#207: Shipping Creative Work, Embracing Your Weirdness & Selfish Creativity
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on the Secret to Creativity
I. Shipping Creative Work
In The Practice: Shipping Creative Work, author Seth Godin tackles misconceptions about the creative process. Here he explains the significance of the book’s title:
Shipping, because it doesn’t count if you don’t share it. Creative, because you’re not a cog in the system. You’re a creator, a problem solver, a generous leader who is making things better by producing a new way forward. Work, because it’s not a hobby. You might not get paid for it, not today, but you approach it as a professional. The muse is not the point, excuses are avoided, and the work is why you are here.
—Seth Godin
II. Embracing Your Weirdness
One of the keys to creativity is to embrace your unique experiences and interests as a source of strength. That’s why Robert Greene, bestselling author of multiple books on mastery, power and human nature, implores you to embrace your weirdness:
Be yourself. Be as weird as you want to be. Stop listening to other people and doing what they tell you. Just follow what your soul tells you. What makes you different. And be weird. We need more weird people, more invididuals who are unique, who create art and businesses that reflect themselves. Just be you. Be weird. “Let a thousand flowers bloom,” as they used to say in China.
Great advice. However, I think it should come with a reminder: Not everyone will appreciate your weirdness. And that’s okay.
III. Selfish Creativity
My personal secret to creativity is that I write to entertain and educate myself, not others. So I was thrilled to hear producer legend Rick Rubin make a similar point. Echoing the concept of Selfish Morality, I’d like to call it Selfish Creativity.
I’m not making it for them. I’m making it for me. It turns out that when you make something truly for yourself, you’re doing the best thing you possibly can for the audience.
If you’re thrilled by what you produce, it’s much more likely that your audience feels the same when consuming it. 🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com