Creativity in Covid
By Aisling Hanrahan
Pictured: Francis Lawrence
In March 2020 I was running from room to room in Áras na Mac Léinn, from rehearsal to rehearsal preparing for the Irish Student Drama Awards that was set to take place in April. My bag was constantly filled with scripts (most covered in coffee stains), notebooks, and props for whatever rehearsal I was heading into. This was what my life looked like, a chaotic mix of lectures, caffeine, and theatre. This all came to a halt when Leo Varadkar announced that we were going to be off college for two weeks due to the pandemic. That two weeks turned into two months, turned into a year and here we are. As a drama student, and I’m sure many other people can relate, everything regarding my future became very uncertain. The industry that I had been studying to go into had completely shut down. Theatres across the world were closing with no promise of reopening and very little in terms of government support. Artists across the world were being told to retrain, to develop more ‘useful’ skills, even though everyone had turned to art to keep themselves sane (yes, I’m talking about you binge-watching Bridgerton). Something that has become increasingly understood during this pandemic is that having free time doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in the right space to create. Creating things is hard. It takes time and dedication and energy and at the moment things are harder than usual. As with any type of work, being creative becomes far more challenging when you’re feeling stressed or upset. This is something I have had to come to terms with. Especially when I feel that being creative is something I love, but not something that comes particularly easy to me. If you’re struggling to be creative during this time, make sure to focus on yourself and your wellbeing first. It is so important to not tie your creativity to your self-worth. Don’t feel that you’re not doing enough or not making good enough use of your free time because right now even that free time is stressful. If you want create something, do it! Why not? Whether it takes the form of writing, painting, dancing or anything else, what’s the worst that could happen? Don’t worry about holding yourself to the same standard as you would in pandemic free times, just focus on making something that you want to make. If you make something you’re not happy with, that’s okay! Learn from it and try again.
