Trudging Through the Mud: Creativity, Uncertainty, and the Art of Living

Why the future belongs to creators who embrace the mess—and how to thrive in it.

I love the smell of rain. I love the feeling of early morning sunshine on my skin. I love the sensation of gratitude as I soak in a moment. I love recognising that I am unfinished and that every day is an opportunity to create something new.

These are the thoughts that sit at the front of my mind this morning, as I ponder a slightly more slippery subject - The State of the Arts.

I have spent the past year, but more truthfully the past 10 years, wrestling with the desire to make art and the long term aspiration to be financially secure. It’s a tension as old as the very art forms I admire. An internal battle that has plagued generations and left more dreams in the dumpster than a hiring officer at Disney.

The truth of the matter, as I have come to see it, is that as we grow up we learn (or we inherit) a world view that frames life as a series of problems that need to be solved. The “Western Dream” is not a loving partner, a stable job, a white picket fence and a series of miniature versions of you. No, these are merely the marketing tactics of large corporations that sell “a destination”. The dream is crafted through years of psychological manipulation to position our humanity at odds with a series of predictable and standardised problems. We are indoctrinated to become serious minded problem solvers, who must pursue a long term definition of stability by taking on large amounts of debt, highly structured employment agreements and complex interhuman relationships (without adequate education + training). We are trained on assessment rubrics and KPI’s that structure our lives around predictable inputs and outputs.

For some people this social infrastructure is a worthwhile translation of chaos into order. A system for living that is fairly predictable, and manageable, assuming the problems in question do not unexpectedly exceed the individuals personal capacity to solve them.

For creatives who challenge conventions, question boundaries, and rethink the necessity of dotting every “i” and crossing every “t,” this system can be a treacherous one. It can convince you that being a problem solver is more important than being a solution finder. The issue with this is that the world needs more solution finders. A life of problem solving ticks the boxes of a stable and sustainable life, but it often creates an ecosystem of individuals who merely exist to trim the hedges of their own backyard. A life of continuous and predictable problem solving, narrows the space through which one’s curiosities and creative instincts can flourish. The urgent can quickly take precedent over the important, and the peripheries can be blinded by the headlights that sit consistently in front of us.

Creativity relies on being a solution finder rather than a problem solver. The difference here is on the focal point through which we approach life. The lack of certainty in infinite solutions breads novelty and child-like questioning. It invites us to wonder how our problems may be reflected in those around us. How our lives may be interconnected with those who live many oceans away. How our stories intertwine to map a vast tapestry of human experiences that reflect meaning in both chaos and order.

There is beauty and opportunity in this world view. It may be more difficult, more inconsistent and yet more rewarding to those who seek to squeeze every last drop out of this life we get to live. It is solution finders who innovate, who create and who pave the future with conscious awareness of the past.

It is also the solution finders who often end up lost, trapped and unable to swim in the current of society. To be creative, and to pursue a life of creative curiosity one must find balance. One must define the parameters of the life they wish to live and the impact they seek to have on the world and the people around them.

Suffering and uncertainty are inevitable, and in the face of these forces responsibility and agency are essential.

I fluctuate constantly. Lost in ideas and thoughts and fears of the future. I work hard on myself and on my aspirations, but it often feels like I am trudging through mud. I’ve come to learn that the mud is good. The mud is a healthy manifestation of resistance. The mud is testing me, and helping me figure out who it is that I am and what it is that I truly want to do with this life I am lucky enough to live. The mud helps us keep our creative instincts applicable to the real world. It strengthens our physical and emotional muscles, so that they may be in service of whatever ways we hope to use our creative ones.

With this being said, I do believe it is important to develop tools and tactics that help us trudge through the mud when it gets particularly thick and sticky. I believe it is important to build habits and mental models to approach the hills and troughs of life and to ultimately learn to enjoy bathing in the mud.

So, lacking a more eloquent transition, here are some of the tools and tactics I use to approach the mud - I hope that they may offer some inspiration, reflection or insight for you:

1. Create Because You Can

You are what you do. Create because you are a creator. Create whatever you want, with whomever you want, whenever you want. Just create.

Always find time and space to create. This is sacred time. Time for you to connect deeply with yourself and the world around you.

You don’t need to call yourself an artist, a writer, or a filmmaker. But you must recognise this: whatever you are, whatever you do, you are a creator. And creators must create.

Allow the world to inspire, and turn that inspiration into something tangible. Create because you can. Because life is boring if you don’t.

2. Build Systems for Sanity

The balancing act of life becomes easier if you have a system to manage the inputs and outputs. Use technology to your advantage. Build a second brain to take the pressure off the one in your head.

Store information. Make it easy to access that information. Use that information to develop a strategy for your creativity. Build systems for your sanity.

3. Play Long Term Games with Long Term People

Success is not measured in days and weeks, but in years and decades. The number one thing that connects people who are successful is the fact that they never quit. They may pivot, they may kill projects, they may evolve, but they never quit the pursuit of becoming a better version of themselves.

Surround yourself with people who want to play long term games. Be hesitant of anyone who wants to get rich quick, change the world in a day or get married before you’ve backpacked around the world together.

4. Stay Ahead of the Curve

If you are scared of technology, it means you don’t know enough about it. The future is built on the back of technological innovation and the advancement of new mediums for creative entrepreneurship. If you want to make art worth seeing, work worth sharing, a life worth emulating, you need to understand how to use technology. You need to leverage it in your life and become conscious of the role it plays in our world. You must not give into the tendency to become a consumer. You must stay ahead of the curve or be at risk at being left behind.

5. Make it Mean Something

No one cares if it doesn’t help someone else. The greatest use of creativity is in the service of others. Use your talent to make the world a better place, and allow the impact you have to take care of the marketing. Do not make anything that doesn’t in some way shape or form improve the lives of other people. The way you stand out in a crowded marketplace is by doing more good, creating more impacting, spurring more important conversations.

We’re all in the mud, and its beautiful, brilliant and occasionally a fucking mess. But that’s the point. Enjoy the mess. Celebrate the small wins. Keep trudging.

Thanks for reading - share this with someone you think would resonate,

Zed