Elder Sister,
Is this a safe place? To be honest, it has been very hard for me to make creative friends these past few years. I hate to say it, but I believe there is power in honesty. Being creative is such a unique experience because we have our quirks, we have art forms that we love, and there are people out there who have absolutely no understanding of what we do or why we do it. That is why having creative friends is so important for any creative person. You need people who understand you and, above all, validate you. They will see the beauty in what you love and why you choose to create.
I knew the importance of having a community in the creative world, so Triad Women Bloggers Network It was founded a few years ago. I know how important it is for creative people to have a place to come together, learn from people who truly understand, and talk about their journey. Although the group is inactive, I still understand the importance of finding a creative community. That has been my personal struggle for the past few years.
In fact, this is a topic I’ve brought up often in therapy. Right now, I feel like I don’t have any creative friends to turn to for support, and that’s tough. It wasn’t always this way, but I’ve seen a gradual change over the past year. I’ve watched creative friends who were hugely supportive of me online for years slowly stop supporting me. I understand that people have lives outside of social media and that algorithms don’t always show our content, but this time was different.
I went from people showing a lot of support through comments and likes to people who only like the occasional one, but I now see those same people frequently commenting on our mutual friends’ posts. Where has the love gone? Last year I decided to withdraw a little to take some time to reflect. It still hurts a little because I start to wonder if they were really my friends or if they were just getting what they needed from me at the time. I may never know, but I learned a few things about myself in the process.
I had to learn to stop over-supporting. I was so eager to support other creators that I often didn’t realize that the support was one-sided. I had to learn to rely on that support. I also learned that deep down I have a generous heart for people in general. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it can lead to people taking advantage of it. You have to use good judgement and know not to ignore it.
I love creative work, but being online sometimes reminds me of high school. In the crowd In high school, I felt the same way about social media. However, I had some great friends in high school who were very dear to me, and I hope that one day I will find friends who are just as creative today. This journey has been hard, but it’s not over yet. I pray that this year I will connect with the right people…
How do you connect with other creators? Are there any places you’d recommend to meet fellow creators?
May God bless you.
Source: FabEllis – www.fabellis.com
