We’re back with Magic Lessons.
Episode 202 is exploring a woman, Anne, who is a photographer, who has a documentarian project that she is trying to create about her brother who is a veteran who struggles with PTSD and heroin addiction.
It’s a beautiful episode for many reasons.
But the thing I want to focus on is the advice that came from Brandon Stanton, the photographer who created the award-winning Humans of New York.
He had a lot of gems to offer, but there are three, in particular, I want to highlight:
- Don’t wait.
So many of us put our creativity aside. We say we’ll do it when we have more money. Or more time. Or a more solid idea. Or more training.
We put all these excuses between ourselves and the thing(s) that we want to be doing.
But the truth it, none of the above will ever happen. We will never magically have enough money or time or ideas or training – or courage – unless we decide that it is so. Here are the notes I scribbled while listening:
You can’t wait to be confident. Or to have the “ability” to do something before you start to do something you’re passionate about. You need to start the thing and trust that you will become the person you need to be along the way. And the project will become the thing it needs to be along the way.
This idea hit me like a ton of bricks. With a new project I have just started, I’ve been feeling this a lot. I feel driven to get it done. But time, money, confidence – they are all squarely on the side of “lacking.” But I reached the point where I couldn’t wait any longer. It’s not all perfectly ready – nor will it every be – but at least it has started.
2. Going along with that, one of the things that cause us to wait is that we have created goals that can only be accomplished by other people. To be “successful.” To be “famous.” To make lots of money. Or be an award-winning novelist. Or have one million social media followers. All of these things are things that we can’t control.
What we can control is the work. I can decide that I will work one hour day on my project. Or I will write one page a day. Or whatever committment I make. As long as I make goals over things that I actually have control, the rest of it will work out.
My creative life is so much better when I hold tight to this idea. It’s hard. I want people to like my work. I want to find success. I want my dreams to come true.
But when it comes down to it, what matters is the work. The ability to write. To create. To tell stories. As long as I am doing that on a daily basis, I have to trust that the rest will follow.
3. Which all leads to his formula for creative success.
Step One: Break the project down into units of work over which you have control (one hour a day, one page a day, etc.)
Step Two: Do that work.
Step Three: Let the project tell you what it is through the work.
I’ve got one and two down. It’s time to let three happen.
Since it’s been a couple of years since the podcast, I was curious to see if Anne had done anything with her project. Unfortunately, the episode doesn’t list last names so there’s no way to look her up. For privacy reasons, I understand the decision. However, it is a bit frustrating for those of us who want to check up on the projects.
So, in honor of Anne and Brandon, I am recommitting to not waiting. To focusing on the things that I have control. To doing the work.
It will all work out.