Creating for who

I think creativity, expressiveness, is good for our mental health.  Making something is therapeutic.  It doesn't need an audience, it doesn't need to be showcased.  It's the making that's important, not the viewing.  It's the creating that counts, not the displaying.

But we all want our creations to be appreciated.  We put a little of ourselves into them and we hope someone appreciates our work (our self).  Creating is a good quiet and thoughtful activity, like a meditation.  We would do well to focus on the benefits of the process (concentration, developing skills, expressing something intangible) and de-emphasizing the end result, and especially how it will be received by others.

Our desperation for love and acceptance and to 'be known' tugs us toward obsessing on how our work (our self!) will be received.  We can easily fantasise about wowing people, about bowling them over, adoration and fame!

So I'm saying art is primarily for the artist, there's more than enough benefits in creating for the creator, with no need for acknowledgement or appreciation.  Yet people are elevated by art created by others.  We all want our art to help others as much as it can help us, and sometimes it does help them.  But we should be able to separate the audience from the artist and value art for the good it does to it's creator (when in her workshop, working in solitude and quiet concentration) without needing it to then be displayed in public, bought by an aficionado, or appreciated by the like-minded..