Prioritizing Creativity

Unrelated, yet related to Cardboard Club, this post is generally a hobbyist’s observation of priority management.

So I’ve been looking at Indeed recently, just browsing job applications for my current dream career: “executive assistant” (basically a boujee secretary) and they all mention the importance of the ability to prioritize. Now, school has taught me a whole lot about organizing my time and choosing what activities to drop–I’ve had my fair share of overcommitment–but I expect these positions are looking for more than just school plates being spun. Art can function as an escape for some, as an outlet for others, and as a job for few. But for anybody to take time out of their day to do art requires some level of prioritization. I can speak from some experience in all three of these categories.

as an escape

art can be a way to lose yourself for a time. Sometimes I cut out business cards and just let myself rest. It’s a mundane task: aligning and slicing rectangle after rectangle, clearing the excess buildup, and avoiding the blade. It has an ultimate goal. A lot of larger, repetitive requirements for art projects can provide the same “mindless” escape. It can be like painting a wall white: it prepares the surface for a greater end goal, but is a very simple, boring task. This boringness can be an escape. Other times it is the unending detail that can capture a person’s full attention. Focusing extremely hard on a sculpt or a drawing can distract an individual from their other problems (though whether they do it in a healthy manner or not is up to them). 

When people use art as an escape, there is little prioritization of creativity present, and rather more prioritization of self (that is, if they are choosing the escape willingly). It manifests as a therapy rather than necessarily an act of conscious creativity.

as an outlet

art can be a way to express and share creativity. I certainly use it as such: Hello?? This website's entire point is to be an outlet for sharing my creativity! When somebody chooses to use art as their outlet, they are more actively prioritizing it in their life. They could have chosen any number of other things to do with their time: binge watch their latest show, sleep more, go out more, exercise more, do literally anything else. Instead, they make art. Hopefully they do so in a healthy, constructive manner (which isn't hard to achieve with the therapeutic and self-expressive nature of many creative practices) but art can also be an outlet for communication. As a Human Communications major, I continue to notice similarities in how art is taught, and how talking to people is taught. There is a point you are trying to make, and then a billion ways to attempt to make that point, all of which can be misinterpreted to the slightest or largest degree. Satire can be hilarious… if people know it as such. 

When people use art as an outlet, they begin to prioritize it more actively in their regular lives, understanding or beginning to understand the importance of a healthy form of self-expression and communication.

as a job

I asked WonderSpace what my job title really is, and they helped clarify that I'm not "part-time" due to the church's employee handbook and hour requirements, etc. Instead, I'm technically a contractor–an artist-for-hire. Same as the dude who fixes your chimney, 'cept I'm coming in once a week for two hours to teach some kids teamwork and design thinking. (I guess I have to change my incorrectly assumed LinkedIN job title now…)

I've written before about how against professional art jobs I am personally, and yet technically I'm already doing it. But Cardboard Club doesn't feel like professional work, because it's not full-time. Instead, I can work on the preparations in my spare time throughout the week, culminating into these final meetings. 

When art becomes a job generally though, it is suddenly prioritized differently (this is similar to when you're in an art class). Suddenly, there are deadlines. Deadlines set by other people, that you can't just up and change. When I'm working on meeting plans for the next Cardboard Club, I know when that event is going to happen whether I'm ready or not. And yet, teachers don't seem to care! I continue to get more schoolwork and things to study, but the next Monday doesn't approach any slower. So I need to arrange my priorities accordingly. Instead of doing that reading due in two days–even though schoolwork normally trumps my art time–I instead make sure to reach a further point in my meeting prep. I have to prioritize the art, the creativity, over the schoolwork. Art doesn't tend to feel as loose when there is a deadline, but incredible work can still come of it. Without deadlines, often things don't get done! Therefore deadlines, or art as a job, can be two sides of the same coin.

Flipped Priorities

Josh, why are you writing this post right now? Don't you have homework that's more important? Are your priorities wrong right now?

So uh… yeah I have homework I should be doing right now. But I thought it'd be funnier to write a short essay about priorities. And yet I also think this writing has critically important subsurface motives. 

I could be reading a required passage right now, studying Mandarin, or making progress on a large project, but instead I am actively prioritizing Creativity. If I never chose art over academics, I could hardly call myself an artist. Now, I'm not exactly forfeiting my grades in place of a little writing either. Those assignments aren't due for plenty of time, because I've prioritized and organized other parts of my life to stay on top of things. Sometimes though, I just need to escape, use art as an outlet, and work on my website instead of dragging my eyes across a mandatory book. Doing this little bit of creative work will empower me through the more stiff-collared tasks. So really,

my priorities are just right.