The (un-ignorable) call of creativity
In June, I decided to hit the pause button on all of my creative projects I had been working so hard to build
This included weekly emails (like this one)
Weekly YouTube videos
And even some of my daily habits
Some would call it a mistake
Some would call it laziness
Some would call it a lack of consistency
And that’s exactly the problem
The pressure to do something you “think” you should do, is slowly wearing on you
Summer in Montana is short, and life gets busy during that season
I wanted to enjoy every minute of it
And quite frankly – writing an email and creating a video each week didn’t sound exciting to me
It didn’t “stoke my fire” – and as you may know – that’s the standard I set for myself
Rather than cause myself stress or burnout, I allowed myself time to rest
To consider
To explore
And what I found was a new spark
Being creative has always been a part of who I am
It’s an extension of my being
I can’t not do it
It’s the way I operate
It’s the way I express myself
And it’s what I often fall asleep thinking about
“Creativity” has taken many forms throughout my life
But the start of this love for art began with a camera in my hands
Capturing
Documenting
Storytelling
Taking snapshots of the moments happening before my eyes, and curating them to evoke emotion and feeling
Turning a potentially dull moment into something worth looking at
Pondering on
Being curious about
Because that’s how life often feels
It can be seem mundane
It can seem repetitive
It can seem like just another day or just another moment or just another view or just another sunset or just another person you meet on the street
But there’s so much more to the story
So much more to be explored
And that’s exactly what’s possible through creativity
It can allow anyone to dissect even the simplest of things and turn it into a narrative
Life moves fast
Not everyone will notice the details that an artist will
And that’s what sets them apart
To be artful you must be observant
It’s about your ability to document details
To turn nothing into something
I’ve fallen back in love with the process
I’ve remembered what it feels like to turn an idea into action
To watch it back, and be proud of what I’ve created
To get my heart pounding as the vision comes together as I imagined
The feeling I get from being able to look back at moments I would have otherwise overlooked
It’s not about the camera
Or the lens
Or the paintbrush
Or the canvas
It’s about turning dreams into reality
That’s what it’s all about as an artist
And I’m grateful to be back in the flow.
–
P.S. This was email #100 I’ve sent out since starting this project in 2023 – wild!!
Thanks for sticking around! I hope you had an awesome summer filled with more of what fills your cup.
Planning to get back into the swing of a weekly email, but that is subject to change 🙂
See you next time, stay stoked!
–Eric
