Leaving the Trench

During World War I, being in the trenches did not mean advancing the cause. It meant status quo. No movement forward or backward. The point of trench warfare was to hold the enemy in place until they starved or ran out of supplies.

Once a protected place was established, hunkering down and defending was only natural. Bullets whizzed by overhead, shells exploded all around. Under those circumstances, surely sitting tight seems the only sane thing to do.

But to make any headway—to push back against the enemy lines—soldiers need to get out of the trenches. However, not in the way you might picture.

A frontal press with yelling and running yielded horrible results. There were some disastrous attempts to take ground that way in the early part of World War I. The carnage was awful. No, the successful efforts were undertaken from an unexpected side, or under cover of night. Finding an opportunity in the enemy’s defenses and moving in strategically.

As a creator, you can’t stay on the defensive or you will wither away. You must press forward, wisely and strategically. Try new mediums. Take new ground. Recycling old creativity that worked last time is what cover bands do.

And remember, it is art after all. Maybe you don’t need to be as careful when trying new things as you have been in the past. Elizabeth Gilbert, the novelist, reminds us, “We all know that when courage dies, creativity dies with it. We all know that fear is a desolate boneyard where our dreams go to desiccate in the hot sun. This is common knowledge; sometimes we just don’t know what to do about it.”

What is your trench? For some it’s a style of music. A venue. A set paycheck. Whatever it is, find a strategic way to push forward. You may get rejected or ridiculed, sure. It’s bound to happen. People can be mean. But taking new ground is worth it.

Don’t starve defending your current position. Keep moving ahead. Choose courage and end the stalemate. Your creativity depends on it.