Listen to This Episode

“The Creative Growth No One Applauds Still Counts“ on:

APPLE  | SPOTIFY | PANDORA

The Creative Growth No One Applauds Still Counts

Not all creative growth gets announced.

Some of it does not arrive with a contract, a role, a standing ovation, a surge in book sales, or an audience large enough to make you feel as though something has finally happened.

Some of it happens quietly.

You trust yourself a little more. You recover from rejection a little faster. You share your art before you feel completely ready. You stop asking every yes to prove that you matter and every no to prove that you don’t.

Because nobody applauds that kind of growth, it is easy to miss it.

Before you chase the next creative goal, it may be worth asking a different question:

What has actually changed in me?

Artists Are Trained to Count Visible Results

Artist life gives us plenty of public ways to measure progress. Did you book the role? Did the book sell? Did your audience grow? Did someone important notice? Did the opportunity lead to another opportunity?

You publish the book, then watch the sales. You receive the invitation, then worry about making the most of it. You record the podcast, then check how many people listened. You submit the audition, then wait for somebody else to tell you what it meant.

The next result can become so loud that it erases your memory of who you had to become to get this far.

Artists can keep growing while feeling as though nothing is changing because we are only counting the changes other people can see.

Achievement Is Not the Whole Story

I can name visible developments in my own creative life. I published Audacious Artistry. I am preparing for a TEDx stage. I have continued acting through rejection. I have kept building the Healthy Wealthy Wise Artist Podcast and a wider platform for artists.

I am deeply grateful for those things. But they are not the whole story.

The deeper change is that I trust myself more as an artist.

Publishing a book was a significant yes, but it was not a finish line. Putting the book into the world created another set of questions: Will it reach enough people? Will the artists who need it find it? Am I doing enough to support it?

I still care about those results. But I no longer need every visible result to settle my identity for me.

Preparing for TEDx is also asking me to show up before I know exactly how the public moment will unfold. The event is still ahead of me. There is preparation, rehearsal, refining, and the vulnerability of standing behind an idea I believe matters.

I am not showing up because I have become fearless. I am showing up because fear no longer gets the final decision.

Acting rejection still hurts. Silence is still difficult. I still want the role. But a no does not have the same power to erase me that it once did. I can be disappointed without turning one disappointment into a verdict on my entire artistry.

That is growth too.

Some Growth Is Hard to Photograph

We often confuse achievement with growth because achievement is easier to photograph.

You can photograph the book, the award, the stage, the gallery, the premiere, or the contract.

It is much harder to photograph self-trust.

You cannot easily display the moment when rejection stopped owning the whole week. Nobody sends you flowers because you made the art before you knew whether anybody wanted it. There is no standing ovation for refusing to abandon yourself while you wait.

But those changes may be some of the strongest evidence that you are becoming the artist your next opportunity will require.

Achievement records an event. Growth changes your capacity.

Achievement says, “This happened.”

Growth says, “I can carry more truth, risk, disappointment, responsibility, and visibility without losing myself.”

That distinction matters because visible results will always be uneven. There will be seasons when the yeses come close together and seasons when they do not come at all.

If visible achievement is your only proof of growth, every quiet season will feel like failure.

But your inner growth is not a consolation prize for the success you have not received yet. It is part of your success.

Before You Chase the Next Goal, Look Again

Before asking, “What have I achieved?” try asking:

What can I carry now that an earlier version of me could not?

Maybe you can hear no without disappearing for six months. Maybe you can finish something imperfect. Maybe you can call yourself an artist without immediately producing your résumé as evidence.

Maybe you can promote your art without believing visibility makes you arrogant. Maybe you can watch someone else receive the opportunity you wanted and return to your own life more quickly. Maybe you can admit that you want significant success without asking success to tell you who you are.

Try finishing this sentence:

A year ago, this would have undone me. Today, I can…

Do not make the answer impressive. Make it true.

Visible results matter. Celebrate them. Work toward them. Let yourself want them.

But do not let them become the only evidence that your creative life is moving.

The role counts. The book counts. The stage counts. The audience counts.

So does the courage it took to remain an artist when nobody was offering you proof.

The creative growth no one applauds still counts.

Go Deeper with Audacious Artistry

If this episode spoke to something in you, my book Audacious Artistry: Reclaim Your Creative Identity and Thrive in a Saturated World goes deeper.

This article is adapted from the Healthy Wealthy Wise Artist Podcast episode:

Listen to This Episode

“The Creative Growth No One Applauds Still Counts“ on:

APPLE  | SPOTIFY | PANDORA

Or visit the podcast page:
https://larabiancapilcher.com/podcast

With you as you keep creating,
— Lara Bianca Pilcher

---

Connect with Lara

Website:
https://larabiancapilcher.com

Instagram:
https://instagram.com/larabiancapilcher