Tag: Creativity

Perfectionism as a beginner

Think about it for a second, perfectionism is about pushing a work as closest to perfection as possible. And being a beginner is about starting to do something new, which we don’t have any or few experience doing. So how can we make something perfect when we don’t even have the capacity to do so?

Am I telling you to stay in your confort zone and never learn anything for reason of not being able to do it perfectly? Obviously not, I’m telling you to stop caring about perfection and start working while knowing that your first projects and/or creations, whatever they are, won’t be fully satisfying. What you will instead get in return will be some knowledge and experience in the said discipline which will make your next project a little closer to what you expect it to be.

I recently started drawing manga style characters, and they were awfully bad looking. But everytime I have the chance I draw one more and little by little they are starting to look more and more like what I’m seeing in manga and anime. So if in the beginning I was expecting perfection, I would probably have stopped there and never draw again because I wasn’t physically capable of attaining that level. But I decided to accept the imperfection of what I was doing, allowing me to continue doing it and getting closer to my goal of drawing something that looks like what it is supposed to.

It’s not just about learning an art form, it can be applied to anything that has to be learned, whether it’s learning a new language, mechanics, gardening, etc. You have to go through the unsatisfying part to someday get to the satisfying one. And the way to do it is to accept the imperfection.

Positive thinking

I’ve always been told that I was a negative person and that I was always complaining about everything. I recently made the switch to become a more positive person and it really didn’t happened the way I thought it would. So I thought that I’d share it here because it could help someone else.

I’ve always thought that positive thinking was forcing ourselves to believe in a positive idea of a situation over the negative ones. It doesn’t seem to work that way. In the last few weeks I was surprisingly positive compared to what I normally am. I wasn’t richer than I was before, I didn’t have a better job, I didn’t have a girlfriend or any other person closer to me than I normally had. The only difference was that I took time for myself, writing, reading, drawing, making music, working out at the gym and watching anime. These activities made me feel good about myself, and it automatically made me see life on the positive side. Working had now become less of a chore, I had less road rage while driving and I was just in a good mood all the time. Because my mind was fulfilled by all that creative work and entertainment, all the bad things had now a lot less hold on me. (and when I say “entertainment”, I’m not talking about reality shows or other similar things, but more about things that entertain me while also stimulating my brain)

It’s just like everything became less stressful because I was at peace with myself by finally doing what my body and mind really needed to do. I was being a positive person without even trying, it was just a side effect of doing what I liked. I don’t have much else to say about it, it’s that simple, do what you’re meant to do, and see how everything around becomes a lot more enjoyable.

What would you do if you had no job?

Your answer would probably be “Search for a job”. That’s not exactly what I’m talking about. Imagine yourself in a parallel universe where your basic needs were fulfilled. You would have food on the table, a roof above your head and some clothes to wear without the need of having a job to pay for it nor would you need to hunt and build everything yourself. What would you do with all this free time?

Take some time, think about it a few minutes or maybe give yourself a full week to come with an answer. There is no “one size fits all” answer to this question, it’s up to you to think about it and find what you think would be worth doing with your time. Maybe you like running, or drawing, or playing guitar, just think about what you like to do and what you would like to do.

When you’ll finally get a satisfying answer to the question (don’t restrict yourself to only one thing), it’s time to get back to reality and know that you still have engagements and responsabilities. You won’t be able to do the activity/ies full time (at least in the beginning) but why not start by cutting down on TV and beer and try it out? If it’s something that matters (or has the potential to matter) to you, give yourself time to practice it.

The way you set up the needed equipment can also greatly help you to start doing something. If you like drawing for example, just keep a paper and pen at hand and scribble when you get the chance. The easier it is to start doing it, the greater the chances that you’ll actually do it. So keep things at hand. If you’d like to ride your bicycle more often, don’t store it in a shed where it takes 10 minutes just to get it out of there, you just won’t do it. I keep my bicycle in my apartment so it’s easy to go for a ride. Long story short: make it easy for yourself!

Why is it so important?
It may not be clear for you yet, but it will positively impact your life. Doing what you like will make you a happier person, and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to be happier and I don’t see any downside to it. Being happier also means that you’ll radiate positive energy so you’ll obviously get positive feedback in some way.

We just have one life, so why should we spend it all on things we hate? Think of it that way: You heard songs and words, you saw pieces of art, you also saw people do amazing things, and maybe some of them touched you profoundly in some ways, inspired you or maybe even encouraged you to be a better person. But what we often forget it that we all have the hability to generate that effect on other people if we give ourselves the chance. Go ahead and be a creator, do what you’re meant to do and invest yourself in it. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you had the chance to make the world a better place and put a smile on someone’s face?

Creativity should not be forced

Are you just doing an okay job most of the time even if you seem to put a lot of effort in your work? Then maybe you’re not doing it the way you should. Like maybe you’re not working in the right context to just do a great job naturally. Let me give you an example:

I’ve have been working as a computer programmer for about 5 years but never got really fulfilled by what I accomplished during that time. Most of the time I just seemed to do what they expected of me, without any kind of special appeal or any touch of creativity. I started my own company in hope that I could find clients with whom I could work on my own terms but after about a year I finally gave up after seeing that I didn’t find anyone to work with and also after understanding that I really had no interest in doing that. I finally decided that I don’t want a career in IT anymore but I still continue to work on some personal projects for my own pleasure/interest. What I found is that I get a lot more satisfied by my work now that I do it for myself and that I have total freedom over what I’m doing. I’m not trying to stick to somebody’s vision, I’m just creating new things for myself, I have fun doing it and I have no deadlines, I just take the time I need.

Some would say that it’s easier to create something if someone imposes on you a theme/subject and a deadline, while I agree with that, I think that you would get a more “true”/meaningfull/interesting result if you create something in total freedom. It will definitely be harder because you have no base to stand on, but the end result will surely have something unique and satisfying for you.