Do you ever feel this way too? I was talking to my sister Eileen this week and complained that everything I've created lately looks horrible. I joked that maybe my art-ing days are over.
My beautiful sister, Eileen, helping me at Silver Bella a couple years ago.
Then last night, Eileen and I were talking again and she mentioned an Ira Glass / This American Life episode she listened to. I remembered that I had saved an Ira Glass quote a while back because I found it particularly meaningful, but I couldn't remember why. So, I pulled it out again...
“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.
But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.
It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”-Ira Glass”
Do you find that true, too? How easily I forget!
I can't tell you how many gluebook pages I've set aside lately, because I just couldn't finish. I'm so unhappy with them! So, my goal for the weekend is to finish some art every day. To stick with it, even if I think it's really bad.
Wish me luck, I'll let you know how it goes.
Oh, and just a reminder that the Spring 25% off sale ends tomorrow. If you'd like to gluebook along with me, come ahead!
