DESERTS OF CREATIVITY
The funny thing about any sort of creativity is that no matter how many times you’ve done something, you still have to begin again with each and every project or idea. When the ideas are yours, the world has never seen them before, which means you probably haven’t either. There’s hardly a guide or a map; more like an open road that we have to begin walking down. Each idea begins as something that has yet to exist, yet to be discovered. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have accomplished; each beginning or process comes with a split second of the iconic question: Can I do this? If we aren’t equipped with our essentials, then our answer to that question can easily flip a wonderful process into a desert of wandering. And even through the process of working without inspiration or motivation when the dry spells come, we can already be equipped with what we need to walk through the process. If you have water in the desert, you can enjoy the view and perspective. If you didn’t pack the water beforehand, you will not only be lacking an essential resource to life but also an incredible view of the world around you, right where you are.
Know your purpose.
Why do you do what you do? You may do well at the beginning of any process, fueled by inspiration and motivation, but eventually even those things meet friction in comparison and validation. What about how that person does it better? You’ll never be able to do what they can. Does it matter? Why you? Knowing your purpose, your why, cuts the comparison and eliminates the need for validation. These two things arguably weigh most on the back of any creative. We often don’t notice until we find ourselves in the deserts, the spaces where the unnecessary things weigh us down, burdening us. So don’t even bother bringing them into the process. Know your purpose. Know your why. Let that be what fuels you, what inspires you through the process.
Set the Standard of Freedom.
It is essential that we stop comparing our lowlights to everyone’s highlights. Comparing our beginnings to other’s peaking career. Give yourself space to not know it all. To learn, to mess up, to make mistakes. Set the standard of freedom. Freedom to not know, freedom to learn, freedom to fail. Even Picasso had to stare at a blank canvas each and every time he began. Do you have any idea how many rough drafts Dr. Seuss had to write? When you know your Purpose, you can set this standard of Freedom. Because with the knowledge of Purpose comes the freedom to try. And try again. To fail, fail again, to begin, and begin again. What you are doing and how you are dreaming matters; and not even a moment of failure needs to be wasted on insecurity.
You have nothing to Prove.
Although your work will often reflect who you are, it is not who you are. It is a balance, intertwining convictions with creativity, but at the end of the day, your productivity does not equal the value of your purpose. Your Purpose and Worth stands alone, apart from your work. You have nothing to prove. You don’t have to prove why it matters or why it is important to you. You don’t have to prove or justify why you’re still learning or why you want to try something new. You already have a purpose and a standard of freedom – you don’t have to prove anything.
I say, let’s be a generation of Creatives that ends the martyrdom of it all.
The idea that you have to always be insecure and doubt the dreams stirred up within you. Be a generation to plant seeds in these deserts of creativity. Be a generation that carries your essentials, starting with this: Know your why. What is the purpose? Why do you do what you do? Why do you draw? Paint? Write? Photograph? Create?