Tag: life

The Three Keys to Go From Preator to Creator

MarlonLeave a comment

I once had a conversation with a wannabe musician where they were bashing modern mainstream music by saying how unoriginal and uninspiring it was, and how if only he could make music, it’d be so much better than the “garbage” that gets massed produced these days.

After ranting and raving about the state of the industry he finally said, “I want to write music that’s original that no one’s ever heard before.”

“Okay,” I said. “Then what have you written so far?”

“Nothing yet,” he replied.

And without a moment’s hesitation, I retorted, “then mission accomplished.”

Sick burn, right? Somebody call the burn unit and get this man some aloe vera!

All joking and arrogance aside, though, this is an unfortunately common conversation I have had with some would be creators. I can’t even consider them as creators because they haven’t created anything yet. I like to call them “preators.” They’re always in the pre-planning stage of creating anything, but never actually put pen to paper or strike a single stroke of paint on their canvas.

All they do is blow hot air about how much better their work would be than the stuff that’s already out there. And even if they do create anything, their output is rather limited and unrefined, and with a little bit of work could actually contend with their imaginary contemporaries and rivals.

But they don’t.

Instead, they choose to cling onto their opinions and spout their “hot takes”—that are really just lukewarm at best—and spend most of their time criticizing established works that have been published, screened, and viewed by the masses. Why? Because it’s a lot easier to say something is bad than it is to actually do something that is better than the things that they disparage.

A true creator would respect the work of others who have put their skills and taste on display, and no matter how bad those displays may be, these preators would at least respect the fact that if there’s even the tiniest of an audience for this work they deem so bad, that it at least resonates with a tiny minority of people.

Whether you know a preator, or are one yourself, today I will discuss what it takes to go from preator to actual creator.

Here are The Three Keys to Going From Preator to Creator:

  1. Humility
  2. Courtesy
  3. Authenticity

The Key of Humility

Now before I get too far into the deep end of criticizing preators, I should touch upon the good interactions I’ve had with creators and my experience with turning preators into creators. Back in 2016, when I was a writing coach, I had the honour and privilege of working with some very bright and talented writers. They had great ideas, but had trouble executing them, and that’s where I came in to assist them in refining their ideas and habits so that they can finally find the confidence to put pen to paper.

Sometimes my fresh new suggestions for their stories were adapted, but most of the time a lot of my suggestions were considered, but my clients themselves came up with even better ideas than me. I was very proud of them for this and took as little credit as possible because ultimately they were the ones doing the work. All I did was provide the space for them to geek out about a project that they were passionate about while also asking just a few questions that would nudge them in the right direction.

How this was possible on both sides was thanks to a whole lot of humility. For them, it took a lot of humility to accept that their work needed some work and looked to me for some guidance. Then on my end, it took a lot of humility to accept that a lot of my suggestions were going to get rejected and sometimes even challenged. While it was gratifying to see my ideas show up in their next chapter, what gratified me even more was seeing them building something even better than what I suggested, and even more importantly, seeing them build something way better than what they started with.

To go from preator to creator is to accept that your work is not gonna start off as absolutely awesome. There are very rare cases where natural talent just allows someone to create a masterpiece from the get go, but in reality, 99% of the time, it takes a lot of hard work and practice to get proficient at any craft. You have to take classes or find some other alternative way to learn things, and with the advent of the Internet it’s even easier to find resources that help in this matter. From Skillshare classes, to free YouTube videos, or even hiring a Creative Consultant like myself, there is absolutely no shame in looking for help.

Returning back to the wannabe musician, he claimed that learning music theory would only stump his creativity and that he wants to break all the rules to make something truly magnificent and original. I’m sure in his mind, in all earnestness, he believed that that is what the current music industry needed. A huge break away from convention and something that’ll catch people off guard.

Well to that, I call BS because you have to know the rules before you can break them, and you don’t just do it for the hell of it. You do it if it helps the music improve. Yes, there are a lot of successful musicians out there that don’t know music theory, but that’s not the point. The point is that they still have to work hard at their craft to be in the position their in, which leads to my next point.

The Key of Courtesy

You gotta have respect for published works, no matter how bad some of them may be. If it’s viewable by the general public, that means a creator actually had the courage to put their skills and taste on display for the world to see. Creating is a very vulnerable thing to do because it can easily scrutinized and misunderstood when you intended something entirely different.

Look at Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin film, for God’s sake. The man literally apologized for disappointing some fans with its over the top campiness and not being what people wanted or expected, then admitted that all he wanted to do was make something entertaining. May that man rest in peace because he gave it his best shot and was met with horrible criticism for something he simply wanted to have fun creating. Horrible as that movie was, I was at least entertained by it as a kid and it had an awesome soundtrack. It should not define his career.

It’s super easy to be passionate about a piece of art that just works on several levels. For preators stuck in the pre-creating stage, what you gotta do is be unabashedly proud of what you love and are inspired by, and do what you can to learn why it resonates with you so much. Far too many people think they look cool for criticizing something bad like Batman & Robin or even the Twilight Saga, but that’s just low hanging fruit. You want to be original? Then have the courage to express your passion for something you love because that’s all too rare these days with the advent of clickbait YouTube and Twitter criticisms of the latest film, book, or show.

Once you’re comfortable with having courtesy to acknowledge the creators you love, make that courtesy common by also giving it to the creators you might detest or at the very least think little of. Creating ain’t easy, and if you’re a preator, you might even bash things to hell because you’re actually intimidated by how hard it is to contend with even that.

But instead of seeing as everything and everyone as competition, see them as inspiration for you to do something similar. Similar, but not better. That’s for the audience to decide, not you. Your job is simply to create something and to do so from a place that isn’t bogged down by ego and wanting to prove a point. There are only a handful creators who create out of spite, greed, and malicious intent, but most of them out there are creating things from the final key that will unlock the creators within the preators.

The Key of Authenticity

To get that authentic stamp of approval, a creator must also be authentic in their approach. Their goal should not be fame and fortune. Fame and fortune should be the natural byproducts of their hard work, but not the end goal. A creator’s goal is to create something from an intimate place of authenticity. It sounds a little woo woo right now, so let me elaborate.

We’ve already beaten the dead horse of that wannabe musician from the intro of this post, so let’s talk about someone else who actually does know music and plays it. There were these fellow metalheads I once knew who actually did have some musical talent. One was a drummer and the other one was a saxaphone player. While they were friends with each other and myself, they both had other sets of friends who they intended to make bands with. So as someone who has been in a few bands in the past, I was intrigued to hear what both of these guys would produce.

I was expecting either of them to record a shoddy smartphone video of them jamming with their friends or put something up on Soundcloud for me to hear, but you know what happened instead? Months went by where both of these guys were flat out living the preator stereotype of trash talking musicians who are signed by labels, all the while only talking about being in a band without actually being in one. While these were two different guys with two different sets of friends that could’ve been bandmates, their stories were pretty much the same.

All they did was complain about modern metal and how so many good bands are selling out to make money and become popular. What did these guys do though? They talked endlessly about how they were just talking with their friends about what kind of music they wanted to make. “We want to make something like this band used to make, but better.”

Once again, I asked one of my douchey questions and said, “oh, okay, cool. So have you guys written anything yet?”

And both of their responses were to the effect of, “well we’re just talking about it right now.”

Preators talk the talk.

Creators walk the walk.

The fact that they didn’t even get together to jam and see what their musical chemistry is like was baffling to me. It was just a bunch of arrogant dudes trash talking the established bands out there, claiming what they’ll make will be so much better, but have little to nothing to show for it.

For a preator to become a creator, you need the humility to know that you’re gonna be very amateur at first, and maybe even for a very long time. Then you need the courtesy to respect those who came before you and even seek help from someone to get some mentorship. And lastly, you need to just get started and do something. And do it without the pretense of being amazing or even better than what should simply inspire you to do what you do.

From Preator to Creator

As you begin to actually execute on your ideas, you will find that it’ll be harder and harder to criticize those who came before you. You’ll start to realize that it’s not that easy to create anything of quality or value, let alone anything at all. This is the place where I think creators need to be in in order to create from a good place, rather than one of ego. Because more often than not, ego prevents people from even getting started, and even if they do get started, impatience gets in the way and they begin to believe that all their hard work needs to be rewarded and it needs to be rewarded right now!

But that’s the thing about creativity; not everyone will understand or appreciate what you create at first. You need to be your own number one fan to keep yourself motivated. You can’t rely on the whims of a potential audience or even the encouragement of a mentor. The kind words can be things you prefer, but you gotta be indifferent from the influx or lack of positive reception and just do your thing.

If you take the time to craft these Three Keys to Going from Preator to Creator, I will guarantee you that you will have a whole lot more appreciation for the entire creative process, and if you don’t buckle from the pressure of it, eventually learn to hone in on your own process and maybe actually join the ranks of the greats.

Artistic Palate Cleansing

MarlonLeave a comment

We all have our go to genres in terms of the art we appreciate. Some people prefer heady and cerebral crime thrillers, while others prefer action packed joyrides. And somewhere in between there are people like me who prefer emotionally gripping and schmaltzy interpersonal dramas. Couple that with the plethora of avenues to experience these kinds of stories—be it books, movies, or TV shows—and you’ve got yourself a vast world of creative works at your disposal, ready to be explored and enjoyed.

Whichever mediums and genres you prefer, you can always count on a piece of art to enrich your day. Whether you like to be immersed and give your mind something to chew on for a couple hours, or you simply want to turn your brain off and just enjoy simplistic artwork, it is important to note the role art plays in our lives and how deep it actually is regardless of the depth of the work itself.

It is in art that we find retreat, renewal, and rejuvenation, but if we stick to one genre and medium for too long, art can become more of a passive pastime activity instead of an active accelerator of time. And it is in that passage of time that determines whether we feel like we wasted it or truly enjoyed it as if it meant something in our brief time on Earth. That’s why, today, we will discuss the importance of cleansing your artistic palate so that we can get the most out of the art we consume in our lifetime.

Retreating Into Art

Life can sometimes feel like a dark and endless tunnel with only a glimmer of light barely shining at the end of it. We all know that we’re all going to die one day, but we live on the best we can in spite of this grueling knowledge, and it can get quite easy to fall into despair and wonder what this life is all for. Sometimes it’s worth pondering so we can make some decisions and move our lives in a proper direction while other times it can be paralyzing to even think of it so a lot of us spend our time trying to escape it.

Art can be one of the best escapes we can have to get our minds off this harsh reality of existence. Through art, we get a window into a different reality that fascinates us whether it’s an out of this world fantasy or one that closely resembles our contemporary world but with a sense of heightened drama. This escape can result in relaxation when the art we view can fill us with hope, or at the very least distract us from the humdrum of day to day life.

But what about the dark and cynical artwork out there? Perhaps this art isn’t what you retreat into, rather it’s a safe way to confront existence with its problems exaggerated and dramatized so it can open our eyes to the dangers and darkness of the world. And perhaps its in this staring back at the abyss that we gain the courage to press on despite of how uncomfortable it may be to watch something like Black Mirror or to read a Stephen King horror novel.

Retreating into art for either hope for life, or confrontation with it, can help enrich our lives by providing us positive possibilities and inoculation from its proclivity to give us tragedy and heartbreak.

Renewal From Art

You can experience a hopeful story to fill yourself with hope where you may be lacking or to strengthen the hope you already have. You can also experience a dark story to feel empathized with for your troubles or to simply contrast the joy you feel in your life. Any way you slice it, consuming any piece of art should leave you feeling renewed for life. You either have hope for life, or at least feel less alone knowing that the darkness within you isn’t yours alone. That it’s shared by others who have created something that conveys it.

But if a specific medium or genre of art no longer gives you that sense of renewal, it might be a sign that you need a palate cleanser. Personally for me, for the past decade or so, I’ve been really into heartfelt and schmaltzy dramas after quite a stint with dark and psychological thrillers. It’s indicative of where I was mentally and emotionally throughout my twenties. First, I needed the dark and twisted stuff to wrestle with my own dark and twisted thoughts, but I grew tired of contending with darkness all the time. But then at some point, I decided I wanted to develop more hope and love in my life and personal relationships, so I turned to watching and reading more heartfelt stories to have them model for me what sincerity with others could look like.

This past decade has been quite the thrill ride in terms of my personal growth, and it’s hard to say which came first; the chicken or the egg? Did I turn a new leaf and that’s what made me gravitate toward the schmaltzy stuff so I can relate to something more? Or did the schmaltzy stuff influence me in wanting to improve my emotional health and mindset? Perhaps they worked in tandem with each other, feeding into each other in this positive feedback loop that has resulted in me feeling a huge sense of renewal.

Revival By Art

Getting into a new genre can be quite rejuvenating as the past decade has been for me with the heartfelt emotional dramas. They have inspired me to be more vulnerable and sentimental toward the people I love and it has resulted in a much more fulfilling life than I could ever imagine. It has taught me that life imitating art doesn’t always have to be in the worst ways possible, and that despite being exaggerated and over dramatic, sometimes we do need vulnerable and uncomfortable conversations with our loved ones akin to how they might have it out on an episode of This is Us. For those not in the know, it was a prime time family drama infamous for making people cry and feel things in every episode, I highly suggest you check it out.

It’s actually in my rewatching of all six seasons of This is Us that made me think about this whole notion of Artistic Palate Cleansing. After a decade of deeply emotional stories for me to consume and have them influence me the way that they did, watching This is Us with all of its emotional intensity made me realize something; over the years I’ve had less and less need for art to punch me in the soul emotionally and force me to cry out a lot of my unexpressed grief with life and myself.

As I’ve grown from my twenties and am currently passing my mid-thirties now, I am grateful to be able to say how much of a better place I am in my life now thanks to loads and loads of therapy and support last year. Because of this, the schmaltzy stuff was no longer drawing anything out of me, and I noticed this as I was nearing the end of rewatching This is Us. The poignant moments in that show were still enjoyable to watch, but while a lot of them still hit pretty hard I found myself coming to the decision that I gotta change it up.

And so, as of late, I’ve kind of strayed away from consuming art that revolves around interpersonal drama and got into martial arts films and pro-wrestling. What a huge change up, right? Well that’s the point. I feel like I don’t need to feel anything too strongly from art and that I can just relax and enjoy it, simplistic as these artforms may be. Martial arts films and wrestling have their own level of depth that people don’t notice, but they are still fundamentally simple in nature.

This massive shift in genre preferences has rejuvenated my soul the same way it did a decade ago, or maybe even more so since this deep dive into the more touchy feely emotional and think pieces have increased my appreciation for all forms of art. From the dark and gritty, to the hopeful and emotional, and finally back to what my inner child loves in regards to stylized violence, these fluxuations in tastes have made my experiencing of art all the more meaningful whenever I’ve switched it up.

Roads to Art

There are countless of roads towards experiencing art that suits your tastes and even more so that can expand your tastes. Whatever you decide you’ll know in your heart what is right for you. Get out of your comfort zone and read a book or watch a show you would normally avoid. If not to get into it yourself, to at least see why other people may like it. Even if you fail to grasp what makes something entertaining, try to set aside your ego and not sneer at it and dismiss it as a waste of time. Instead, pride yourself for having opened your mind enough to try something new even if it’s not to your liking.

In the final analysis, the way we choose to experience art is how we choose to confront our own mortality. When an artist creates something, it is their way of immortalizing themselves by leaving something behind before they pass from our physical plane to the next. In experiencing their creations, we too can immortalize ourselves by being born into and dying out of preferences so that the process of acceptance and letting go can become a bit easier with time.

It’s something I’ve experienced time and time again with not only shifts in preferences, but in watching and reading my favourite stories come to an end, either in satisfying ways or dissatisfying ways. Hell, I’d even argue anything with an abrupt ending has helped me come to terms with the end of life because if a show gets cancelled before it gets a chance to wrap itself up, it’s kind of like the lives of some unfortunate souls that pass too soon. They were all in the middle of their lives still with much left to do and say, and like our favourite TV characters that belong to a show that gets cancelled before it gets a chance at having a proper finale, we are stuck with wondering what could have been or simply accepting that although the ride is over, at least the memories remain.

The Beauty of Imperfection

MarlonLeave a comment

Many artists out there contend with the self doubt and imposter syndrome that they are not good enough to create anything. Other artists skew toward the opposite extreme and think their unreleased work—or released but poorly received work—is just so much better than what’s popular. Whichever way you slice it, art is our attempt at capturing perfection through the execution of our skills and imagination.

But what happens with our skills don’t match up with our imagination? I’ve heard some would-be musicians say they want to make music, but they could never write anything that sounds as good as what they hear in their heads. Or there’s even novelists, some of which I worked with back in my Writing Coaching days, that have fantastic story ideas mapped out in their heads, but have never put pen to paper. What hurt me more were the times I’d help create a mind map of their novels and they’d still refuse to put that organized visualization of their story into manuscript form.

It all comes to self worth and self perception when an artist is either too doubtful of themselves or overly confident about their abilities, that they forget that creating anything of value comes from a place of humility, respect, and authenticity as I’ve outlined before. So today we’re going to look at the top three things that should encourage you get started on that project you’ve only dreamed of:

1. So Many Fundamentally Flawed Works Are Published and Produced All the Time
2. Let That Inspire You to Risk Doing the Same
3. Doing Something Badly is Better Than Not Doing it at All

The World is Full of Flawed Work

You’ve probably heard your friends, online critics, or even your own mentors trash talk a piece of art out there in the world. In fact, that’s usually what we’re bombarded with most of the time; people being discontent with the state of art and literature as opposed to the rare few people out there who have the guts to be earnest with their love for art.

Think of infamous things like the Twilight Saga or basically reality TV (if you can even call that art), and you’ll start to see that the world is full of flawed artwork. Now you can easily pick them apart and say how much better they could be, especially if you’re well educated in your field of creativity, but the real beauty lies in trying to understand why it strikes a chord with some people.

While there are some pieces of art out there that are well known, but not popular at all, and definitely not well received at all, there are super mainstream things that everyone accepts as crap, but it’s loved anyway. Once again, case in point, The Twilight Saga. I remember in my writing class my teacher actually brought Twilight to dissect as it was an easy mark to display bad writing.

But as she was picking it apart for the low hanging fruit that it was, she was also surprised by and remarked on the passages of the book that were actually well written. This got me to thinking; is the book really all that bad or is hating it just a fad as much as it is for middle aged housewives and teenage girls alike to be in love with this romantic violent vampire story?

Upon reading it myself and watching the movie adaptation, I came to the conclusion that the answer is yes to both questions. It wasn’t really all that good as people hyped it up to be, nor was it really as bad as people trashed it to be, but I could see why they might see it that way. Either way, it doesn’t really matter because no matter what the critics say, Stephanie Meyer made a goddamn killing off this series and I’m sure she’s laying in bed at night, wiping her tears with $100 bills because some asshole on the internet said her book sucked.

Even putting money aside as a possible measurement for an artwork’s success and value, the very fact that she wrote these books is already a feat in its own. Writing a novel to completion is hard work. Trust me, I’ve done it, and I’ve yet to publish anything. So while I’m proud that I’ve completed several drafts of several different novels by now which is more than a lot of would-be writers can say, I’m still stumped by the onslaught of other books out there that were published by the sheet courage and determination by those authors. Stephanie Meyer or otherwise.

Let That Inspire You to Risk Doing the Same

So for every piece of got artwork out there, there’s thousands more that suck, but nonetheless they’re out there in the world for anyone to engage in. Crappy movies, shitty books, poorly produced TV shows, etc. This alone should inspire you to get your own work done and do away with what the critics might say. While every creator is different and handles criticism differently, the fact remains that their work is out there whether people like it or not.

In fact, people not liking your work is a guarantee. I’ve had people tell me straight up that something I made was boring and yes that was a huge punch to my confidence. But you know what? I shrugged it off and continued making stuff anyway.

Why? Because unless a critic gives me a valuable suggestion on how to improve my work, then I usually discount what they have to say because maybe what I make just doesn’t resonate with them, and that’s fine too.

If someone does give you useful feedback, it’s worthwhile thinking about and considering. Remember, it’s the mark of an intelligent person to entertain an idea without agreeing to it. This is why it’s valuable to join a critique group or get a mentor because having that outside perspective can really give you perspective on how you can improve.

But whether you take their criticisms to heart or not, what matters is that you create regardless of how you think it’s gonna be received. Of course we prefer people to praise us to high heavens, but you shouldn’t create anything to seek that kind of external validation. Nor should you not create due to the fear of being criticized because that just comes with the territory.

Doing Something Badly is Better Than Not Doing it at All

You can’t call yourself a creator if you don’t create. Even if you create badly, it’s better than being someone who is all talk and no walk. As I’ve harped on preators before, you will already be ahead of the curve if you just decide to work on something that is the expression of your purpose. Whether you express yourself through music or literature, it’s important to get that out of your system rather than letting be an anxiety that builds up over time.

Especially when there’s already so much artwork out there that gets scrutinized from now until kingdom come. Don’t let that stop you. In the wise words of Mr. Rogers:

Whether you’re a hobby artist or a professional one, don’t ever let the quality of your work prevent you from enjoying the process of creating it in the first place. If quality is what you strive for, there are tremendous resources out there that can help you get to the skill level you want to get at. It takes a lot of hard work and patience, and we will talk more about how to develop that patience in a future post!

Using Creative Anxiety to Your Advantage

MarlonLeave a comment

A lot of creative people are often intimidated by the magnitude of their own work. Contending with perfectionism, self doubt, and the overall difficulty of creating anything of value can prevent many would-be geniuses from ever expressing themselves, thus disallowing anyone to ever bask in the beauty of their work or even the creator granting themselves the glory of the act of creating in the first place.

I’ve noticed really creative people are very anxious a lot of the time, especially when they haven’t created for a while. It gives them anxiety how hard it is to get back into something they had long since abandoned, and then it feeds into the cycle of avoiding it even more and building the anxiety even more and more as well.

Today, I’m going to provide some advice that I’ve been reluctantly, but fruitfully taking myself, and I hope that despite of how hard it sounds to do, I hope you try it on and share your experience with me. The top three things anxious creators need to learn are:

  1. Anxiety is Unspent Energy
  2. The Results of Releasing That Energy
  3. How to Recharge and Harness That Energy

Anxiety is Unspent Energy

Creators are often anxious because the creative project that nags at them at the back of their heads is simply built up energy that is being left unspent. It’s not negative, per se, but it can definitely weight on you the longer you procrastinate on something you know that’s in you to express. Creators have something to express through their work and not allowing themselves the privilege can lead to a whole lot of anxiety.

It’s easier said than done, but you really just gotta go do damn the thing in order to spend that anxious energy wisely. Otherwise, the months and years will go by and maybe from time to time people will ask you “how’s that book coming along?” and you’ll be hard pressed to come up with a better excuse than the one you gave them five years ago as to why you still haven’t published it, let alone began writing it in the first place.

If this sounds like you, I highly suggest you get over yourself and the prospect of what others think, and just get to work on the thing you know you need to do. There’s a locked up emotion in you, be it anger, sadness, or even joy, and not expressing any of that emotion through your art is gonna lead to a psychological blockage until you get it done.

As creators, we generate themes and ideas in our hearts and minds all the time, and while it may not be possible for everyone to create an endless library of work that expresses every last theme and idea they want to express, it’s the very act of trying to do so that will lead to a much more fulfilling creative life than it would be to just not challenge yourself at all.

And that’s what we really need. We’re already making things hard for ourselves by anxiously thinking about that thing we know we need to be creating, so you might as well lean in to that difficulty by allowing yourself the privilege of being challenged by your own work. Creative work is not easy and it is not always fun, but believe me when I say it’s always a damn good time once you get to the other side of it.

The Results of Releasing That Energy

Another thing creators tend to contend with is simply feeling relief rather than pride upon completing a project. If you’ve turned your novel, painting, or song into something you “just need to get done,” then you’ve turned it into a chore, and it’s definitely no accident that chore rhymes with bore. Art can be difficult, but it should never be boring.

The frustration is normal because you are challenging yourself to create something with your full potential tapped into it, and with each passing project, you should be stretching your growth-edge further and further so that you can continue the ongoing growing pains that come with creating art. But just because it’s frustrating and isn’t always as easy, fun, and free flowing as it can be when you’re randomly motivated, it doesn’t mean it should be boring.

I’ve recently had the experience of choosing to “phone it in” with the fifth draft of It Starts at Home. The first three acts of the book, I wrote valiantly and with joy, but the last two acts, I started to just rush through it and wanted it over and done with rather than taking my time to enjoy the process. While the novel is technically done, it’s not at the quality I know that it deserves and the it’s certainly not at the quality that I could personally be happy with. Especially considering the 10th year anniversary of that novel’s conception will be in just a few months as of writing this blog post.

No matter how frustrating and elongated the creation process is, we must never disparage its place in our lives, and always remember what we’re trying to express through it, as well as honouring what it’s trying to teach us. Just because we come into a project with the intention to potentially teach others about a revelation we may have had, it doesn’t mean the project won’t surprise you in its creation process and give you something even more profound than whatever you intend to provide to your audience.

So in releasing that energy, remember to honour your art for what it is and not resent it for the difficulty it may give you. And you certainly don’t want to resent it for not garnering the views, likes, or even profit it fails to deliver because that’s kinda like having children you hate. Sure, they turned out crappy and no one likes them, but whose fault is that? It’s your responsibility to do the best you can with the knowledge you have, and have the trust and faith that no matter what missteps you may have taken along the way, that you’ll always have the opportunity to do better next time.

How to Recharge and Harness Creative Energy

Now here comes the slightly controversial part. When it’s all said and done, give yourself a huge break and turn your brain off a little bit. We’re not built for constant and consistent conscious use of our mental cognition. While I think a lot of brain fog can and will clear once we do the things we often procrastinate on, especially by engaging in mindless activities like scrolling through social media, it is actually that kind of mindless activity that can allow us to recharge after giving an artistic project our all.

Just don’t mess with the order, of course.

A lot of creative people are tempted to consume other art or even turn their brains off before they decide to sit down and right. Hell, before I wrote this blog post, I procrastinated for an entire hour before I sat down and decided it was time to write for the next four hours in the afternoon. What did I do? I watched a bunch of YouTube videos, almost all of which I didn’t even watch into completion. My excuse? I need to wake my brain up.

But writing this blog post is actually part of a big experiment that I’ve been trying out on myself and the hypothesis seems to be correct:

If you suffer from brain fog and anxiety, challenging yourself to do difficult things can actually clear all of that away, if not a huge portion of it. Before I decided to write today, I spent a couple hours debating myself over whether I even should write today. “I’m tired, though,” I rationed to myself. “I didn’t enjoy my weekend enough, so why not one more day?”

Because then I would have lost the energy I had today to write in my journal, to write this blog post, and write a script for a short film!

For the longest time, I thought that playing video games and watching movies felt better after getting some work done because I earned it by being productive. But that’s not what it’s really about. It has nothing to do with any moral licensing and earning anything, rather it’s more of a matter of mental activation.

I’m starting to realize lately that video games and movies are more enjoyable after getting some work done because writing demands all of my mental faculties and so I am forced to turn my brain on in doing so. Even if it feels like a drag the first few minutes, once I get going, I really get going. Video games and movies are passive activities, and while you do require some cognition and input for video games, it’s still reacting to spoon-fed stimuli, whereas creating a piece of art requires your full cognitive attention.

The brain wants to work in full activation. It needs to be depleted before being open to replenishment through entertainment.

CONCLUSION

If you’re a creative person with a whole lot of anxiety, just remember life is too short to leave your emotions unexpressed. Answer the project that calls to you so that you’re in a calm and civil conversation with it instead of having it become the thing that screams for your attention at the back of your mind for days, weeks, months, or even years on end.

Once you get to it, remember to honour it for its value to not only your potential audience, but to you as the creator having the intimate experience of being challenged by it and conquering that challenge by honing in on all your training and built up skill you intend to display through it. Chores turn into bores, so remember to enjoy the process even when it gets difficult.

And finally, allow yourself some passive consumption of art, social media, or anything else to give your brain the rest it needs. In a future post I’ll talk about the importance of active recreation, but for now bask in the permission to waste some time away. Not because you’ve “earned” it, but because you’ll just be giving your brain the variety and novelty it needs in shifts between the active and passive use of it.