Be Your Own Propagandist

01 Jan, 2026

We have to be our own propagandists. Our own marketers. Our own whistleblowers. We have to toot our own horn. Nobody else is coming to do that for us. As an artist, it is extremely difficult to accept that the burden of hyping our art rests squarely on our shoulders. There is no one arriving to do that work on our behalf. We are the ones who know our art intimately enough to know which parts deserve amplification.

But the curse of the artist is this: the moment they are forced to become their own propagandist, they begin to see the cracks. They realise their work is good—perhaps even competent—but not great enough, at least in their own eyes, to command attention. An artist is a living paradox. He craves validation, yet fears its repercussions just as deeply. I am guilty of this myself. For years, I was ashamed of wearing my identity as a writer. I wrote countless essays only to delete them. Even today, my blog hosts over 200 essays on various subjects, and yet I have barely shared its address with anyone.

This paradox partly stems from the way people conflate my identity with my writing. That, in itself, is not the problem. The problem arises when they consume my work through the same biases with which they view me. Such flawed consumption almost never produces honest feedback. Responses tend to be either excessively appeasing or unnecessarily harsh. If they dislike me, they dismiss my ideas. If they like me, they praise my work uncritically. The possibility of independent, objective feedback disappears entirely.

Yet, as an artist, one must eventually summon the courage to toot one’s own horn. If you are an artist—regardless of what you create—you must be shameless enough to promote yourself. You may choose not to hype your art, but at the very least, you must declare that you are an artist. You have to stop being embarrassed by that identity. Wear it with pride. If you cannot take pride in your own art, what is the point of creating it at all? Validation cannot determine the existence of art. It may influence its commercial value, but it does not negate its right to exist.

Wear your creativity on your sleeve. Do not hesitate to showcase your ability to think differently. Creativity is a gift from God. Mine often feels more like a curse—something born of mental unrest—but I digress. If we do not own our art, who else will? It is foolish to expect others to accept or champion our work when we ourselves lack faith in it.

So be unapologetic about your craft. Do not stop until every single human out there is hyping it. And maybe not even then.