Creating Art Takes Time

But my Pan Con Tomate Bake does not

Been a minute since I actually wrote anything on here. It’s truly incredible how time flies when you’re not having fun LOL. Just kidding I have been having A LOT of fun this summer, but I’ve also been super busy and it’s just a lot to juggle - I can’t believe it’s already mid-July. Not sure how that happened but, here we are.

One of the things I’ve been dealing with a lot lately is overwhelm and burnout. On top of constantly changing algorithms on social media, it feels like there’s a TON of shit to do, and even when I’m kinda caught up, my brain automatically goes “well, what ELSE can I do??”

I chalk a lot of that up to being a creative (of the Misfit variety), and always looking for new ways to BE creative. The problem with the never ending hamster wheel of social media/content creation is that in order to actually BE creative, you need to let yourself just BE sometimes. A lot of BE in this paragraph but you get it.

The problem with “art” in 2022 is that we are no longer really given the time to create. The phrase “Rome wasn’t built in a day” exists for a reason. Art takes time. Did you know it took Leonardo DaVinci 4 years to finish the Mona Lisa? FOUR YEARS ON ONE GD PAINTING. Now, he would be making the Mona Lisa in 2 days max, out of pasta wheels and pencil shavings, and feature it in a 7 second video. Only to be forgotten the next day.

But for real. Think about that. I know I’m comparing very different times here, but my point is: you can’t rush creativity.

We don’t allow ourselves the space to just BE creative anymore because we know that if we don’t do it, someone else will. But…that’s not new. There’s always someone nipping at your heels, the difference now is that we’re just hyper-aware of it.

When DaVinci was painting, he didn’t know what anyone else was painting and I’d venture to say he didn’t care. But, from experience, I can confirm that it’s a lot easier to not care when you don’t know. I liken it to unfollowing your ex after a breakup = ignorance is bliss. I don’t wanna know what you’re doing because it isn’t good for my mental health. Unfortunately, in terms of our art, we do not have the luxury of that blissful ignorance because we are constantly fed other peoples ideas whether we like it or not. And then, in order to stay relevant, we’re encouraged to steal those ideas and make them our own. It’s an interesting contradiction. Not to mention it feels plain ol fucked up sometimes.

There’s a book called “Steal Like an Artist” which is about how nothing is really original and everyone just interprets the same ideas differently, and that’s what makes their art and their perspective unique. It’s a great book and I think it’s very true in a lot of ways, but now, we’re expected to constantly burn the candle at both ends. It’s not enough to come up with original content once in a while, we also have to make “trending” content aka the copycat shit, and we have to do it DAILY, in some cases multiple times per day. It’s…not easy.

So this is my advice to anyone who is in this game or wants to be in this game: give yourself a break every now and then. Let your mind slow down for a little bit. It’s in those moments where you’ll feel most inspired. And if you don’t feel inspired, that’s ok too. It might mean you’re facing a bit of burnout and need that break now more than ever.

We’re conditioned to believe that if it doesn’t happen fast, it won’t happen. But consider this newsletter your reminder that some of the greatest art was created over time. So don’t give up, just give it time.

And while we’re on the topic of art. Look at this beautiful masterpiece. One of my favorite OG recipes from the blog: Pan Con Tomate & Mozz Bake. Easy and doesn’t take much time at all. I’d say 25 mins start to finish, including prep. Check it out and thank me later, my friends love to make it every summer too.