Committing To A Creative Pursuit (Part 2)

Good Morning Y'all!

Today, I want to dive into Part 2 of Committing To A Creative Act.

Part 2 covers the lifestyle needed to become a person who can create consistently.

THE AIM

Writing, painting, singing, dancing, playing an instrument, and all other creative acts…

Can't be result-driven.

They must be created for the sake of being created.

They can't be created while thinking about others' opinions.

We see this all the time when it comes to sequels in movies.

The underlying themes among all great movies…

A person who had a vision they deeply wanted to create into reality.

They were obsessed with creating the best artwork possible,

never considering what the future audience might say,

and never comparing it to any story they've seen before,

But they were on a mission to be original.

That vision was something that only they could see.

If they were to share it with the world before making it into a film, others would laugh at the idea.

I just finished watching Willy Wonka for the first time a few hours ago...

Can you imagine how crazy the creator would sound if he tried to convince others of his idea before he started?

He would have received so much backlash, he may have never gone through with it.

Back to the vision...

Our unique vision is exactly what the world is ready to see, they just don't know it yet.

We received that vision for a reason.

This is why when sequels are made, they nearly always flop.

Because the second movie isn't made from the vision,

it's made from trying to logically guess what the audience wants next.

It lacks all originality and character.

Art made for the audience, is from the head.

Art made for the sake of creating, is from the heart.

Our aim should be to create work that comes from the heart.

Channeling work from the head will only lead to burnout, and every moment will feel like force.

Channeling work from the heart is when time will cease to exist, and every moment will feel like flow.

So the question is...

What can we create consistently, simply for the love of the game?

Writing consistently has been the greatest source of my happiness and fulfillment.

I haven't been perfect.

Some of the work has been created with the audience in mind.

When this happens, it feels like I'm forcing every word onto the paper,

and those are always the ones that people resonate with the least.

But I'll get better at that...

Because that's what will one day lead to a masterpiece.

THE HABITS

The single greatest question a creator can ask themselves:

Am I making this for the sake of creating?

Or am I making this for the audience?

The second greatest question would be:

How do I design a life where I can create consistently?

Once we feel what it's like to create, being purely in that flow, we want more of it.

So how do we do that?

We choose to live a life that embodies habits that promote our creativity.

Of course, the most common sense path would be to set aside time on a daily/weekly basis to create...

In my personal experience, I set aside about 2 and a half hours in the morning to focus on writing.

I wish I could say that I do this consistently, but oftentimes life gets in the way.

There's a call I need to be on,

a plane that I need to catch,

or I just want to get some extra sleep after a late night out.

This is all fine and dandy,

but I've also noticed that the more consistent I am with my habits and routines, the better I write.

The more it flows.

Setting aside the time is only the first piece of the puzzle...

The second most important piece is understanding our energy.

Creating takes an immense amount of energy.

If done properly, we'd finish a creative session with even more energy than we started.

The problem is that many of us don't have the energy to pick up the pen (or paintbrush).

So, that means we have an energy management problem...

I'll definitely talk more about this in a different Love Letter,

But to summarize, everything around us either gives or takes away our energy.

Imagine watching a political debate,

or doom-scrolling social media,

right before jumping into a writing session.

It would drain all of our creative energy.

This is like a pro basketball player eating two large pizzas before a crucial playoff game.

The same things that affect an athlete...

diet,

sleep,

baby mama drama...

All makes a difference in their performance when they step onto the court.

Consistency off the court leads to consistency on the court.

Same goes for a creator.

When we take responsibility for the 21 hours of our day outside of our creative work,

we allow the 3 hours of creating to prosper.

When it comes to specifically knowledge workers, or "mind athletes",

the biggest input we can control will be our media consumption.

Our creations flow through us when our mind is quiet.

The news, social media, and the people we come in contact with have an effect on our state of mind.

The more we consume, the less we create.

If we spend 95% of our time consuming, like many do,

that only leaves us 5% of our time creating.

I believe this also means we're reaching 5% of our creative potential.

I say all of this to serve more as a reminder to myself of the importance of consistently creating from the heart.

Knowing that coupling it with a healthy lifestyle is the only way we can reach our potential.

CONCLUSION

I've often struggled to maintain the practices I've mentioned above.

I've learned all of this the hard way...

I now realize the necessity of being hyper-aware of "why" I'm creating,

along with how I live my life outside of doing the work.

I feel like finding the proper balance of both is going to be a fun journey towards reaching my potential.

I hope all other creators find this valuable.

That's it for today.

I hope you know that you are loved, and you are enough.

See you tomorrow.

I unconditionally love you all.

-Cameron Hogan