Avoid lingering on the well-worn path; you don’t want to be a minor example of someone else’s major style or idea.
Jerry Saltz, How to be an artist
I wish, at this point, I had a path I was on. The why of this isn’t rocket surgery but it’s not as clear to me as it could be. I feel compelled to create. My heart feels full when I write. My soul screams in joy when I tell a joke that lands. It’s a compulsion to connect with people, with an audience. My whole body and mind sings in a Hallelujah chorus when that magic happens.
My goal is to create and I don’t. I need a challenge, something to keep me going and give me some accountability for my creative practice. Thirty, 60, 90 days, a year, something that makes the practice stick. Do something. Just do anything.
I have to start with doing something, anything, every single day. To start, I need to keep it simple and keep it short. It doesn’t have to be perfect, or even good. Start with something old or something new, but please – no pressure.
In all of that, I can’t worry about what the result is, just something needs to get done every single day. Just suit up, show up, do something. It won’t always be a fun time, but it can be enjoyable. It should be enjoyable most days.
I need to schedule that creative time, in a dedicated space for creating, every single day. Work on one thing; one project, one artform, one fucking thing, every single day.
While I can’t worry about the result, I do need to have a goal for what I’m trying to achieve with this practice.
And I need to fill my well, create a space or system for banking those ideas and inspiration and use it every single day. I need to find the seeds of creation in my everyday life and store them up for future days when I don’t know what to do.
I know where I find ideas and inspiration. I just need to get out of my comfort zone and do the things that bring about the practice, output, and… stuff I want to create.
I have this lofty notion that I can be an artist and live an artist’s life. But I will not be an artist or anything like that if I don’t actually do something. I need creative people in my life, I need to sleep, I need to move my body, I need to have a creative life to have the best life I imagine for myself.
The goal is to create a practice that allows a constant recalibration between your imagination and the world around you.
Jerry Saltz, How to be an artist