A Meditation on Progress, Creativity, and Purpose
For a long time, I’ve been obsessed with a concept. The problem is, I’m not sure what to call it.
I am really into the beginning of things — the origins, patient zero, if you will. My favorite parts of autobiographies or historical narratives are the beginnings, where we get a glimpse into how things were right before the bigger arc of the story was set into motion.
That slow pre-build-up gives me a certain exhilaration that I find hard to describe. I would liken it to that feeling one gets in an open space outside, during mid-summer, when a dense wall of dark storm clouds is rolling in from the west.
You hear the thunder in the quickly approaching distance. You can see some sparse, quick flashes of lightning, and a slight but strengthening wind blows through every 30 seconds or so. Things are about to get crazy, but right now — right now it’s just that moment — the beginning.
I think that feeling is magical. Let me say that in a more useful way. I think that feeling wields a lot of power.
Don’t Create — Just for a Bit
To test this out, try a little exercise: open up a blank document, take out a fresh blank piece of paper, a white primed canvas, or what have you. Now meditate on the following:
- This blank thing could be anything. The possibilities are endless. It could be something that’s been done before, or something that will blow the lid off of the world. Isn’t that pretty damn wonderful?
- It is not a work in progress, with all of the burdens, commitments, and anxiety of expectation attached. It is all possibilities; none have been eliminated — all are in play. You can go anywhere from here.
- How about basking in that wonder, for just a little bit longer than you’re used to? Don’t create anything, just bask in the possibilities.
All of this is just to say that there is value in a blank medium. That is because there is value in potential energy. There is value in that feeling that comes with being on the cusp of starting something.
Let that feeling help you realize the value of that potential energy that you have at the beginning of a creative venture. It’s a truly awesome reminder of the power that you have — the we all have — the power to create; to make something from nothing.
Value and Focus
My soliloquy above was an attempt to show exactly how a blank is already valuable. It’s valuable because it puts you face to face with your potential — your nearly unlimited potential.
Now obviously, you probably can’t just act as if a blank document, presentation, recording, or canvas is your newest work — that’s been done in pretty much every medium. But I think the point here is that there are two areas of focus when you’re working on creative stuff: the frame and the piece itself.
A frame is a wide concept, meaning that it can be so many things when it comes to creative work. The frame is the presentation — that which focuses people’s minds on what’s being presented. In a way, how you frame something is tremendously powerful — it’s a chance for you as the creator to further express what you’re trying to express by almost making people look at your work in a certain way, from a certain angle, in a certain progression.
That’s an important thing — don’t overlook it. You work hard on what you’re doing (I presume). So you shouldn’t just heave your idea off the ship of creating, mumbling here’s another one for ya under your breath.
A Trick? Maybe. But a Pretty Good One
If nothing else, this strategy (like some have been and more will be) is a trick to get your focus on something greater — the purpose of your work.
Think of it: if you focus on how your work is framed, on how others will be receiving it, you will have to grapple with the important question of what your work is all about. Focusing on the what and why of your work is of the utmost importance. It may radically change the work itself — and that’s fine. After all, you’re trying to do something worthwhile, aren’t you?
I’ll go ahead and take this opportunity to beat a favorite dead horse of mine:
Never be afraid to change, delete, erase, or start over — because in doing so, you are not eliminating progress. As a creator, your progress is made in the realm of ideas, not on paper.
This is another realm in which you must be fearless. You must not fearfully cling to what you’ve put down on paper. Hell, that paper (or digital document) is not the medium of your creation anyway. Your medium is in the realm of ideas — the realm of connection. Any progress you make as a cfreator will remain long after any types words, ink marks, or paint splatters fade away. Remember that, or forget it at your own peril.
Sometimes, it is truly what you DON’T create that is the most valuable.