I think learning to listen to oneself, and to trust one’s own judgement, is greatly overlooked as a core skill to have as a creative person. So often we seek validation from external forces around us, be it friends, or competitions, or whatever. I think this is all very natural and everyone does this at the beginning of their creativity for sure. But in this video I consider that learning to trust one’s own judgement, and to learn to live with the decisions we make, is one of the core skills any experienced artist inevitably develops.
Transcript:
As a beginner, we often crave feedback and wish to know what others think of our work.
I think this is perfectly natural and to be expected.
As emerging artists, we are on a path to finding out about not only the art that we are creating, but also too, who we are as artists. We need to understand ourselves better and one way to find out is to seek the opinion of others.
We all need validation about our efforts, particularly in the early stage of our creative lives. Feedback and having an audience can be very helpful in giving us confidence in what we do. Because until we know who we are, I think we need to find our confidence in the validation given to us by others.
I have realised though, over the years of producing work and of having a small audience, that feedback varies enormously. In addition, not everyone is skilled at giving good feedback and most beginning photographers tend to lack the skills with which to deal with the feedback they are given.
In a way, learning to be an artist involves learning to deal with feedback constructively. It will be up to you to figure out what you need to become more discerning about the feedback you receive. Knowing when it is of value and when it is not will become something that you'll need to navigate your way through. This will only become apparent as you mature and gain a sense of who you are as an artist.
You see at some point you will no longer be crushed by feedback that may have done so years ago. You'll be able to take anything you're given and look at it with a more objective eye. This will only have become possible because you've developed an inner confidence in yourself as an artist.
And when I speak of confidence, I do not mean arrogance or cockiness, and I do not mean a heightened belief in one's own abilities. The confidence I speak of is of knowing oneself, of having a realistic handle on your strengths as well as your weaknesses, and in being comfortable in the knowing.
Having gained this inner confidence, you will now have one of the greatest skills anyone can possess, that of knowing who you are. If you develop this inner confidence that I speak of, you'll be better placed than most to gauge where you are going and what it is you need to do next.
And even if you're not always 100% sure, as no artist ever is, you'll be comfortable in knowing that ultimately not knowing is part of the deal of being an artist.