The Joy of Art in Hustle Culture
Hustle Bones and Mindless Drones
Hustle culture refers to a work culture that fosters an environment that emphasises long hours and a constant output of productivity. This comes at the expense of the worker’s personal well-being and their work-life balance. Overworking becomes a badge of honour and sets up an environment of fear, guilt and shame. Ever felt bad for saying no to working extra when your boss has asked you to? It’s not your fault, and it’s not your problem, and you have the right to your free time, but why won’t your boss come in and do that extra time or hire more people? Hustle culture lays the ground for a manipulative and toxic work environment, and it may be a leading cause of burnout.
When it comes to culture it’s not something that is conjured up by a small group of psychopaths who plot and scheme to make sure that everyone is miserable, but rather it becomes ideas and ideals held up by a collective, and each individual is both part of and responsible for culture, especially at a work place. It’s a passivity which allows this mindset to rule the collective unconscious of a group, and by not challenging and examining these cultural ideas, they take hold of the next generation, and it’s this generational inheritance that makes any culture difficult to change.
When you come into a new workplace, that workplace might have existed for hundreds of years, and while it has changed a lot over time, there may still be remnants of the past living amongst the new generation. A workspace that has been male-dominated for as long as it has existed will most likely still have some archaic ideas about women, and this applies to all facets of a work culture. Hustle culture isn’t something new and has existed for a long time. It was rejuvenated and reinforced through American capitalism and neo-liberalism, and proclaimed a global ideal through commercialising the American dream, but it’s much older than that. It can be difficult to believe that hard work pays off when you slave away under the yoke of capitalism, and you work for the benefit of anonymous shareholders, but the thing is that the best way to make a convincing lie is to apply truth to it, and to then distort it.
Hard work does pay off, and you should be willing to work hard, but that hard work doesn’t look like hustle culture, and it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. How do we alleviate the pressure to work harder and to achieve more without giving up completely? Well, we find the joy in the work, and that’s what this post will be focusing on, specifically in regards to creative work.
Today, in this global culture of having to capitalise on every interest and hobby we have, there seems to be no space for just doing things for fun or for the thing itself. A lot of us find ourselves unmotivated to do things we love, simply because it doesn’t fulfil some social or career benefit. I also hear from a lot of people that they wouldn’t want to work with their hobbies and make a living from them because they worry that it would take away all the joy from doing these things. So, how do we find the joy of art in hustle culture?
When it comes to finding joy, it’s about embracing small moments that spark happiness and setting intentions to seek out positivity and engaging with both heart and mind. Another important thing is to remove stress factors and internal blocks which would rob us of happiness. There are three main points we will be discussing to reduce stress and to help us get closer to joy when we engage with art. The first step of this journey is not to lose sight of what surrounds us as we focus on the end result.
Focus on Journey, Not the Destination
Life’s all about the journey and not the destination, which is the same for us all. It’s important to remember this, especially in an artistic practice. One shouldn’t focus too much on the end result, because if we obsess over the finished product, we can lose touch with the process itself, and this is the real meat and potatoes of any creative work. If you only love having a finished thing to show off, then the process will never be fun because it’s a real struggle sometimes. No matter what artistic practice you follow, there are eventual hiccups and hurdles in your way, and if that part of the process isn’t enjoyable to you, you will only suffer more.
When you hike up a mountain only for the perfect photoshoot from the peak, you get about 5 minutes of fun, and you lose out on all those hours it took to get there to the top. Don’t lose sight of your hike, immerse yourself in the whole experience, and there is so much more joy to derive from it. Sure, it’s fun to get to the end and to have a tangible thing in your hand you’ve made, but that is the shortest part of the process, and if you only focus on this, you miss out on so much. It’s especially easy to focus on the destination when we compare ourselves to others on social media, because in this digital space, most of what we see is that end product and final result, not the long and tedious journey there. If we concern ourselves only with clout and the approval of others through social media, then we also lose a lot of joy in our own artistic journey.
Comparison is the thief of joy, but more importantly, if we only seek external validation through social media, we’re going to get frustrated with ourselves constantly, and sometimes not because of our own work or fault. If we set unrealistic expectations that we have to perform a certain way to appease the algorithm, it will rob us of a lot of happiness. So don’t create or make art to show off, do it for yourself. You don’t even have to share it with the world if you find that takes away the joy you get from doing it. Art isn’t a competition, and it’s not about finishing first; it’s about enjoying the activity itself and immersing oneself in the creative process.
Focusing on the journey is important, but it can be difficult if there’s external pressure to perform a certain way, and that pressure isn’t always societal or trivial; it can be threatening your livelihood if you make a living doing art, and that pressure can really take away the joy you derive from the process.
Financial Security
This one isn’t always straightforward, and telling someone who works full-time with a creative job to get a “real job” isn’t always helpful. However, especially if you’re starting out or you want to make your hobby into a full-time job, it might be wise not to give up your financial security entirely. With the threat of financial debt or bankruptcy looming over your head, it can be tough to find the joy in art. This insecurity is at the heart of hustle culture.
Financial liability can be a massive stress factor, and if art is your sole income, it creates this larger pressure to perform and to sell. This is the fear that holds back a lot of creators from pursuing their dreams of making a living from it, and this fear is further fueled by family members and societal norms. This stress can really take away a lot of the joy of art, and making art in squalor might be the social expectation, but it is not healthy. If you have to create from a place of fear or desperation, then you’re not going to enjoy the process.
What exactly financial security entails is different from person to person, and I can’t give you a list of all the possible methods to make money, but some sort of steady income or financial aid can be very important in alleviating the stress of having to pay bills and so on. There are a lot of ways to save money, and sometimes you don’t need a whole lot. You might not need to work a full-time 9-5, or maybe you do. It depends on a lot of circumstances and external factors. There is no clear-cut definition of what this entails.
Maybe a part-time job is enough, maybe you can get funding while studying, or maybe you just make enough money from side gigs to not have to worry too much about your entire income coming from your art. Cutting down on costs, bills and having alternative ways of an income can allow you to make art not for the sake of selling and commercialising your work, but instead allow you to create from a passion for the craft. Financial security, as boring as it is, can remove a lot of stress factors and allow you to find joy in your artistic process.
It’s important to remember that hustle culture tries to sell you this idea that it’s never enough and that you always need more, and thus always have to keep working for more. This isn’t true, and if you’re smart about your money, you should know when enough is enough and when you can let go of worrying about hoarding more gold. Be open to finding new ways to pay your upkeep, and with your finances secured, you can begin to find the joy of art in new ways.
The Power of Novelty
We’re told about the power of habits and how we have to do the same thing over and over if we want to master it, and while consistency and repetition are important, it can also take away the joy we find in our practices. Eating the same meal every day might be easy and save you time and mental energy, but for most of us, it becomes boring after a while, and the meal loses its joy. It’s the same with art, and there’s a real power in novelty and new things. Experimentation removes the pressure of perfection and not only helps us grow in our artistic practices but also can help us find the fun in the process.
Trying new things, new methods or even a completely different art practice can help us gain new, valuable insight and give us new ideas. Maybe you’ll find something you like, and a way of doing something in a much more enjoyable way. This keeps your artistic process fresh and exciting, and novelty is a powerful tool for finding the joy of art.
A big part of the artistic journey, and life in general, is exploration and discovering new things. It appeals to us on a very fundamental level. From this mindset of experimentation, we can also remove a lot of stress factors, and if we allow ourselves to create freely without prerequisites and expectations, we can liberate ourselves from this self-imposed misery and instead begin to focus on the delight of creativity.
Novelty can open a lot of doorways in your artistic process, doorways which hold off stress from entering your mind and also allow joy to come through. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try something new, actively seek it out and if you find yourself stuck in a rut or overwhelmed by the responsibility of repetition, break out and try something new.
Final Words
It’s easy to lose touch with the part of art that makes you fall in love with it initially, especially when we commercialise and sell out our dreams as a part of appeasing hustle culture. The constant need to make money to validate ourselves and our existence is a sure way to have all your happiness leave your body and to lose touch with your creativity. Hard work does pay off, but you have to find the joy and pleasure in it. Finding your passion isn’t an easy task, and even when you’ve found it, you have to keep those flames alive; if you don’t give that fire fuel, it will eventually fade and die. By being present, we can cultivate that passion and joy in our artistic practice and by removing factors of stress, we can help reconnect with the joy of art.
Focusing on the journey instead of the destination helps us keep sight of our surroundings and develop mindfulness in regards to the process itself. If we don’t ground ourselves in that journey, we risk missing out on a lot of joy in it because we’re so hung up and focused on the end result. Leave perfectionism behind as you set out on your art journey and find the joy in the process itself, share it with the world if you like to but don’t get too attached to validation from others, do your art for yourself first and foremost because you enjoy it and don’t worry about whether others like it or not. Keep stress in check and let go of high expectations.
Keep an eye out for external stress factors as well, find stability in your life, and you will find it easier to enjoy things when your mind is clean from hidden things gnawing at the back of your mind. If you work full-time with art, it can be stressful to have to perform economically a certain way, and it can take away a lot of joy from the process, having to or feeling like you have to do things a certain way to continue paying your upkeep. As boring as it is, financial security can do wonders for making you feel relaxed and enjoying your creative process more. Don’t be ashamed to work other jobs or find other streams of income, and despite what hustle culture tells you, you don’t have to commercialise and become a millionaire from your hobbies alone. You can do them just for the fun of it.
Don’t impose limits on yourself and don’t let them hold you back; feel free to experiment and find new ways to do what you love. Novelty is a powerful thing that can really ignite that spark again and help you fall in love with creativity again. Experimenting and exploring can remove a lot of stress if you let go of expectations, and it can also spark joy in so many ways as you find new things you like. Don’t be afraid to try new things, and don’t focus too much on only doing one thing; feel free to take up other creative practices. It will help you grow and develop as a person and deepen your skill and understanding, even if they are not of the same discipline.
Don’t let hustle culture take away your joy of art.
