Using Crappy Art to Build Momentum

Please stop waiting for the perfect moment.

You’ll never feel like it, especially if you’re stuck in this rut.

If you want to get better and make improvements:

Create more art.
Do more things.
Put out more content.
Say more words.

Don’t stop creating and producing – whatever that means to you.

If you can’t tell, this is a pep talk for myself.

When I’m in a rut, it’s often because I get too ideological about what I should be doing. I get too linearly focused.

“I should be doing XYZ after ABC. By now I should be capable of EFG.”

It’s often because I put WAY TOO MUCH EMPHASIS on making the “next thing” super awesome and perfect.

And not only is that highly unfeasible, but I’ve been out of practice. Whatever I do next is likely to be absolute crap.

Whether I’ve been “in the game” for years and am just out of practice OR I am embarking on a new adventure for the first time OR about to step foot in the next level of my current challenge, I’m going to have to do a lot of learning.

In other words, I’m going to have to make a lot of mistakes to learn the game being played before it becomes second nature to “make something good.”

The same goes for writing, for singing, for dancing, for painting — for anything we intend to become good at.

When I embrace the possibility of making “crappy art,” or doing something imperfectly, I’m putting myself into a notion of motion.

And motion creates progress.

When I’m stuck in a rut, it’s going to be a lot better for me to spend each day trying to write 1 post a day that might be “meh” at best, then to spend all week trying to curate 1 amazing post. In 7 days of “meh” posts, I’ll be making more mistakes and working through the kinks much faster.

When momentum has been established, then I can start to consider being a little pickier about the content I’m putting out.

But when I’m making and doing NOTHING right now? Then picky-perfect art is worse than shitty art, because it’s sitting in my mind and not in reality.

So for now?

Create, create, create.

Don’t look back.

Keep laying the bricks.