Having attended a not-real-art-school, even after deciding on design as a career I felt like…well…I wasn’t a real designer. Or a real photographer. Or a real creative. Here I was spat out into the real world, unsure of which direction I wanted to head, and feeling like I should be looking to some precedent for guidance. I tend to get in my head about things, and slipping from the practice making stuff meant I was stressing about not making stuff and…well, you get the idea; my creative muscles languished in this state of paralysis.
Attending Circles Creative Conference (“Inspire. Create. Repeat”) last September was a big breakthrough in this process — not least for the sicks friends I made both at the conference and CouchSurfing in the DFW area (shoutout to my boy Ty). Immersed in that group of creatives, I was at a new level of relating to and being stoked about the work and processes being discussed and being inspired in my unique vision. Paraphrasing what Illustrator Lotta Nieminen said in her talk that really hit home with me: “Trying to screw up and make mistakes will save you from truly screwing up.”
This blog is about intentionally screwing up and consistently cranking out. It’s about momentum. It’s about playfully shoving my perfectionism over into a puddle and telling it to loosen up once and a while.
In the words of the venerable Samuel L: “Hold on to your butts.”