76: The Lie That's Keeping You from Making Art
Have you ever started a creative project and then stopped because you thought, "What's the point if no one will see it?" Or maybe you've wondered if your art even matters without the likes and shares.
If that sounds familiar, this week's episode is going to hit differently.
I sat down with artist and creative empowerment coach Lynette Melnyk to talk about the dangerous belief that's silently sabotaging so many of us: the idea that if our creativity isn't visible, it doesn't have value.
Spoiler alert—that's complete nonsense.
Here's what we dive into:
Why "visibility equals value" is the biggest creative myth of our time
What happens during those quiet "art cave seasons" when nobody's watching (hint: it's where the magic happens)
How art heals the maker first, before it ever touches anyone else
Why you're absolutely allowed to create just for you
Lynette shared something that gave me chills: "Every act of art is a quiet revolution." When you choose to create—whether it's a painting, a poem, or even a beautifully plated dinner—you're pushing back against a world that tells us everything has to be performed for others.
This episode is for you if you:
Have ever abandoned a creative project because "no one would see it anyway"
Feel guilty about spending time on hobbies that don't make money or go viral
Want to reconnect with what actually lights you up from the inside
By the end, you'll understand why your creativity isn't a luxury, it's a lifeline. Ready to start your own quiet revolution?
Mentioned in this episode:
Where to find Lynette: Website, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook
Lynette's free workshop: Spark Your Abstract Voice
HobbyScool's newsletter: https://newsletter.hobbyscool.com/profile
Key Topics Covered:
[02:30] The Lie of Visibility Equals Value - Why the belief that unseen art doesn't matter is keeping creators stuck and how to push back against performance culture
[05:00] Art Cave Seasons Explained - Understanding those quiet, experimental periods where nobody sees your work but real growth is happening underground
[07:30] Why Art Heals the Maker First - How creativity becomes a way of processing life and accessing emotions that have no words
[09:30] Expanding Your Definition of Art - From watercolor paintings to poetry to baking—creativity shows up in countless forms in our daily lives
[10:30] Permission to Create Imperfectly - The one message every creative needs to hear about starting now, not waiting for the perfect moment
Why Your Creativity Matters (Even When No One's Watching)
How many times have you started a creative project, only to abandon it because you thought, "What's the point if no one will see it?" Or maybe you've scrolled through social media, comparing your quiet creative moments to someone else's viral success, wondering if your art even matters without the likes, shares, and comments.
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. We live in a world obsessed with performance metrics, where visibility has become synonymous with value. But what if I told you that this mindset is not only wrong—it's actively sabotaging your creative potential?
In a recent conversation with artist and creative empowerment coach Lynette Melnyk, we dove deep into why the lie of "visibility equals value" is keeping so many of us from creating at all. Her insights challenge everything we've been taught about what makes art worthy, and her message might just revolutionize how you think about your own creative journey.
The Dangerous Lie That's Stealing Your Creativity
"Visibility equals value" sounds logical in today's world, doesn't it? We're bombarded with messages that if something doesn't go viral, get shared, or receive public recognition, it's somehow less meaningful. This narrative has become so ingrained in our thinking that many people never start creating because they assume no one will see their work.
But here's the truth: visibility and value are not the same thing. Think about the roots of a tree—they do their most essential work completely underground, invisible to everyone passing by. Yet without those unseen roots, the entire tree would collapse. The same principle applies to our creative work.
When you create something, even if no one else ever sees it, that act of creation doesn't just vanish into thin air. It moves you, teaches you, and often heals something within you that needed attention. The energy you release through making art has real impact—on your mood, your perspective, your sense of self—regardless of whether it ends up on Instagram or in a gallery.
This obsession with visibility keeps countless ideas locked away in people's minds and hearts. How many songs remain unwritten, paintings uncreated, or stories untold because their creators decided ahead of time that without an audience, there was no point in beginning? The tragedy isn't just in the lost art—it's in the lost healing, growth, and joy that comes from the creative process itself.
Embracing Your Art Cave Season
Lynette introduced me to a concept that immediately resonated: the "art cave season." This is that quiet, often lonely period where you're creating, experimenting, and yes, sometimes failing, but nobody is watching. It's when you might find yourself crying at the canvas, feeling discouraged, wondering if you're wasting your time.
If you've experienced this, congratulations—you're in good company. Nearly every creative person goes through these seasons, and here's what most people don't realize: this isn't failure. It's gestation.
During your art cave season, things are growing in the dark. Like those tree roots we talked about, you're developing your voice, strengthening your creative muscles, and learning to trust yourself—all essential skills that can't be rushed or performed for an audience. This is where your most transformational work happens, not because others see it, but because you're learning to see yourself more clearly.
One practical tip Lynette shared is to track your progress during these seasons. Take photos of your work, keep a creative journal, or simply date your pieces. You might not notice the small improvements day by day, but when you look back weeks or months later, you'll be amazed at how much you've grown. I've experienced this myself—pulling out projects from a year ago and being genuinely surprised by how much my skills had developed without me even realizing it.
The beauty of the art cave season is that it teaches you to create for internal reasons rather than external validation. When you're alone with your creativity, you learn what truly lights you up, what feels authentic to your voice, and what brings you genuine satisfaction. These are invaluable lessons that no amount of social media engagement can teach you.
How Art Heals the Maker First
Perhaps the most powerful insight from our conversation was Lynette's belief that "art heals the maker first." This isn't just a nice sentiment—it's a fundamental truth about why creativity matters, regardless of who sees the final product.
Art, in all its forms, serves as a way of processing life. It gives shape to emotions that have no words, provides an outlet for feelings we can't quite articulate, and offers a mirror to whatever is happening inside us. When Lynette described feeling an ache inside her that wasn't physical—a powerful feeling that demanded expression—I knew exactly what she meant. Most of us have experienced that inner urgency to create something, anything, just to make sense of what we're feeling.
The healing doesn't come from the finished product; it comes from the act of making itself. Whether you're painting, writing, baking, gardening, or crafting, the process of creation connects you to something deeper within yourself. It's a form of self-care that our distraction-heavy world desperately needs more of.
This healing aspect of creativity is why you're allowed—encouraged, even—to make art just for you. In a culture that constantly tells us to monetize our hobbies, optimize our leisure time, and justify our activities with productivity metrics, this permission feels almost revolutionary. But sometimes creating for yourself isn't just nice to have—it's essential for survival.
Think about the last time you lost yourself in a creative activity. Maybe it was doodling during a meeting, humming while cooking, or rearranging furniture in your living room. Remember that sense of presence, of being fully engaged with the moment? That's the healing in action. That's your creativity serving its most important function: bringing you back to yourself.
Expanding Your Definition of Art
One of the most liberating parts of our conversation was when Lynette expanded the definition of art beyond traditional creative mediums. Yes, painting and drawing are art, but so is writing poetry, baking a beautiful cake, cultivating a garden, or even the way you arrange items on your bookshelf.
This broader perspective removes so many barriers to creativity. You don't need to be "good at art" to benefit from artistic expression. You don't need expensive supplies, formal training, or even a dedicated space. Creativity is already woven into your daily life in ways you might not have recognized.
Consider the care you put into plating a meal, the thought you give to choosing your outfit, or the way you decorate your workspace. These are all creative acts that reflect your personal aesthetic and bring small moments of beauty into your world. When we expand our definition of art to include these everyday expressions, we realize we're all more creative than we thought.
This reframe also makes creativity more accessible during busy seasons of life. You might not have time for a two-hour painting session, but you can express creativity through the music you choose for your commute, the way you arrange flowers you picked up at the grocery store, or even how you tell a story to a friend. These micro-moments of creativity add up, contributing to your overall sense of well-being and creative fulfillment.
Your Creativity Is Your Lifeline
As our conversation wrapped up, Lynette shared what might be the most important message of all: your creativity isn't a luxury—it's a lifeline. In a world that often feels chaotic, overwhelming, and disconnected, creativity offers us a way back to ourselves, back to presence, back to what matters.
You don't need to wait for permission to start creating. You don't need to wait for the perfect moment, the right supplies, or an audience who will appreciate your work. You especially don't need to wait until you're "good enough" to justify the time and energy you invest in creative pursuits.
The ripple effects of your creativity start with you, but they don't end there. When you prioritize creative expression, when you make time for what lights you up from the inside, it changes how you show up in the world. You become more present, more authentic, more connected to your own sense of purpose. These qualities naturally influence your relationships, your work, and your overall approach to life.
Every act of creation is, as Lynette beautifully put it, "a quiet revolution." You're pushing back against the pressure to constantly produce and perform. You're choosing presence over productivity, authenticity over algorithm optimization. You're trusting that your inner world matters enough to be expressed, regardless of external validation.
The Revolution Starts With You
The next time you feel the urge to create something—whether it's a sketch, a song, a garden bed, or a particularly delicious sandwich—don't let the voice in your head talk you out of it with questions about who will see it or whether it's "worth" your time. Instead, remember that the act of creation itself is valuable, that your creativity serves you first and foremost, and that every moment you spend making something is a moment spent connected to what makes you uniquely you.
Your art matters. Your creativity matters. Even in the silence, even in the doubt, even in those messy, imperfect moments when you're not sure if what you're making is any good. It matters because it's yours, because it's real, and because it's part of something bigger than what any algorithm or applause meter could ever measure.
So go ahead—make the thing. Let it be imperfect. Let it be for you. Love it as it is, and while you're at it, love yourself as you are too. Because you're already powerful, your work already matters, and the magic starts with you taking that first creative step, audience or no audience.
The revolution is quiet, but it's yours to start.
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Welcome to the HobbyScool Podcast. Whether you're a seasoned hobbyist, or just getting started, HobbyScool is the perfect place to learn something new. My name is Dr. Destini Copp, and I'm your host of the podcast. But before we jump into our episode for today. The only thing I ask is if you enjoyed the episode, please share with a friend and give us an honest review on your favorite podcast platform.
This helps us get the content to more people. I also wanna invite you to get on our wait list for our next HobbyScool Online Learning Summit. These are free to attend, and you can find the link to join athobbyscool.com, which is also in our podcast show notes now. Sit back. Relax and enjoy the episode.
And my
[00:01:00] special guest today is Lynette Melnyk. Lynette is an artist, educator and creative empowerment coach who helps entrepreneurs and creatives go from self-doubt to self-trust. So they can unlock their full potential and feel energized in their everyday lives. And Lynette, thank you so much. I am super excited to be here with you today and I know we're gonna have a wonderful conversation.
But before we get into all the questions I have for you, can you tell the good audience just a tiny bit more about you and how you help people? Oh, thank you, Destini. I'm just thrilled to be here and thank you for having me. A little bit more about me is that. This is probably career number 3.2, but, throughout that I have all this experience.
And what I'm at the stage right now is I love to help people reconnect with what lights them up from the inside, because it ripples into every part of their life and affects so much more. We have magic within
[00:02:00] us that needs to be brought out. I am excited about our conversation today because I think that this is a message that all of us really do need to hear.
And I have gone to your website. I've kind of dug into all of your information. I've gone to some of your YouTube videos, and I really wanna talk about some of the. Things that you, you communicate to people. One of the things you talk about is the lie of visibility equals value as an artist.
And tell us a little bit more about what does that mean for us as a creator? That visibility equals value because we live in this world obsessed with performance and perfection. And they say, if no one sees it doesn't matter, or if it doesn't go viral, it's not valuable.
And that narrative we keep hearing, sounds like logic
[00:03:00] in today's world. And we start to believe it. But it's a lie. But visibility, it's not the same thing as value. And I'll give you some examples. Just because something isn't seen, it doesn't mean it's lacking meaning think about the roots of a tree, they do most of their essential work underground, completely invisible to us.
And the same is true for so many of our creative processes. The energy we release through our art when we're making it, it doesn't just vanish because there's no one there to watch it. It moves us it heals us and it teaches us, and it's real. And I think this lie about visibility equals value.
Keeps a lot of people from making anything at all, which really is quite sad, isn't it? Because they think if no one's going to see it, why bother? But that learned belief is what keeps so many. Ideas from your
[00:04:00] soul, from ever coming to life. And the truth is, and I love this idea, every act of art is a quiet revolution.
Every act of creating is a quiet revolution. You are pushing back against the noise and against that pressure to produce and to perform and to be like everybody else. And you choose, you're choosing to be present instead to be real. And that's a revolution, and that's the energy that ripples out into the world.
You may never know how much your creativity affects others. It changes how you feel, how you think, how you're living your life. And how you're connecting with others, and that's how the ripples start. I love what you said that, and I may be, not getting it entirely right, but the act of art, cre or the creativity, the, what you're doing in, in the a as part of that process creates that
[00:05:00] revolution.
And I was thinking about, okay. That's why I love to see behind the scenes of an artist not necessarily when they have the finished piece. But the whole process they took to get there. Right. Love that. Another thing that you talk about is the art cave season.
So can you tell us a little bit more about that? What do you mean by that, and why is it so important in the creation process? Of course. And probably nobody has heard of this because I think I'm the only one that calls it that to myself. But it's something that I've lived through more than once and I'm sure that most creatives have as well.
Even though I don't have a true name for it, it's the season where you're creating, but nobody is seeing it. Maybe you're experimenting trying new things and failing. Maybe you're crying at the canvas and you're discouraged. I know I've been there many times it's a quiet time, and it can feel like you're
[00:06:00] doing it all for nothing.
But here's what I've learned this season it isn't failure, if that's what you're thinking. It's GEs station and things are growing in the dark and like tree roots you're finding your voice and strengthening your creative muscles, even if it doesn't feel like it.
And one thing that's really important is when you're going through this process to almost track what you're doing because you may not see the small little steps that you're doing until a ways down the road. You look back at your journey and realize, oh my gosh, look at what I used to do then, and look at where I am now.
So it's a good idea to keep track of your work so you can look back and some of that most transformational work happens in this unseen cave and the work you create in it it's wonderful because it teaches you to trust yourself while you're in there alone, not the algorithms and not the applause,
And so that's what
[00:07:00] the beauty of it is. I love that. So track what you're doing so you can kind of watch your progress. I think we make a lot of progress in everything that we're doing. I know I've gone back and looked at some of the, projects that I did, even a year ago and I brought 'em out, looked at 'em a few weeks ago and I'm like, wow, I got a lot better.
But I didn't even realize how much better I had gotten until I went back and looked at what I had done. So I love what you're talking about there and how you're kind of growing in the dark, right? Exactly. I know that you also talk about how art heals the maker first. I love that, and I wanna delve into this a little bit more with you.
Can you walk us through, what do you mean when you say that? this is a cornerstone of everything I believe. Because art is a way of processing life. It gives form to emotions that have no words.
[00:08:00] And when I say art, it can be creativity in any form. the art heals the maker first is you are allowed to make art for you.
And in fact, sometimes that's the only way to survive. there was one time I remember that happened to me. I had this ache inside of me, and it wasn't a physical ache. it was such a powerful feeling that I couldn't ignore it. And I realized that something in me, needed to express myself.
I needed to do something. And that's when I say that art heals the maker first. the creative process isn't just about what comes out of it. It's about what gets healed within you through the act of making. it can be a painting a funny poem a song a beautiful flower garden or delicious baking.
It's not about the product, it's about your presence and your art becomes a mirror to whatever is
[00:09:00] inside of you. It's a way to access your emotions that you didn't even know were inside of you. Like when this powerful feeling was inside of me and I just had to get it out, and even if no one sees the work, it still mattered because it brought you back to yourself, which is really so important in this world that constantly tells us.
To disconnect or to be distracted or to rush or to ignore our inner lives, that kind of reconnection to ourselves. It's so important. And I think the key message that you mentioned there was that you are allowed to make art just for you. Absolutely. I love that. The other thing I like as you were going through that is art is more than just doing like a watercolor painting.
You mentioned you can create a poem, you can do some delicious baking. I mean, all of [00:10:00] that can be considered art. So really anything that we wanna kind of dip our toes into and try as a hobby or go through that creative process, really the world is our oyster. Exactly. Well said. I love that. so Lynette, before we wrap it up here and we tell everybody where they can connect with you, what is one message that you want, everyone who is listening to this today, take away from our conversation?
Oh, what I wanna say is that your art matters. Your creativity matters, even in the silence. Even in your doubt, even in the messy times, the weird times that not sure if this is any good moments that you have. Remember that your creativity, it's not a luxury, it's a lifeline. So don't wait for the audience.
Don't wait for
[00:11:00] permission to do it. Go out and make the thing. Let it be imperfect and let it be for you. Love it as it is. Also love you as you are because you're already powerful. Your work, it already matters and it's part of something bigger, even if you can't see it yet. And the amazing thing is it starts with you.
You start the ripples, you have the power, and how magical is that? Such a powerful message. creativity is the lifeline. It's our lifeline and we gain so much as we go through this process and we grow and we heal, and there's so much more that we can be doing.
Lynette, thank you so much for joining us today and I wanna let people know where they can find you and you don't need to worry about spelling everything out 'cause I'm gonna put the links in the show notes.
And you also have a free gift for them too. I do. And they can find me
[00:12:00] on it. I'm actually really easy to find if you know my name. So my website is Lynette Melnyk.com at my YouTube where I share all sorts of. Fun art demos and some life wisdom It's Lynette Melnyk. My Instagram is Lynette Melnyk Art and Facebook and LinkedIn is Lynette Melnyk.
So it's pretty darn easy to find me. I've created a free workshop. called Spark your Abstract Voice. And really it can be for anybody who's creating because it's the idea of just getting into, how to get ideas flowing and get out of a rut. that can be found on my website as well.
I'll make sure that the link for that free workshop is also in the show notes. And Lynette, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing all of your wonderful knowledge with us. Thank you so much for listening today. Don't forget to sign up for the wait list, so
[00:13:00] you'll be the first to know when our next free Hobby School Online Learning summit launches. The link is in the show notes for this episode, or you can go to hobby school.com and that's Hobby School, with School Without an H in it.
Talk soon.