Reimagining Creative Community

Dismantling internalized capitalism to create expansive creative communities.

Jan 12, 2025

The Symphony of Human Consciousness Is Circular, Not Hierarchical

I've been thinking about something that's been weighing on my heart lately: the way we've been conditioned to view creative work as a ladder to climb, rather than a circle to expand.

Here's what I mean.

Between writing sessions, when I’m inevitably yapping on threads, I connect with other creators that I respect (and in many instances have come to love their work deeply). I have been lucky enough that most of the time, I feel an energy of unconditional support, rather than tension.

But that’s not always the case.

Among certain creators, there's an unspoken belief that we're all competing for the same finite resources: readers' attention, publishing opportunities, social media engagement. A belief that there isn’t enough attention, or time, or humanness in the world to support all of our endeavors equally.

We've internalized capitalism's hierarchical model so deeply that we've started applying it to something as boundless as human creativity.

And I have to tell you… those creators have it utterly wrong.

Breaking Free from the Hierarchy Illusion

The traditional model of success in creative fields looks like a pyramid. At the bottom, countless emerging writers struggle for recognition. In the middle, mid-list authors fight to maintain their position. At the top, a select few "successful" writers seem to have made it. We're taught to believe that there's only room for so many at each level—that someone else's success somehow diminishes our own opportunities.

This model isn't just flawed—it's actively harmful to the very essence of what creative work is meant to be.

When we view creativity through this competitive lens, we start making choices that constrict rather than expand our work. We might hold back from sharing resources with fellow writers, seeing them as competitors rather than collaborators. We might chase trends instead of truth, seeking marketability over meaning. We might measure our worth by our ranking on bestseller lists rather than the depth of our exploration.

But here's the truth that's changed everything for me: Writers aren't competing with one another. We're composing a symphony of human consciousness together.

The Circle of Creative Consciousness

Imagine, instead of a pyramid, a circle. In this model, every piece of writing, every story, every poem is not a step up or down but a point on the circumference, expanding the circle outward.

When one writer succeeds in touching something true, in illuminating some aspect of human experience, the entire circle grows larger. There's no up or down, no better or worse—just different points on the same expanding horizon of human understanding.

This isn't just poetic metaphor. It's a practical reality of how consciousness and creativity actually work.

When Virginia Woolf explored the stream of consciousness technique, she didn't diminish other writers' techniques or opportunities—she expanded the possibilities for all of us. When James Baldwin wrote about race and identity with unflinching honesty, he didn't take something away from other writers—he showed us all what was possible and shaped the way for how many of us write and explore ourselves now. When Ursula K. Le Guin challenged the boundaries of science fiction, she didn't close doors—she opened new ones for everyone who came after her.

The Power of Mutual Aid in Creative Communities

This is where the concept of mutual aid becomes crucial. In a circular model of creativity, helping another writer succeed isn't just altruistic—it's an investment in the expansion of our collective creative possibility.

What does this look like in practice?

Sharing knowledge freely, knowing that teaching others doesn't diminish our own expertise
Celebrating others' successes as victories for the entire creative community
Creating support systems and resource networks that lift everyone's work
Offering feedback that seeks to expand rather than judge
Building platforms that amplify multiple voices rather than promoting only our own

Beyond Competition: Writing as Spiritual Exploration

When we free ourselves from the competitive model, we can finally focus on what writing is truly about: exploring the deepest questions of existence.

Why are we here? What does it mean to be conscious? How do we make sense of our brief time in these bodies?

Each piece of writing is an expedition into these mysteries. Some of us explore through fiction, creating worlds that help us understand our own. Others dive deep into poetry, trying to capture the ineffable in carefully crafted verses. Still others use essays and memoirs to examine the raw material of lived experience.

None of these approaches competes with the others. Instead, they complement each other, offering different angles on the same vast mystery of consciousness.

A New Way Forward

The next time you feel that twinge of competitive anxiety about another writer's success, try this instead:

See their work as another instrument joining our collective symphony. Recognize that their voice doesn't diminish yours—it adds harmony to the larger composition we're all creating together.

Because ultimately, we're not here to compete. We're here to contribute our unique notes to the ongoing symphony of human consciousness. We're here to help each other understand what it means to be alive, to be aware, to be human.

And in that endeavor, there's no such thing as competition—only collaboration in the greatest creative project humanity has ever undertaken: the exploration and expansion of consciousness itself.