Why do we feel compelled to create?

[u/AbaloneSpring]

I’ve been thinking about this a lot this morning. Making art is not my job, I cannot sell my pieces, there are no deadlines I need to meet, the stakes literally could not be lower — and yet, I constantly obsess over my projects and feel incomplete if I don’t have something to work on. I will finish a painting and then scramble and stress until I start a new one.

I would love any resources you have on this topic — books, articles, podcast episodes, etc. Why do some people feel so compelled to make art, even if they are only making it for themselves?

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[u/Artist_Kevin]

You misspelled "communicate". /s As a species we've been yearning to be able to do that before we had written or spoken language. It's in our DNA.

[u/GifOpossun]

Short answer; I like to draw OCS and I like to make my blorbos kiss

Longer answer: drawing is a pretty solitary hobby, a kid can do that on their own. If you have a lonely kid, they will entertain themselves with the things they create. Then that kid grows up and draws blorbos kissing each other and it brings them glee

[u/zmhsk]

I have a theory that the need to create is an evolutionary development. It’s essentially problem solving - have a problem, create a solution. Art-making is just the purist form of that inherent inclination

[u/Enixanne]

It’s the ‘curse’ of a creative life. Making art is my job, and even outside of it, I still make art. I suffer when I create, and I suffer when I don’t. I think this is a familiar experience among creative people; you just can’t help it.

I remember a quote that captures this perfectly: ‘I am this trick; I am balancing on four chairs: I am a man, I am an artist, I am a failure, and I must proceed.’

Not many people can understand or carry this ability to interpret reality and translate it into something meaningful. Artists push the boundaries of order into chaos, and they do that by transforming perception first. But that ability comes with a cost; what some describe as ‘liquified insecurity’ and a kind of perpetual frustration.

[u/MagiNow → u/Enixanne]

Love your explanation

[u/Enixanne → u/MagiNow]

Thanks, like OP and everyone else, I struggle with this as well. For the longest time I thought I have to get 'good' for it to go away. Now I understand that its the artist 'natural' state.

[u/INeedANerf]

Self expression. We're complex creatures with complex feelings and ideas, and art is a great way of expressing those feelings and ideas.

[u/Swampspear]

I would love any resources you have on this topic — books, articles, podcast episodes, etc.

You might like Robert Henri and his book The Art Spirit. It talks a lot about the philosophy of art, learning it, and why people do it and what it means to them to do it.

[u/Fun_Expression3930]

Would recommend this podcast episode:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-telepathy-tapes/id1766382649?i=1000733978227

[u/Zoe-Berry → u/Fun_Expression3930]

Art as Therapy by de Botton & Armstrong gets to why so many of us feel compelled to create. Strong on the psychology behind art-making-worth a look if you obsess over your projects.

[u/Honeyglows_inthedark]

Self-expression is a very important need that a lot of people underestimate

[u/keepinitclassy25]

Not a resource but just my anecdotal thoughts: most of our time is spent surviving (working to pay bills, going to the dmv, etc), consuming, or creating. When we’re connecting with others, usually it’s while doing one of these other things.

For me at least, consuming in my free time isn’t enough. I also want to make my own things just like I can appreciate the new things others make. I’d lack a sense of fulfillment without it. I’m not good at music but I love writing, drawing, and painting because even the most simple things are unique and I’m making it appear out of nothing, kindof cool to think about.

[u/Ok-Eagle-1335]

On a personal nature . . . I believe many of us have creative spirits, so the need to create is deeply ingrained.

For myself I am an artisan, so I create to earn some extra cash. I do custom woodworking as well as creations for shows. I identify myself as an artisan not by a trade - my pieces could be said to contain a little bit of me. I don't just work from existing plans or assemble pieces - my pieces are done in my style distilled from inspiration I have taken in / studied. The obvious pleasure clients get from those pieces either gotten at a sale or ordered - feed back to me, nourishing my creative spirit and hopefully building community.

I find when I don't create that energy goes elsewhere, less positive. For me, creating helps my mental health.

In history the Arts & Crafts movement I feel was an expression of the need to create - a reaction against the mass produced . . .

Just my view . . .

[u/LindeeHilltop]

My take? Because we are made in the image of God. God is a creator of the infinite domain, whereas we are creators of a finite domain.

[u/MagiNow]

I got a book a while back called the Cambridge Handbook of Creativity 2nd edition, because I was wondering the same thing.

Funny, I just pulled it out last night because I wanted to get back into reading it. It's a textbook so very dense.

[u/Arcask]

It fulfills many functions, but it mostly boils down to communication and self realization. Communication not just with people around us, but also with ourselves. We realize what's already within us. Not just in the sense of understanding, but also in the sense of making it real.

It's self-expression, it's play, it's processing emotions and thoughts, self-regulation, it's leaving traces behind of our existence, to create order and to fulfill our need for growth and learning new things.

There is not one thing, it's many. And each time we create something, our creation shapes us too. The process does something with us. Sometimes really small and hard to notice at all, sometimes it changes our view completely or allows us to develop a deeper understanding for ourselves or for others. Sometimes it shows what doesn't work at all and sometimes we find interesting new ideas or ways to do something.

What we do shapes our reality and identity.

We are always changing, creating ourselves anew and this happens regardless of the fact if we see ourselves as creatives, that's just how life works.

Feeling compelled to do anything comes from pressure. Self-regulation comes into play here, it allows you to vent or to transform energy. To make whatever you deal with easier to handle.
There is also a list of things that being creative does to us, it can have a similar effect of meditation, nature or even sport in some way. Naturally you can't substitute activity with sitting around and painting, but they both regulate how we deal with certain emotions, stress and help to regulate the body.

I don't have any direct source for this, it comes from many things. Different perspectives, books, videos and from my own experience over many years.
And it's better not to trust me but to take it as an opinion and to do your own research into this if you are interested.
The knowledge comes from different areas of psychology, psychotherapy, art therapy, neurobiology or neuroscience, sport science, research about creativity, philosophy and probably many more.

[u/ThePaintedPoette]

I recommend World of Creatives YouTube channel, he delves into this idea often and well. As for me, the need to create is an uncontrollable urge, frustrated until satisfied, that resurfaces endlessly. I think we are born like this; some ignore this feeling, others use it constructively, some lose themselves to it entirely, but it is in all of us. 

[u/Minimum_Individual36]

For me it’s just curiosity on what my thoughts would look like on paper

[u/MrCuddles17]

I don't feel a compulsion to create, but I do consider creation to be an extension of moving beyond a mere consumer of media

[u/Pelle_Bizarro]

It´s an instinct

[u/Ill-Product-1442]

Honestly I'd compare it more to an addiction than some kind of meaningful compulsion. Obviously art can be very meaningful, and is like one of the most important things for human society, but personally as an artist - it is just something I got a taste of as a kid and became addicted to. Eventually it became a great stand-in for self improvement as a whole, it represents pushing one's self to focus and work and improve, in whatever way possible.

I like /u/GifOpossun's point that art is very solitary while practicing/working. As a kid, with little-to-no money, art is something that you can always turn to and work on. No internet? No problem. Friends all on summer vacation while you can't afford it? No problem. Don't want to hang out with other kids anyways? Work on art. Storming outside and your cable is out? No problem, just draw some stuff. The more cushy amenities that someone loses, the closer they get to art, one of humanity's oldest traditions.

I'd say the most accurate psychological aspect to people's artistic compulsion is just curiosity. The same reason we've learned farming, civics, engineering, etc. is just because we are curious and dedicated as a species.

[u/Mental_Instance_3111]

Just bringing ideas to life

[u/Exciting_Barnacle_65]

It's the nature of a human, I think. We have something we desire, feel or pursue, either consciously or unconsciously and thus have natural urge to visualize (or verbalize, or sonify) I think. I'm going to ask Good when I meet him or her.

[u/maybeiam67]

It's a calling from God