THE WAVE SESSIONS: CREATIVE CONSISTENCY
Waves are consistent.
No matter the weather, season, or time of day, they constantly move. They are consistently going somewhere, always. They go in a specific direction, and like a riptide, nothing will pull them or distract them from where they are going. The closer you are to the shore, the easier it is to see the purpose and intent of the waves. But if you are in the middle of the ocean with no shoreline in sight, it is hard to see exactly what the waves are doing. Sure, they are always moving, ebbing and flowing, but to where? There are waves moving stubbornly to the west and at the same time waves traveling directly east. It’s easy to be caught in the middle and feel as if you and the waves are going absolutely nowhere. But that is the thing about consistency. Whether you see the movement or not, whether you feel the movement or not, consistency will inevitably take you somewhere, whether you like it or not. And that is the thing about waves. They aren’t moved by their present circumstances, not by a sunny day or a rainy day.
If you have been a creative your entire life, or you are an Instagram celebrity with a million followers, or you don’t have a clue what you are doing and all you have is an idea, know this: If you consistently do nothing, you will consistently see no results. None of your ideas will come to life. If you consistently start projects and quit halfway through, you will consistently finish nothing. But, if you choose to be consistent in your creativity, no matter what it may be, you will inevitably discover something. That something may be a shoreline or a purpose behind it all or merely the discovery of a direction you don’t want to go. No matter what it is, it is certainly something, somewhere. Waves may not move in the same direction all the time but they consistently move. They consistently rise and fall, and try. Bigger waves may come and overwhelm them, ships may come and divide them, but they never stop. Creative consistency is so much like the sea. Full of movements and ideas, but where to begin? You may have an idea; you may be an artist ready to change the world! Consistency for you may be drawing every single day. You may not have a clue where to begin on any level of creativity, but you want to try. So consistently try something new every day. Start something and finish it.
The sea is one of the strongest forces of nature, and as a creative, so are you. The sea isn’t perfectly calm or an ever-raging tempest. It changes color, it changes directions, it rises and then it falls, but every wave consistently moves. It is powerful and stands out even on planet earth because there are miles of this world that never move an inch. Creative consistency — it makes a difference and is powerful no matter your degree or experience. It matters because there are millions of people who never try at all, millions of ideas that are started and never finished. Whatever your endeavor may be today, be consistent. Start somewhere and keep going. Keep trying, and finish what you have started.
You may start in the middle of the ocean and end up on the shoreline of paradise. You may start as a dot in the rolling sea and end up feeling just as lost as ever, but at least then you will know at one direction you do not want to go. Those who do absolutely nothing will never discover that truth, or anything at all.
Be consistent. Start today, and then start again tomorrow.