Best Way to Embrace Your Creativity

When you’re little, you’re encouraged to be creative in school. You sing songs, finger paint away, try out to be the star of the class play. Suddenly in middle school and high school, creativity falls by the wayside. You don’t hear much about art, music, and other cre­ative subjects. Creative people are sometimes thought of as kind of weird, artsy-fartsy types. Society doesn’t much encourage creativity when you’re over the age of 10.

Shelly Strazis went through that deal. ButShelby’s now a free­lance photographer whose work has appeared in magazines like Teen and Real Simple. Here’s what she says:

I grew up surrounded by people who worked 9 to 5. They didn’t support my dream of being a photographer. They didn’t think being creative would get me anywhere in life— like my peak would be taking photos at the local mall studio. But I tried to work at a 9-to-5 job, and I didn’t feel like it was normal for me. And when I decided to give it a try as a freelance photographer, I discovered I really could make it.

Are you a creative type trapped in a non-creative universe? If so, listen to Shelly’s advice:

Expose yourself to the artistic community. Be around people who are creative. See what opportunities are out there. Meet people who share your passion. Absorb the creative culture. Find a support network. The Internet has great Web sites and communities for aspiring artists.

Find a mentor in the arts. Find someone who has succeeded in the area you want to pursue—an artist, a gallery owner, a photog­rapher, a writer.

Consider a school or college for the arts. Art school was one of the best experiences I ever had. I lived and breathed photog­raphy for four years. I had great teachers who taught me how to love photography even more. But school also taught me to be disci­plined and productive with my craft.

Learn the business side of the arts. It’s a myth that all artists are poor and starving. But if you want to make a career in the arts, you need to be practical. It is not easy. Know how to make a living and manage the business side of art. You need to know how to han­dle your money, bill customers, manage your taxes. If you’re wor­ried about making enough money to support yourself, learn about jobs that combine business and creativity. Learn to run an art gallery or be an agent representing photographers. Or, plan to have another career and practice your art on the side.