Whenever us creative types get together, or–come to think of it–even when we’re alone, it’s usually all about “me”, “my”, or “we” or “I”. What is MY next gig, what am I doing to improve MY portfolio, MY solo exhibition, MY client list, MY ad campaign, MY blog, MY bank account, gear locker, self-promo mailer, vision… You get the point. Don’t deny it.
As a result, we can be overly paranoid, competitive, frustrated, cocky, going for broke, indulgent, critical, self-absorbed, self-loathing, self aggrandizing and overly analytical. We spend a lot of time living in our own heads.
But the truth is, we’re way better creatives when we’re better people. Better to ourselves, better to others, better to the world.
I just bumped into a close friend on the way back from my morning coffee. He shook my tree a little bit and told me a quick story in realizing this about himself. The story ended with his re-framing his self-focus into a simple plan to motivate a change. At the wrap up of each day he’s asking himself “what are 3 things I did to make somebody else’s life better today?”
I like that. Perhaps you should too.
Thank you for shaking my tree. I’ll be sure to shake others 🙂
simple + brilliant. I’m asking myself this question right now.
In the last months I moved to a different country.
New life, new people, new job.
Worse part of my everyday: realizing I wasn’t able to help anybody or do anything useful, for the people I meet, for my family, for the people I work for.
This situation is really depressing me.
I work for a design studio and spend 9 hours per day in front of a computer, trying to “create” fashionable and expensive furniture and other things, listening to my boss telling me I’m a complete disaster, too slow and not good enough for her standards. It’s probably true, because I feel awful not being helpful and I don’t really understand what the sense of this is. Well, actually I know: make mooney and be up there with the “best ones”. Unfortunatelly that is not my goal.
So I decided that tommorrow is going to be my last day there. I’ll go broke, and have to start all over again. But I think it’s the right choice.
What I need in life is to make people smile and be happy, even for just one second during their day. Because that is what makes my day when I’m sad or stressed, somebody who tries to help me out and gives me a smile. So why not do the same for others.
Being a “creative” person kind of stresses me out, because I always have to deal with people that search absolute perfection, give too much thought to appearance and loose contact with the real world. I think that the “vision” of things is always personal, you can have an idea and create your vision of it, but that doesn’t mean that others can or will have your same exact vision, it is always personal somehow. Otherwise everything would be very boring and flat, and it wouldn’t be possible to reinvent anything. So why should people constantly blame others if their imagination draws a different vision? Can’t it just be an occasion to communicate, exchange ideas and work together to create something good for people? It seams very arrogant to me that people always complain, are never sadisfied with what they have and what they do, and aren’t able to smile about the simple things of life. They find sadisfaction in teasing and laughing about people, “the others”.
I’m really tired of this. And purhaps, if this is how I should be to have a successful carrier, then I think I might go for a simple life.
Perfection doesn’t exist. People should just stop, think about their day, and be grateful to be leaving in this beautyful world. Stop and listen to the world’s voice, and answer to its call. Give it something to smile and be happy for.
How do you manage wih your everyday work and stress of being a “creative” professional?
Chase, I agree with your friend 100 grand. As artist we may constantly look to become masters within our artistic discipline and may neglect to become masters in becoming fully human. That is finding the holistic balance that is innate in us: Balance in Mind, Body and Spirt. In that balance we develop a mastery in the movement that grounds us and allow us to leverage ourselves and be connected to others in this world.
-Will