Protecting your creativity when "everything is content"

Participating in the act of creation > economic output

The artist and the machine

We start as the artist with a raging fire for creativity. A message to share. A curiosity to pick at and explore. We are humans after all; we have creation etched into our very being.

And then, there's the inevitability of the machine. The work that keeps things going. The so-called hamster wheel. A craft of it's own to master. It’s introduced when you make the transition from artist to creative business owner. From leisurely maker to personal brand. From private blog to online service provider aspiring to reach and serve clients.

The mission doesn’t disappear.

But suddenly it’s surrounded by content calendars, rules of thumb, tips and trends for the next viral piece, and over time… The zeal dulls, the work feels monotonous… Even the message you carry can lose its essence as it’s diluted in the process of speaking each platform’s language.

If you’re a one-person creative, don’t let this distract you from the reason you’re here; from the practice of expressing and creating; from body of work (the digital garden) you’re actually trying to build.

Photo by my husband in my favourite place, Assisi, Italy

Differentiating and ordering the work by importance

I know this because I’ve spent years working professionally as the machine.

I’ve put together content calendars for dozens of coaches, executives, and founders. I’ve learned, followed, and even taught others what performs and how-to create something that will resonate. I’ve taken a single idea and chop, chop, chopped it into a hundred repurposed pieces to keep platforms fed and businesses “relevant.”

Working alongside visionary founders is contagious. Their ability to see and sustain their vision fuels the work to be done. Their ideas give me direction and a message to optimize, distribute, extend. And my work there absolutely has its place.

But the transition from behind-the-scenes creative strategist to
« this is MY life’s work, signed by MY own name »
is entirely different.

If you’ve ever read The E-Myth Revisited, you’ll recognize the framework:

Every business needs a visionary to lead.
A manager to create order and consistency.
And technicians to do the day-to-day work.

Creating online in what feels like an anti-human, post-creativity era asks something similar of us. As a one-person operator, you’re expected to be all three at once: Visionary, Manager, and Technician.

And it’s exhausting.

Especially if you’re a human who lives, feels, experiences, expresses, and requires rest. Not a machine built for scheduled and optimized output.

Here is where it’s important to recognize the work that’s necessary to nourish vs. the tasks that can propel that work further. Don’t lose sight of the order of importance and spread yourself thin.

Taking back our humanity

So many creatives I work with are drained by the bombardment of best practices, the constant pressure keep updated with all the new features, and the burden of “consistency” to stay relevant. And yet, can’t seem to shut it off because not posting will “damage their scoreboard with the almighty algorithm”, and the next piece of information they read will be the one to change it all.

They’ll write their ideas down, save them in a doc, and tell themselves they’ll share this piece of gold later… When they can do something strategic with them and slide them into a perfectly planned posting schedule.

But often, those ideas never see the light of day. They sit there in Notes. Or they’re watered down, or filtered through ChatGPT over and over again, until all the vibrancy of their ideas has run dry. And the gold loses it’s luster.

I know this pattern because I’ve lived it. There have been long stretches where I stopped sharing entirely. I held myself as a human-artist-creative to the standard I had as a professional content marketer.

I couldn’t be “consistent enough.”

But at the end of the day…

I’m a listener. I’m a feeler. I yearn to express in different mediums as the idea metabolizes.

My work here is not the same as my client work.

Consciously choosing the better part

I can manage and maintain systems for my clients. But my own work asks me of something slower: days of present moments as a mom to little children, where I can be attentive. Notice. Share as I am able to.

No one is marking my attendance and checking a box if I posted exactly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

And honestly, this is why I love “inconsistent creators.” The artists who disappear for years sometimes, and return with something unmistakably alive. The creators who have “play” platforms and creative mediums outside outside of their professional craft. The ones who let themselves have sporadic moments where they share off-cadence from their usual routines. They protect the most important part.

They take time away and come back changed; being shaped by the work itself.

The same is true of all creatives. We pay attention not only to the work we produce, but to who we’re becoming in the act of creating.

Show up for that work. It’s the visionary work that makes everything else possible.

There is nothing wrong with maintenance, repurposing, and content calendars.

But there is something deeply deeply wrong with performing for the machine
and losing the reason you started.

Your life is marked by a message to share. A raison d’etre.
A body of work that only you can build.

Protect that.

Protect your attention.
Your curiosity.
Your capacity to notice.

And when the time comes to bring in support for maintenance and reach, let it serve your work, not distract you from it.

What is that work for you? What is the message that consumes and fully enlivens you? What is the process that draws you closer to the Creator who made you creative in the first place?

Show up for it. Imperfectly. Inconsistently. But earnestly.

Warmly, Camille

I hope this piece encourages you. It’s a letter I’ve personally needed as I finally ventured into “giving myself a voice” and started sharing my ideas online as me (Camille!) While my work in digital marketing has helped me in many ways, there is so much I am needing to unlearn in order to express myself honestly and imperfectly. I’m grateful to you for taking the time to read and join me!

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If you’d like to join a private community of creatives…

We re-opened The Creator’s Map this month to creatives, part-time builders, and aspiring online business owners.

You can begin the DISCERN module and access the private chat at any time by upgrading to a Paid Subscriber of The Creator’s Pursuit ($8/monthly).

TCM isn’t a course built around rigid steps or constant output. It’s a space to walk alongside others as you listen for what’s being asked of you in this season. To share ideas before they’re finished. To build confidence slowly. To tend something real, together.

If you’re longing for a quieter, more human way to create online, you’re welcome to join us this month as we start our weekly exercises.