In the modern world, we are spoilt for choice. In a supermarket there are a dozen brands of toothpaste, so many shapes of pasta, and recently I’ve noticed Cadbury chocolate have been bombarding us with new hybrid flavours of chocolate blocks – like lamington, boysenberry ripple, and endless variations of the marvelous creations. I’ve noticed the same with Smiths chips too – BBQ ribs, cheesy garlic bread, and the list goes on.
My wife and I frequently talk about a book called “The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less” by Barry Schwartz. Having more options might give the illusion that we have more freedom, but it is actually likely to contribute to more dissatisfaction and regret in our choices. This can have an impact on our well-being and emotional health. This lead me into thinking about creative projects, and that I, like many others, have a tendency to start or fantasize about creating a new artistic project, only to move onto something else soon afterwards. In the end I see a string of unfinished once-shiny-objects now reduced to rusty faded dreams.
As time goes on, I look back at all my unfinished projects with regret and dissatisfaction. This is almost identical to the feeling of being overwhelmed by too many options in the supermarket, but instead of groceries it’s unfinished songs, compositions, novels, TV scripts, paintings, drawings, comics, and so much more. They all stack up and clutter your mind like a niggling voice reminding you of your lack of achievement. When you go to declutter your mind, you feel as though you can’t discard any of these projects. You’ve given so much time and effort. The fantasy is still there. But the dream and desire to work is gone.
The problem is that many creatives fall in love with the idea of a project, but neglect the process that makes it possible. The process requires focus, grit, consistency, hard work, a rejection of perfectionism, and overcoming the fear of judgement. The biggest problem I’ve faced is a lack of focus and consistency. I’ve got the craft, knowledge, and skill. But that’s still not enough. To take a project to completion, you must have the skill of focus and consistency. You can’t work on five different projects at once and expect them all to be finished. Just focus on one.
People often confuse “lust” with “love”, and this goes for “falling in love” with a new project. There is a huge difference between love and infatuation, and the longer you are in a relationship, the more you discover this. True love is a deep, sacrificial, and unconditional commitment, whereas infatuation is superficial, and more about the idea of a person, or the fantasy rather than the reality. The more we lust and chase after shiny projects, the more we will be dissatisfied with the ones we’re meant to be working on. What if the projects we “love”, are the ones that we give unconditional priority to over other projects? What if we focus on just the most important project to us, and “forsake all others”? What if we sacrifice every other project for the one we truly love? We could get a lot more done – that’s for sure! This analogy of infatuation vs love helps us to determine our focus. The next key skill is consistency.
Like the commitment of true love, consistency is needed to finish creative projects. The bigger the project you set out to complete, the bigger sacrifices with your time and effort you will have to make. If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well. Commitment means setting aside an uncompromisable time to chip away at your masterpiece. It means not giving up 10% through. It means overcoming every doubt that comes your way. It means being so convicted in the belief that your project will work to the point you complete it.
I struggled for over four years to complete my album “Pondering”. This is because I set aside no regular time to work on it, I had many doubts along the way, I got distracted by so many other music projects, I used every excuse that I was “busy”. I had moments of euphoric love for my creations, as well as contempt and cringe. There were so many times I was tempted to release it as a half-finished EP, or to discard the project entirely. Luckily I had amazing friends and family who constantly provoked me asking “When’s Pondering coming out??”, to remind me of the passionate infatuation I once felt for it. Then over time I’ve realized that the infatuation became a true love, because despite it’s flaws and shortcomings, I look at my work and see the scars and layers of a patchy journey, that reflect my growth and change as a human being over all these years.
Caspian Scott 