Money is not a measure of your creative worth. All of the creative industries are a mess anyway, so if you can't make it pay, don't take it personally. Creativity is inherently valuable.
Every single successful creative person out there (however you want to measure success) started out as an amateur. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being an amateur.
Success is subjective. You can set the terms on which you measure your own success. If I do something and it works for someone else, that's all I need to feel it was worthwhile. Doing something and liking how it turned out is success. Seeing improvement in your own work is success.
Creative culture isn't just about the big names and the people at the top. You only get the extraordinary professionals when they have room to grow. Grass roots arts are vital. Spaces for people to learn, flourish and develop are vital. Being part of those spaces, and providing joy and entertainment to other people, is a really good thing to do, regardless of whether you get to be famous.
It's also perfectly ok not to want to be a professional. It's totally valid to do things because you enjoy them and they make you happy. You do not need to be good. You do not need to have anyone's approval or permission to do the things that enrich your life.
Creativity and delight go together. We should be able to do the things that make us happy, to make our own things and to be able to enjoy the things that other people make. Focusing on joy in this way is good for mental health, good for building relationships and for making our lives better.
Focus on the people who enjoy and support what you do. If that's just you, this is also entirely valid. Focus on the people whose creativity you enjoy and whose work inspires you. Everything is better when we lift and encourage each other.
Creativity is all about joy, and putting beauty into the world and creating interest. Anyone engaged with that on any terms is your ally, and worth taking interest in if you have the time. The people who show up to criticise while making nothing themselves are of no real consequence and do not deserve your time and energy.
What you can imagine is always going to be better than what you're able to make. This is not a thing to worry about. When you create, you also learn and grow, and that remains true no matter how good you get. It is ok to be dissatisfied and you do not need to hate your work when you can see how to do it better.
You are needed. Whatever you're doing, whatever you make and however that impacts on the world, you are needed. Even if you don't share your creativity with anyone else, the way it changes you is also important. And I hope, if you aren't sharing yet, that you get to a place of feeling able to do so.
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