School supplies
AIS donates 6,125 masks to staff, students
LEOMINSTER » Last week, with the support of the United Way of North Central Massachusetts
unique set of hurts that can break your heart.
However, knowing how hard and lonely it can be at times, Chadbourne said she feels protective toward her fellow creators and is eager to shore them up, too.
That desire to provide encouragement, understanding and community is at the heart of her presentation, “Healing Creative Hurts,” hosted by the Fitchburg Public Library.
“Whether you create art, music, gardens, poetry, beautiful meals or anything else, I would like to invite you to attend this online event beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5,” Chadbourne said.
Chadbourne wants to talk with her fellow creators about the five main hurts she sees that can sap your joy and energy as creators: rejection, criticism, mistakes, comparison and futility.
“Every creator I know has been hurt over the course of their creative lives,” she said. “The amazing thing is that not only is this perfectly normal and entirely to be expected, but potentially, living through these hurts and healing them makes us stronger and even more creative!”
First on Chadbourne’s talk is rejection.
“Rejection is nearly inevitable when we begin to show our work to others and seek recognition, inclusion and compensation,” Chadbourne said. “Sometimes that bid will be successful, but many times we will hear ‘no’ and we have to learn how to set that rejection in perspective or it can stop us in our tracks.”
Chadbourne will then talk about criticism.
“These days, the number of people who can and will share their work in public forums and on the internet has become more popular,” she said. “Criticism can bring up tremendous shame in us until we learn to distinguish between different kinds of feedback and make the very best use of what is offered to us.”
Next are the mistakes creators make.
“This hurt is often self
inflicted as we wrestle with important questions,” Chadbourne said. “Must we be perfect to share our work? Must the work itself be flawless? If not, is there still value in it?”
Chadbourne then adds comparison as another pitfall for creators.
“Again, because of social media and the internet, it’s all too easy to find examples of other creators who at least look like they’re effortlessly succeeding where you’re struggling and feeling like a tangled mess,” she said. “This hurt can sour us if we’re not careful and set us at odds with our fellow creators instead of helping us to feel our kinship and common ground.”
Lastly, Chadbourne will talk about futility — Why bother? Why try? Why keep going?
“When things are hard, when there’s little encouragement or light, we need to answer these questions for ourselves in the most empowering way we can so that we can stay in the game and make the contribution we’re called to make,” she said.
Afterward, there will be
a time for questions and comments.
“It can seem at first that the main risk of the creative life is getting hurt and facing shame, embarrassment and censure,” Chadbourne said. “But honestly, I’ve come to believe that the real risk is giving up. When we do, we forego the chance to grow, to become the expanded and more powerful person we have the potential to become.”
Chadbourne believes creators miss the chance to produce a body of work they are proud of, to learn and develop, and to have a lot of fun, “and what a shame that is. We flourish when we have fun in our lives,” she said.
Active creators often have a light in their eyes and a spring in their step, Chadbourne adds.
“They’re zesty and eager and alive,” she said. “That is the kind of energy that we risk losing if we don’t sort out how to manage and heal these hurts.”
Chadbourne says she often thinks often of the Irish expression, “Níl ionam ach ceangal sa slabhra” — “I’m only a link in the
chain.”
“To me, that means that I’m part of a larger and more inclusive community of creators all over the world and throughout time,” she said. “I want to be one strong link among many and to encourage others in that chain. I believe that together we are creating something rich and beautiful: a vibrant, resilient, creative world.”
Chadbourne said she is thankful for the Central Massachusetts community.
“This community is truly amazing,” she said. “A hive of creative people all busily working away to innovate, discover, beautify, uplift, help and forge new paths.”
Chadbourne stresses that everyone who identifies as a creator in any way is invited to her presentation.
“Yes, that includes the poets, artists, musicians, and writers, but it also includes gardeners and chefs, program directors and politicians, and even creators who have felt discouraged and stuck,” she said.
All are welcome.
Chadbourne is a singer, harper and storyteller, an award-winning songwriter and poet, a scholar and teacher of Irish language and folklore with a Ph.D. from Harvard, and a beloved performer at venues throughout New England.
“We need creators, pathfinders, way-showers, solution-makers, innovators and beauty-makers,” Chadbourne said. “We always have and always will, but I think that in this time of the pandemic and huge social and political shifts, the need is even greater.”
“There are plenty of people who say what’s wrong with the world, who complain or call names, but what we really need are people who show us what’s possible and who expand our hearts and minds with hope and freshness,” she said.
Register at tinyurl.com/ fpl creative hurts A link to the meeting will be emailed to you prior to the event. This is a free program.
For information about this or other library programs, call 978- 829-1780 or visit website FitchburgPublicLibrary.org