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How many of us have been told that we must chose between making money and making art. Who gets to say that? Who gets to tell us that we can’t do ‘that’ and if we do, we’ll fail?

In The Icarus Deception, Seth Godin tells a story of a dancer who loves musical theatre but she spends 98% of her time trying to get picked. She goes from casting call to casting call, sends out head shots, and runs around chasing leads. Then, she deals with the “heartbreak of rejection” as her skills are disrespected and forgotten. “All so she can be in front of the ‘right audience’.”
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Who gets to say which audience is the right one? Who gets to say that you have to be “picked” if you want to play this game? As Seth says, it’s the people who pick that say that. The people in charge get to pick who wins.

What if you were in charge?
What if instead of spending energy trying to get picked, we spent it making art?
What would you make?
Where would you want people to see it?
Who would connect with it?

Who says that in order be successful you have to do ___________? Who says that? It depends on who’s in charge.

Happy Wednesday, Folks!

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The sun is out and the sky is blue. I’ve felt like Wally letting my solar panels recharge this week. The sunshine is good for my soul right now and that’s whats up.

Part of being a creative and making stuff for a living is taking some time to take care of yourself. Actually, if you don’t want to burn out, it’s probably the most important part. Because, even though we have a lot of responsibility and things we have to get done, what we really get paid for is to be creative. Which means if we want to keep making money we have to take care of ourselves.

So take a 5 minute walk outside today and soak it in. Or go for a hike this afternoon and leave your phone at home (don’t be scared!). Enjoy the sunshine and allow it to fuel your creativity this week.

Happy Tuesday, folks!

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Mediocre is a word we use in place of lazy sometimes. But what it actually means is “not very good.” But when we’re first starting out, that’s exactly what we are: Mediocre (at best!) and we know it! So we avoid starting because we’re scared that our work will be labeled as lazy or not good. But the truth is, it’s not fair to the world or to yourself to wait until you’re better to start making stuff. Be ok with where you are because it is ok.

We spend so much time rejecting mediocre, shaming mediocre, but the real problem is perfection. Waiting for the perfect time, the perfect situation, the perfect idea. It’s not coming. So just start, and figure it out as you go. Waiting around until you’re “good enough” is a cop-out. Perfectionism can kill a project faster than mediocrity ever could. Just understand that being awesome takes time and it takes work. A lot of work. It is going to take a while, as Ira Glass says, and it’s going to take you a while but you have to fight your way through by making a lot of work.

Never set up camp in mediocre. The goal is to fight your way out of there as soon as possible. It sucks there. But what sucks even more is not contributing because you don’t think it’s good enough. Our ability to make better work will come as we make more work. But being perfect never will. So let’s not wait for it. Get started, then keep making stuff.

Happy Tuesday!

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We’re creatives and humans. Everyone deals with comparison. And if they don’t, then they just talk about how they don’t… which means they do. The problem is that we do it to ourselves. We seek out ways to compare ourselves to others. We know how certain things make us feel based on past experience then we just big fat do it anyway. I heard our pastor say this weekend, “Comparison thinking will only leave you feeling one of two ways: Small or Smug.” Neither of those are good.

Jen calls it the Comparison Monster. The Comparison Monster is not on the prowl. It’s not out there waiting for us to come to it so it can pounce. It’s inside of us waiting for us to let it out, to be fed. Once it’s out, it will wreak havoc on your joy.
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So how do we deal with it?

1) Pay attention to triggers.
If you know something is going to send you over into comparison thinking just don’t go there. You wouldn’t go back to a restaurant you got food poisoning at right? If it makes you sick, don’t eat there. If it makes you feel like crap, don’t go there.

2) Don’t be afraid to “Unsubscribe.” (Even in real life.)
Honestly, if something is affecting your life in such away that it’s stealing your joy, it’s time to cut that thing loose. Also, if someone is making you feel like crap all the time, maybe it’s time to cut them loose as well. Pay attention to how people make you feel. And flip it around: Pay attention to how you make people feel.

3) Understand you’re not getting the whole story.
With the internet (Facebook, instagram, twitter) you see part of a story. The part that people allow us to see. The part we don’t see is the struggle, the mess, the clutter, and the stress…. The good parts of a story are always preceded by struggle. But I think the truth that we don’t want to admit is that the struggle is the good part. No one would read a book that started with a happy ending. We need the struggle. We need the wilderness.

4) Let it go.
Thinking we’re better than “they” are is also a poison. Smugness doesn’t look good on anyone. Let it go. Adele Dazeem (aka Idina Menzel) would say the same thing.

5) Don’t compare your success to their success.
I do this a lot. Don’t discount your success by comparing it to someone else’s. It’s not the same and it shouldn’t be.

Let me unpack it even more with things we tell ourselves when we’re comparing, along side the actual truth:

“They have it all together.”– They don’t.

“I could never be that good.”-They don’t think they’re ‘that good’ either. And more so, they probably think you’re better at some things than they are.

“I know I could do a better job than they did.”-Yes, this is the other side of comparison. Don’t let your ego kill your friendships or your joy.

This is not something that’s going to go away, because we’re humans. But we can actively deflate the lies we tell ourselves and just move on. The monster can be tamed. You just have to figure out what he likes to eat and keep it just out of his reach.

Happy Monday, Folks! You’re all awesome.

 

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Tools

It’s just a tool. Owning it does not make you a better artist. It makes you a property owner. Let’s not get confused in the fight for staying creative and think that buying more stuff will make us better. It won’t.

We do it sometimes unintentionally: Lean on these things that we use to make art a little too much to keep us inspired. But soon that tool we lean on will no longer support us and we’ll fall over grasping for another to pick us up. Propping your business or art up with a tool is dangerous. By all means, do what you want. Buy what you want… Just make sure you’re not propping your art up with it. Staying creative requires a long term solution. Not a new toy.

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