Re-Matter Your Creative Adventure

By Christine Carron

Does your art matter? And by art, I mean whatever creative endeavor you practice. That could be writing, or painting, or quality assurance, or dog training, or jujitsu, or anything. We are human beings with awesome brains and applying those brains in any context, in my book, is art. 

So, I ask you again: Does your art matter?

If there is even a smidge of hesitation, that doubt is most likely negatively impacting your creative flow. Mattering is a key part of productivity health.

Why Mattering Matters

Gail Cornwall writes about the impact of mattering in her New York Times article, Want to Believe in Yourself? ‘Mattering’ Is Key. One expert she interviews is Dr. Gordon Flett, a psychology professor at York University: 

“Mattering involves “more than feeling like you belong in a group,” he explained; it’s also being ‘missed by people in that group if you weren’t there.’ When it comes to self-esteem, you can like yourself and feel capable, Dr. Flett said, but ‘you still won’t be a happy person if no one notices you when you enter a room.’”

Cornwall adds that mattering has a “two-part definition: feeling valued and adding value.” In addition, she writes, “Research suggests that people who feel like they matter experience more self-compassion, relationship satisfaction, and greater belief in their capacity to achieve their goals, while lack of mattering is associated with burnout, self-criticism, anxiety, [and] depression . . .”

Mattering has a powerful impact on our sense of self and on our self-efficacy. That means it has a powerful impact on our productivity health.

Mattering and Productivity Health

Let’s consider three aspects of the research findings on mattering—increased self-compassion; increased belief in your ability to achieve your goals; and decreased likelihood of burnout—in context of your creative work. 

Increased Self-Compassion

I’ve said this before, and I will likely say it many times over: the creative adventure is not for the faint of heart. We all navigate many external and internal obstacles on the journey to making our creative dreams come true. To have a reservoir of self-compassion when things don’t go our way is a huge boon in context of creating consistent forward momentum. It helps us to process the disappointment (without dropping into despair), to regroup, and to carry on. 

Increased Belief in Your Ability to Achieve Your Goals

The creative adventure for most of us is a lifelong adventure. That is awesome—especially so, if we are lucky enough to achieve at least some of our creative goals early and fast. For many of us, however, achieving the public validation of our work that we hope for will take longer. Perhaps a lot longer. That means we need some internal mettle to keep going. 

Mattering builds our mettle, and that strengthens our ability to stay on the creative adventure. 

Decreased Likelihood of Burnout

This is huge. Seriously. A commonly held productivity belief is that constantly “pushing harder” is the path to productivity. No. Nope. And, heck no. Constantly pushing harder simply jettisons you down a fast path to burnout. 

Mattering, you mattering, is the antidote. A deep sense of mattering will help you set boundaries, trust your decisions, and follow your instincts. It also helps you stand firm against the external (and internal voices) that insist you push yourself past healthy limits. 

An invitation

This week, at least once a day, I invite you to pause, connect to yourself internally, and remind yourself that:

1. You matter.
2. Your art matters.
3. Your ideas matter.
4. Your creativity matters.
5. Your creative adventure matters.

If it helps, consider this daily exercise to be preventative productivity healthcare. As you integrate this practice, observe (with kindness and curiosity) what happens differently, and how you behave differently, as mattering infuses your relationship with yourself, with your creative work, and with your creative flow. 

Who knows? Perhaps nothing will change. Perhaps everything will. 

Happy day, happy creating, happy jamming. You’ve got this!