Guest Blog Wednesday with Gina West

Creativity as Luxury

I have a terrible confession to make. I haven’t written anything of substance in two years. TWO YEARS! Any writer—heck, any artist—knows the tragedy of going that long without creating.
During these past two years, I have done many other things, though. I got divorced. I got a full-time job after being a stay-at-home mom for more than a decade. I signed a publishing contract and published my first novel. I did several part-time editing gigs. And I moved four times before buying my very own townhome. Despite the fact that most of these changes were good, it still created a steady state of upheaval, and it was the most stressful time of my life.



In the midst of this, I realized that my mind and entire existence were focused on survival. No, I wasn’t scouring a Cairo trash heap for food (thank goodness), but I could do little beyond putting one foot in front of the other and getting to “the next thing,” whatever that was at the time. There was no room for anything else, certainly not creativity, because my mind was rarely relaxed enough for stories or characters to float to the surface.

I have felt no small amount of guilt over this. I questioned whether I was a real writer, a real artist, someone committed to her craft. I saw writers on Twitter who treated writing like it was as important as breathing. Friends of mine were compelled to dedicate time to their art just to stay sane, but here I was setting aside my passion for such trivial things as groceries and work.

But the truth is that for me, creativity is a luxury suited to times of peace and quiet. Let’s face it, our ancestors didn’t waste time putting pretty pictures on their clay pots at the exact moment the saber tooth tigers arrived.* No, they tossed their pots and ran like hell. Survival first. Otherwise, you and I wouldn’t be here.

While our modern problems aren’t as life-threatening as saber tooth tigers, they sure can feel like it, and they are no less real. So, if you are like me, and you can’t quiet your mind until the urgent stuff is dealt with, I hereby give you permission to set aside everything and deal with the urgent stuff. The characters will wait. The words will wait. Come back once things settle down and your stories, just like mine, will be right where you left them.

*I have no idea whether humans and saber tooth tigers existed at the same time. Just go with it.