For those afraid to share
For years (from roughly 2018-2022), I never shared any of my work.
When creating new projects, the feeling of “incompleteness” loomed over everything I did.
If it wasn’t perfect – it wasn’t worth sharing. And nothing ever passed that test.
During that time period, I thought I was doing myself a favor. I wanted to perfect my craft and wait to share until I felt happy with my end product.
But looking back now, this was foolish and self-centered.
Create, Share, Repeat
When I started this newsletter, I had no choice but to share my work consistently.
Committing to a weekly sharing schedule means two things:
- You must create something new each week
- You must share that thing each week
No matter how incomplete, imperfect, or uninspiring it feels.
And funny enough – this project alone has completely changed my relationship with creative perfectionism.
In fact, it was so beneficial for me that I stuck with the same schedule when I started creating YouTube videos. Again, it worked wonders.
Who Cares If It Fails?
In the past year or so, I’ve learned to view creativity in a new light.
The act of creating something is a form of self-expression. It uses different bits of information, inspiration, and experience to form something new.
If you are creative in nature (and trust me – everyone is), it’s a healthy and even necessary part of living to express your experiences through creativity.
When you commit to creating something on a scheduled routine, it puts your creative mind to work at all times. It flips the switch, activating your observant self.
And more than that, it normalizes the process of:
- starting
- finishing
- and sharing
your creative projects.
With each week of sharing, it gets a tiny bit easier.
When you create a video or write an essay and it completely flops – you learn to accept it. It doesn’t mean you suck… or your work sucks… or that you should never create anything again.
It’s simply feedback.
And you didn’t start creating things just for it to be loved by other people. You probably started because you loved doing it.
So who cares if your video got 6 views?
Or who cares if you lost 15 subscribers with an email you sent?
You created it because it was a way of expressing something you genuinely enjoy. Some people will love it, and others will hate it.
But the best part?
You can go on your merry way, creating something again and again simply because you can.
What’s better than that?
Thanks for reading, happy Sunday friends!
–Eric P
