“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”

So true…

While this quote is true for all people, it is especially true for the creative ones. As long as I can remember, “artistes” have been portrayed as loners who could give or take interaction with others - almost as if “just me and my craft” was our mantra. It plays well in the history books and on the big screen, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. The truth is creatives are at our best when we are part of something bigger than us. We need partners-in-crime. We need to belong.

Why have we been perceived as the lone wolf – “el lobo solitario?” Where does that misconception come from? It comes from the extreme cases from our history who believed in the lie, isolated themselves and lived and died alone. The lie didn’t originate with the press or Hollywood screen writers. It originated thousands of years ago in a garden east of Eden. 

To this day creative people hear a voice saying that we are too different to belong and our only choices are to ignore the creativity, hide the creativity or fully express it at the cost of everything including good paychecks, relationships and a “normal” life. Not true. Not True. NOT TRUE.

The truth is creatives were not only born for creative endeavors, we were born for community. Community with others like us, and also community with those who need or appreciate what we offer. In the workplace, the creative’s sense of belonging and community may be in the thing they bring to the table. The thing that ONLY they can bring to the table. In community there is mutual appreciation for the varying gifts that each bring. Not all creative, but all necessary and helpful.

Be free. Be creative. And by all means BELONG.

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”

So true…