creative work means nothing if you don’t get to enjoy the process.
Enjoying it is part of the craft.
Literally been thinking about it for a minute now- what’s the point of creating if we don’t get to enjoy the process? And yes, for some, enjoying the creation process means working non-stop, while for others it might mean rolling a spliff and listening to some Erykah Badu or Leon Thomas to find inspiration; both are acts of joy, and both are very much needed, per each creative’s tendencies.
But what happens when we neglect those small joyful moments, and suddenly we don’t get to enjoy our creative process anymore?
If you’ve asked yourself the same question a few times throughout your non-linear-career, stick with us! as we dismantle the constant/sometimes joy-draining moments that make our creative work suffer in the short + long term.
Since the act of creation itself is a divine act, losing the joy in it is almost like losing our north star when it comes to the journey, right? We are losing our inner creative compass, which means we might be directed to a completely different direction than we weren't intending to go to in the beginning - practically swinging our whole project from one side of the octagon to the other, leaving almost no room for our creative signature to stay within the 10 or so rounds (of revision) that we need to go through in order to put the work out. PROPER KNOCKOFF (pun intended).
Besides that - let's take an example from our lives, right? Let's get romantic.
You are waking up with your chosen one right next to you, but this time you're not getting breakfast from Uber Eats and decide to cook something! how lovely, right? But what happens when you ACTUALLY don't want to cook from the bottom of your heart, or you're not enjoying it through the process? It becomes shit.
DISCLAIMER - Shit in this argument means not your best.
Now, would you serve your chosen one anything less than perfect? Maybe, depends on what happened before; but we want to believe that you wouldn't, right?
So why should your work go through the same thing? Married to the game? Doesn't look like it now, because the joy left the room! and now you don't even have the capability to produce the best results, since you cannot enjoy the process, so everything gets created because you feel obligated to, and not because you feel inspired and joyful. And that makes all the difference.
Then you remember that joy is in the small details, of course; so you step outside, sunrays hitting your body, and boom! You remember that in the grand scheme of things, the world wouldn't collapse without your art, so it's okay to breathe for a second, get inspired, and create with joy.
It's time for us to treat our creative endeavors like another limb in our body. It seems that every other aspect of life gets the proper treatment, but when it comes to creative endeavors, they almost get sidelined and acted upon with less importance; which is the complete opposite of what they are, and what they deserve.
Take it back to our childhood once again; take a kid that you send to some after-school activities, be it basketball, playing an instrument, baseball, and everything else that might be on the table at the moment. If that kid says “I don’t enjoy that after-school activity,” would you keep sending them there? Exactly, no.
So since you are bringing your vision to life; why would you keep sending it, figuratively, to where it doesn't want to be? Sounds counter-intuitive to us, but what do we know? Just make sure to pick it up when the activity ends.
Go back to that cooking session for your chosen one; revisit it and do it out of love and joy. You just turned the kitchen into an Anthony Bourdain type of experience simply because you enjoyed it, and it wasn't restricted by anything, so only good outcomes can come out of it.
Or Virgil, for example, once again! no burnout, probably not even in his lexicon, because everything was created with joy. Every single collection, DJ mix, store design, lecture - all of it through joy and not because he was obligated to. And that's what makes all the difference, if you ask us.
At the end of the day it boils down to one sentence, and some might not agree; but if you feel obligated to create, you've missed the mark. And maybe it's best for your mental and your body of work to step out for a second and rethink the process, because you and the audience deserve better.
The Mercer Edition Is An Independent Publication.
Inshallah
I totally agree - your work comes out different when it comes from a place of obligation. It feels like a body of work without a soul