The power of creation can give so much reward to you and the others around you, but you have to be open to show it off. It is a step to strip yourself bare like that, but it is where the deep satisfaction can be realised. Get out beyond the fear of it.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. Bene Gesserit, Litany Against Fear (from the novel Dune)
My partner passed a comment on me the other day, and it struck a chord.
‘You have been really happy and content this year because you have been so focused on creating and learning. It is great to see that, and you have the spirit and energy of a teenager when you are doing it.’
I did laugh, the spirit of a teenager. That is a long time past for me as I head for retirement. However, it is true. She hit the nail on the head. Creating something has given me focus. It has also provided fulfilment and a level of personal satisfaction that was missing in other areas of my life. A caution here, it is a great life, but it has a typicality that is all too familiar.
Creating things has given me mental space and self-worth.
It has made me a stronger person because I get to complete stuff, which doesn’t stop just at creating content. It has set me up with a mindset for life and given me new tools to cope with life challenges and focus on getting things done.
The more you create, the more powerful you become. The more you consume, the more powerful others become”
Atomic Habits, by James Clear
You have to be a consumer of content to be able to create content, and for that reason, you have to get the balance right. Some days the scales tip toward one side, and that is perfectly ok. I like consuming content… it is good fun. Recently though, consuming has been a distraction because it is an easy option.
Switch on, tune out, turn off. Sleep, work and then repeat. A consumption cycle that is fun, relaxing and, to a certain extent, rewarding.
But creating, that is where the satisfaction is. To start something from a thought, a loose idea or a feeling and then work it up to a finish has immense pleasure. A sweeping, overwhelming reward that is deeper than achieving something from the day job because it is yours. You created it on your own merit.
My parents were great bakers, and when I was growing up, they would make some truly beautiful and tasty things from scratch. I always thought that they baked from scratch because of the lack of money in the household. But now, when I look back, I believe it was because they would achieve the satisfaction of having made something. This was the world without the internet and only three channels on television. There were few opportunities to express yourself, and crafts, gardening, baking and building were examples of completing things and admiring the end result with glee.
I think back and imagine the reward my parents would get from watching the many kids that were in the household, their own, all twelve of us, and our friends, gorging on hot cakes, scones and gateaux… it must have been a blast. To create something that would be so welcomed and greatly appreciated is one of the finer things in life. I think my parents knew that, and that is why it was an open house, a safety zone for the kids in our neighbourhood.
The reward was creating something special and then watching it be devoured with applause and appreciation by a band of merry kids drunk on the fun of consumption.
Sounds familiar to today’s modern creator industry.
So if you have some time today, create something, no matter how small. Create that something and then stand back, smile, and take in what you achieved and say to yourself loudly…
I created that…
…and then…
Share it with the world.
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