Overcoming Our Fear to Create

Written by Danielle Karthauser

There is a scene in Chapter 2 of Florence when Florence comes across a box of old art projects she had created as a seven year old. She is reminded of her childhood and how happy she was when she was creating. Yet she also remembers the friends she had at that age and how they drifted apart as she grew older and her mother who insisted she focus on a more reliable career than the arts. She wishes that she could regain that creative spirit again.

I’ve been there. We’ve all been there, right? As creatives, we all have lost our way some time or another when it comes to our passion. We all have looked back on times when it felt easy to create. We have all sat in front of a computer screen or a piece of paper and wanted to create something but nothing happens. All we can do is rack our brains to try to release what is trapped inside, but we somehow can’t access. It is there, so close that we can practically touch it, but it remains in the shadows. Creating things is hard, and Florence understands this.

While the story’s primary focus is on the romance between Florence and Krish, interwoven is a story about Florence learning to create again. At the game’s start, it is clear that Florence is very unhappy with her life. Finding the box of old art projects ignites a spark inside of her and slowly throughout the game she addresses the things that have held her back. Creativity is not always easy.

Florence examines many avenues in which creativity can be stifled and repressed. From a young age, her mother did not encourage what she loved. She would rather her daughter put more effort into what is viewed as a solid career. This is something that many creative people have experienced - the war between pursuing your passion and making enough money to live a comfortable life. It isn’t wrong that Florence’s mom wants her daughter to be successful, but in the process it can make someone feel demoralized. Many people, like Florence, experience their parents saying these things at a young age. This idea is internalized - that creativity is inherently not worth your time and leaves many people feeling unhappy, as Florence is at the start of the game.

But it isn’t just direct experiences like these that can hurt our creativity. Many creative people will experience feelings of inadequacy. Florence loses her friends as she gets older and experiences loneliness everyday in her adult life. Social media doesn’t make things any easier. When we feel as if we are inadequate, or an impostor, it is difficult to move past these negative thoughts and truly make something that is true to ourselves.

On top of this, it is easy to become bitter when your creative endeavors don’t go anywhere. Krish goes through this throughout the game. He begins wide eyed and optimistic, but after a year and his passion at a stand still, he is frustrated. This frustration carries over into his personal life with Florence.

All of this builds up and can make us afraid to create anything. When Krish gives Florence paint, it gets buried beneath a bunch of stuff. She pushes him to pursue his dream, for fear of actually pursuing her own.

Florence returns to her painting after experiencing heartbreak and begins to create more often. The game ends with her creative passion being her full time career. While I have critiqued this ending already in another piece, I think this sense of optimism can bring hope to all of us who struggle with creativity and pursuing creativity in a larger capacity than just sometimes on the weekends. I struggle with creativity all of the time and much of this is rooted in my fear of failure and fear of rejection. We all have something that holds us back. Florence paints a portrait of the obstacles that keep us from creating, and stands firm in the notion that these obstacles aren’t permanent. The game shows us where these obstacles can come from and depicts a positive portrayal of someone overcoming them. It reminds us that we too can move past the things that hold us back.