Creativity, Post Pandemic

As the world, at least here in the U.S., slowly returns to something close to normalcy, it's worth taking a deep breath and acknowledging the strain of the past year, and the effects that it may or may not have had on our creativity as professionals. Because like it or not, none of us is likely to emerge from the last year unchanged.

Many of us found new avenues for our creativity; I, for example, started screenwriting. Others have developed creative new products for kids to entertain and educate themselves at home. Graphic designers are writing novels, and copywriters have taken up painting. I'm guessing maybe some of you don't really want to go back. The upside-down-ness of the world left you suddenly free to pursue a new passion, or one that had been tucked in the back of your mind, waiting for its chance.

So? What to do? Forge ahead with this new passion, despite its questionable financial viability? Go back to your pre-pandemic profession and try to simply be grateful that you had an opportunity to try something else for a bit? No one solution is the answer for everyone; the world is filled with as many career paths as there are people.

My best advice is, bring your new passion to the table with you. Does your new exploration of visual arts inform the way you approach writing? Now is the time to find out. Does your new interest in baking give you a better handle on how to market to stay at home moms? Don't know until you try. You can let yourself be changed by the experiences of the pandemic and let it inform your work, and still be the professional you were before it started, only better and more well-rounded. If employers are wise, they'll see the value in it.

This can be an uphill battle, as we know. Employers don't always want to change, or don't want to expand their employees' roles in ways that they didn't foresee or engineer. The recent effort by some to force an end to the work from home revolution is an example; despite white collar worker productivity being up since the pandemic, many are trying to bring everyone back under one roof again.

But you can allow your new passions to inform your old disciplines, and let your new abilities enhance your old skill set. Rather than see it as "time to make the donuts" again, you can look at it as "time to make some entirely new donuts that are maybe better for me."

There is no "going back to normal." Not really. But like so many other aspects of recovering from a global pandemic, we can use the change to our advantage, if we're wise.