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Feed-Your-SoulMy biggest strength and biggest weakness is vision casting. I can paint a big, grand, beautiful picture of what something could become. And there are times it gets so big in my head before I’ve started that I end up getting burnt out a quarter of the way through.

Here’s the hang up, consistently: Money.

Making money with your ideas is great. Wonderful. Amazing! It’s what we do as creative entrepreneurs: We make stuff for a living. The problem, for me, comes when I make every idea about making money. How can I monetize it? And I gotta tell ya, sometimes, you shouldn’t. Not because it wouldn’t work, but more so because maybe this thing is feeding your soul and not your wallet. Maybe it fills your emotional bank account. I’m not saying that things that do that can’t also feed your real bank account (they 100% can), but I know that when money enters the equation, something changes.

Beware of making every idea about making money. Sometimes making stuff is just about making stuff. And that has value. Massive value. Don’t lose sight of that fact as you continue on this journey. Be mindful of the things that feed your soul.

Chris

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J.R.R Tolkien Quotes, You“What do you fear, lady?” [Aragorn] asked.
“A cage,” [Éowyn] said. “To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

We build our own cages that keep us from the life we long for. The ironic thing is, the life we long for is happening right now–And if we don’t take notice of the cage we’re building, stoping us from experiencing it, we’ll get lost in the building of our cage and accept it as our reality.

Look up from the cage today. Because you’re free.

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The-Only-Safe-PlanI read an article in Outside magazine last year about big wave surfer Garrett McNamara and his quest to surf some of the biggest waves in the world that break off the coast of Portugal. The story is amazing and I’m not even going to try to recap because the whole thing is worth a read. But one of the things he said in the article that really stuck with me, comes after a paragraph about the epic crashes McNamara has had and what a huge risk it is to surf big waves.

He said, “It’s calculated… It’s a calculated crazy. The only safe plan is don’t go.”

I could ramble on and on about taking risks with your work and tell you to be a little bit crazy. But I’m not gonna. I’m going to tell you to be crazier than you think is safe. Brush up against the edge of stupid now and again. And do it in a calculated way. Meaning that there’s a reason, a why, behind the crazy. Making something worthwhile is not safe.

What is your big wave? What are you willing to wade out into the cold, choppy waters for? No one will think it’s safe. Lots of people will think you’re crazy. And they’d be right. There is no safe plan for creating work that can change the world. The only safe plan is to not show up.

 

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May I not get in the way.

I tend to over-think. Over-make. Over-exaggerate. Over-create. I tend to be in my own way a lot. In the way of the natural flow of creativity. Because the truth is that I don’t have to make creativity. It has a creator but that creator is not me. I forget that sometimes. I forget that this thing that inspires me to make stuff and allows things to come into existence is not something that I have any real control over.

The rhythm is as old as time. Ancient. Divine. No need to chase it, just don’t get in the way.

Creativity-is-an-ancient-rhythm

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Ideas-Are-CakeIt’s been 4 months since I’ve signed into my blog. I actually had to go and look to see what my last post was about before starting to write this one. And I debated whether or not to be this real and open with this post, but I feel like you might have noticed that I haven’t written in awhile. Plus this blog was once an unapologetic place for me to be real. To share my ideas and things that I’ve struggled with as a creative and an entrepreneur. So here I am. Posting after a four month absence.

I get excited about ideas. Like really excited. So excited that I map it out to the end in my head before I begin. So I can see what it could be, how awesome it could be. Then I start and get hung up somewhere along the way when stuff starts to get hard. Over and over again I do this.

It’s kind of like baking a cake. I get exited, because cake, so I look up the perfect recipe and buy a mixer and buy all the ingredients and start mixing them up all the while imagining what it’s going to be like to eat this amazing 17-layer cake Imma bout to cook! Then the mixer beaters gets clogged and the batter gets thick and there’s flour everywhere and I say screw the cake I’m just going to eat this batter and call it a day.

Ideas are like that for me. It’s something I’m working through… No. Actually it’s not. Screw that. It’s something I am overcoming. Because the truth is I’m not a chef but that doesn’t mean I can’t bake a freaking cake. Talent is over-rated. You have what it takes to do stuff. Doing stuff is not something you’re born with. Talking about stuff is. But actually doing something about it and seeing it through to the end is a learned skill. That’s what I’m about right now. Overcoming my very human aversion to worthiness.

My wife said these words to me this morning (because she’s brilliant):

“Make something you’re excited about. Even if nobody shows up.”

Yes. Even if no one shows up. Make stuff.

Ideas are cake. Follow through is everything.

I’m writing these next few words selfishly for me and for you. Both of us. Because I need to hear it.: 

Push past sticking points. Notice what they are and learn when they’re going to hit. Notice how you feel when you hit walls in your creative process.

Talk to people about the struggles so they can tell you that you’re awesome and that you can do this. Oh, and on that note, find people who feed positivity and awesomeness into your life and say the hard goodbye to those who don’t.

Don’t let fear light your path. Because fear will always lead you away from discomfort.

Your ideas are worth more than just words. Make them real and finish them.

Know that you are loved, my friend.

Happy. Wednesday.

Chris

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