I’ve been wrestling with my conscience a lot lately.
A ton actually.
Well, let’s be honest…… ALL THE DAMN TIME.
One of the most interesting facets of being creative is that we judge ourselves constantly.
I can only hope you do actually. If you aren’t constantly progressing your craft and reaching for that certain “perfection” then we can feel like we are going nowhere. It some ways that is true. If creative work is your career then you have to be willing to work work work. I have had quite a few conversations lately with close friends about how they have been struggling. We tend to get caught up in what we should be doing, what we wish we were doing and our current emotions.
That’s something we deal with as creative people.
It’s so easy to compare ourselves to others. If they offer wisdom and quality in their work it is good to look up to those you respect, but it can be deadly waters if you start comparing your life to theirs.
That’s because we have to walk our own path, define our own choices and do what can be most influential for us and for those we love.
That’s a tough battle for many of us. As artists, we have a selfish desire for attention, which is only natural. That’s what art does. It can be a healthy distraction actually. It takes us out of reality for a moment and leaves us wanting our imagination to become tangible.
And when the day dream is over you realize how much your life sucks. How much you wish you could make something just as cool as the image you are looking at. We begin to realize we have so much work to do.
So how do we fight that battle? How do we get to a point where we don’t feel that way anymore?
Well first you have to realize that you will always look up to other people and envy them. That’s a fact of life. We can’t do everything we want to do, but because of that it is so important that we do one thing to change our perspective.
The artists we envy are not people we should be upset with. They used to suck too. All artists start out making crappy work. It’s true. They put in the time, the energy and with a little bit of luck, made things happen for themselves. There are few that got luckier than others, but most artists take the long road to success. We should be celebrating their work and telling them how awesome their work is. Build friendships with them and support what they do. If there’s something about Art and culture that you want to learn more of, there are tons of reliable sites online for you to check out.
If you were in their shoes, wouldn’t you want others to do the same for you?
Second, you have to make sure you are always progressing in your work and never forgetting to celebrate every step of the way. If you can see how far you have come over years of commitment you will keep inspiring yourself to keep doing it. At the end of each year, go back and see what you were doing at the beginning. See how far you have come. It’s great.
Putting things in a bigger perspective is important. It provides a clarity.
When you feel like life is slow and you grow impatient, just keep going. You have to push yourself a little more than usual sometimes.
It sucks, but it’s worth it.
.
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