Why bother? (the creative graduate’s comedown)
Its January, it’s dismal. If you graduated from a Uni in 2017 and you’re not already employed in a job better than the one you had before your degree, the socially acceptable grace period of academic recovery/dossing about time is probably up. But- you’re not alone.
If you made the choice to study a creative subject, you may be familiar with the conundrum of trying to figure out how to to get a job that bares any relation to your field of study, whilst wrestling with an sense of impending doom that is inversely correlated to your shrinking bank account.
It can seem achingly pointless to sit around thinking about, or producing, creative work without a direct outlet- especially when common sense says you should be spending every waking minute job-hunting.
But, the suggestion here is to do it anyway.
A wise person once told me that ‘just because someone isn’t paying you for your creative work, doesn’t mean that your work doesn’t have value’. That’s a liberating thought if you can internalise it.
Fair enough, it doesn’t pay the bills, but it might just keep you sane. To my reckoning, it’s the only way out of a potentially closed loop of worry and procrastination that can be seriously bad for your mental health, as seen in this instructive(?) flowchart:
Hands up, I did create this whilst in my pyjamas at 2pm- but- that’s possibly a better use of time than the alternative.
Worrying less about what I was supposed to be doing, adopting a do it anyway method has been liberating. Ignoring the tyranny of ‘outcome focus’ that values only behaviors and activities that have a direct financial or career resolve, freed me to actually create something and find renewed joy in my subject of study.
Paradoxically, taking a break from sending CV’s, networking and all the other horrific things new creative grads are advised that they have to master, in exchange for just creating work, has given me more genuine reasons to get involved with projects and funding that do stand a chance of leading to fulfilling work (…whilst also providing a reason to get properly dressed and leave the house).
Another wise person said to me ‘I really want to hear from new creative talent- but most of the best of those people are just making work in their bedroom, not knocking on my door’.
So we can only assume from this that there is a sweet spot between creating interesting work and going out and seeking outlets for it.
Here’s hoping that we see solidarity across all creative grads and post-grads, that we can talk honestly about the difficulty and disillusion that can come at the end of a hard fought degree, and most of all, that we see a culture where creative work is valued for what it is- not just for the money it brings in.
