This is your only job.
Creative minds often have a hard time swallowing the idea that our output will be judged. We have enough trouble with the likes of impostor syndrome, resistance and self-doubt. I suppose it’s just part of our particular grind. Most of the time it is an intern
ally generated image based on faulty programming. It can easily be triggered by one harsh
word or one critical comment designed to hurt instead of help.
I asked my friend why she pulled down her post.
She said someone online made a harsh comment about it. She felt judged. It brought out the Gremlins who shake her confidence and rattle her mind. They take a horrific pride in making us feel worthless. She killed the post, which she was actually proud of. They won again.
I wanted to shake her. We’d been through this again and again. Any artist of any discipline; painter, writer, performer, photographer, all the way to fitness enthusiast, entrepreneur, etc. will one day hit a wall erected in our minds. Scrawled on that wall in blood-red spray paint is written, “You suck – hugs n kisses, Everybody”. That’s when they give up and go home because that triggers the Gremlins.
Remember these just before you decide to read comments and then hit Delete:
- Don’t read comments. I know you will, we all do but remember, if you’re going to bask in the warm glow of the positive notes, you also have to swallow the negative with a smile. If you can do that, fab.
- Your primary job as The One With The Vision is to create it. Whether you say you saw it in a dream or some divine force handed it to you, your creative mind got stuck with it. Your job, your only job is to give it to everyone else.
- Once you give it away, let it go. It’s not your job to field the response. Let people decide for themselves whether they like it or not.
- Notice I said, “whether they like it or not”, as opposed to, “whether they think it’s good or not”. There’s no such thing as good or bad, just “finished”. Finish it and…
- …Immediately get started on the next project. Creative minds don’t thrive on stagnation. See number 2 for a refresher.
- Also remember, you create (anything) primarily for you. Something inspired you to pull something out of the ether so you can experience its beauty. Your hope is enough people like it so that this work sustains your life. If we focus on trying to guess what people like, there will never be another original anything ever created.
- This is a numbers game. There are enough people in the world who will find you, love your work, and happily pay you to do what you love because they love it, too. It makes their lives just as beautiful as it does yours. The secret is…
- …You don’t need millions of people. You only need a few hundred rabid, loyal fans who will frequent your business, buy your art, drive many, many miles to see your show or whatever else you have.
- There will always be criticism. Someone will always feel compelled to tell you you’re doing it wrong. There will always be someone who doesn’t believe in you. Your only response to this is, “Thank you for the inspiration”.
- Focus on the ones who love/need/want what you do. If you must focus on something outside the work, focus on the (many) people who do love your work, who do want more of it and who do want to see you happy, productive and successful at your craft. There are a lot more of them out there than you think, including me.
Let’s recap:
Do the work and only the work. Release it into the wind. Get back to work.
Tom Serafini is a writer, illustrator and sometime stand-up comedian residing in Brooklyn, New York (until California let’s him stay). His first illustrated picture book, Ollie Bug and the Icky Sticky Thing From Space, will be funded through a Kicktarter crowdfunding campaign coming this summer.
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