Humans of South Africa: Jarrad Ricketts talks about the curse of the creative
Jarrad brings up the conflicts faced by creatives, the feelings of unworthiness, and advises us on how to go in the direction of what we love.
The curse of the creative
A topic I find comes up with creatives and again surfaced when having a chat with Jarrad Ricketts, a well know South African musician. He mentioned an uncertainty he faced at the beginning of his career. For him this uncertainty surfaced because he did not feel he had it in him to be a performer. I call this uncertainty the curse of the creative.
Are we whatever we say we are?
As creatives, what point we have to come to, in order to feel like we have made it? As I mention on the HOSA website, I have been writing since before I grew into my ears. It took me a long time as a writer to be able to tell people that is what I do. At some point I realized that no-one is going to call me a liar for telling them who I am. Are we not what we say we are? The conflict is internal and external. Internally, we need to feel as if we live up to any label we give ourselves. More trouble arises on the outside when what we have created is put under a microscope.
My website is also a platform for creatives to put up their own work. The first piece I put up on the site fell on very judgmental eyes. Perhaps the reader didn’t mean to come across like that, maybe s/he is more educated in the area than I am. The opinion which s/he offered which was not positive. I took to my site to talk about the respect I have for creatives and how I refuse to play judge or jury when it comes to asking questions like “What is art?” Perhaps not all singers should try out for Idols, but they can at least try and enjoy what they love.
Jarrad believes if we want something badly enough we will get there, even if that goal is to be a famous singer. I responded by telling him he hadn’t heard my voice. Perhaps the world is far too serious and we should have a laugh and give some words of encouragement rather than rip each other to pieces?
Advice from Jarrad?
Jarrad says that if we want for something there is a way.
Everyone knows the ten thousand hour rule. If we want to be good at anything we must just keep doing it.
This is part of a larger project called Humans of South Africa (HOSA), which aims to tell the stories of ordinary South Africans
