. Based on your current life circumstances, the effects ranged from mild to life-destroying radical.
The pandemic has done incalculable harm to many people's way of life.
And then there were these posts floating around online:
IsSaC NeWtOn InVeNtEd CaLcUlUs DuRiNg ThE pLaGuE.
or
ShAkEsPeArE wRoTe KiNg LeAr DuRiNg ThE pLaGuE.
If you are an artist or creative, you probably felt massive pressure to keep working, keep creating, and to use this opportunity to bring your magnum opus to the world.
You may even have had friends spreading 'toxic positivity'.
GOOD VIBES ONLY! JUST STAY POSITIVE! LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE!
Ugh.
The New York Times just recently interviewed 75 artists about working during COVID. They asked a question: What's one thing you've made this year?
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts answered with this:
"I’ve made nothing. On four separate occasions, I arranged my schedule with [my wife] Carrie so I could have six uninterrupted hours a day to write. All four times, I emerged from my office after two or three weeks, rattled, defeated, feeling lousy about myself. My wife finally said, “Here’s what you have to do: read books, watch movies, cook dinner and take care of our boy.” That is what I’ve done. And while my family is my focus and my joy, from a creative standpoint, this year for me has been a dust storm. I’m normally involved in a number of creative endeavors, in different forms, but the theater is my lifeblood and I don’t know who I am without it. The plug getting pulled on “The Minutes” was truly devastating for me. I feel like a heel even saying that since so many people in this country and around the world are suffering as a result of this pandemic in ways I can’t even fathom. But it’s the simple truth. I can’t do the computer theater, it’s too depressing for me, and I’ve turned down a couple of on-camera jobs because I am just as scared of this virus as I was a year ago. Creatively, I’m lost. It’s why I’m doing this interview. I’m guessing there are some other artists who identify."
^ This from the genius behind 'August: Osage County'.
If you were able to write up a storm, or compose an entire album, or paint the next great abstract piece, that's fantastic. But if you were (or are) simply surviving, just getting through the day, holding yourself and/or your family together, that's ok too. Good for you for keeping it together. The pandemic hit everyone differently. And you should not feel the least bit bad about simply surviving.
One of our greatest living playwrights is doing exactly that.
There's no pressure. Let's get through this however we can, and when the creative juices flow again they will flow again.
We'll never be able to measure the damage done to mental health by COVID. But know that the damage you may have suffered is normal and widespread. You're not alone, and you haven't wasted an opportunity or blown a chance. You're doing your best, and most importantly, you're surviving.
And we're so glad you're here.
~2authors
Comments
Post a Comment