A Little Reminder to Make Something Just Because You Want To
When was the last time you made something that had absolutely no job?
Not for Instagram.
Not for your portfolio.
Not because it might perform well.
Not because it fits your niche.
Not because you could sell it.
Not even because you're particularly good at it.
Just because...
you wanted to.
I think we need more of that.
Not everything needs to become content
The internet has made it very easy to turn every part of creativity into an opportunity.
Paint something?
Film the process.
Go somewhere beautiful?
Take content.
Learn something new?
Turn it into a tutorial.
Have an idea?
Figure out how to monetize it.
And listen, I love sharing things.
I love turning ideas into something bigger.
But sometimes the second I start thinking about how I'm going to use an idea, I stop experiencing it.
The camera comes out before I've even had the moment.
The strategy arrives before the curiosity does.
So lately, I'm trying to leave a little more room between:
I love this.
and
What can I do with this?
Make something useless
I mean that affectionately. 😂
Make something with absolutely no measurable return.
Take a photograph you never post.
Paint something badly.
Learn four chords of a song.
Decorate a cake like you're six years old.
Write something nobody will read.
Make an outfit just to take it off again.
Spend an unreasonable amount of time making your coffee look cute.
There doesn't need to be a reason.
Curiosity is enough.
You don't have to be good at everything you enjoy
This one is important.
The moment we become good at creating, it can become strangely difficult to be a beginner again.
We know what good looks like.
So being bad at something feels uncomfortable.
But you are allowed to love things you're terrible at.
Actually, please do.
Sing badly.
Draw badly.
Dance badly.
Take weird photographs.
Make something and laugh at the result.
Being a beginner gives you something expertise sometimes takes away:
permission to play.
Nobody has to see it
There is something special about making something nobody knows exists.
No likes.
No comments.
No analytics.
Nobody deciding whether it was worth your time.
Just you and the thing you made.
Keep some creativity for yourself.
Not because your work isn't worth sharing.
Because you are also part of the audience your creativity is allowed to serve.
Follow the unnecessary idea
You know the idea.
The one that makes absolutely no strategic sense but keeps tapping you on the shoulder.
Paint that.
Photograph that.
Wear that.
Write that.
Try that.
You don't know where it's going.
Good.
Some of the most important creative decisions don't introduce themselves as important ones.
They start as:
This could be fun.
Follow it.
Your spark
Today, make one thing with no plan for what happens next.
You don't have to post it.
You don't have to finish it.
You don't have to turn it into anything.
Give yourself 20 minutes.
Follow whatever makes you curious.
And when your brain inevitably asks:
Okay, but what's this for?
You can tell it:
Nothing. I just wanted to make it.
That's enough.
Maybe creativity doesn't always need to take you somewhere.
Sometimes creating is the somewhere. ✨