One of my biggest creative hurdles that I must learn to defeat is the “What’s the point mentality?” It haunts me everyday and I’m sure I’m not the only creative out there who struggles with this powerful and ever present monster. Trying to ignore this question can prove to be very challenging since creatives like you and I often times have trouble seeing where projects are headed. It’s too easy to question our motives when we know there’s a significant time and/or money invested in a project. Add on time for work, time for kids and family, and time for school and our dedication to creative projects quietly moves to the back burner.
I’m currently working on my first real portfolio using Blurb’s ebook service and it’s proving to be more time consuming and emotionally challenging than I expected. Add in the “what’s the point?” voice constantly gnawing at my mind and it’s very hard to make the time to sit down and finish the book…a books that’s likely to get lost in the millions of other photography books out there.
My main goal now is to try to ignore that voice in my head, move forward, and finish the book. Maybe it won’t do much for me in my lifetime but maybe it’ll inspire one of my children to be more creative…maybe it’ll make me famous long after I’m gone…who knows. In either case I want to finish the book so I can feel a sense of accomplishment and beat that voice in my head. I want the book behind me so I can move on to another project and fight that creative resistance another day. Maybe I’ll be a little stronger next time.
The point is, it makes you feel happy when you are working on it and when it is finished others will be able to experience a piece of the world through your eyes and you will have produced an artifact that will memorialize your existence as a small part of this world at this time.