Such a creative title right? You’ve never heard that before. I’m so clever. You mean to tell me that creativity isn’t always there for you? Sometimes you feel creative and have a deep drive to make something new. Sometimes you have to struggle to do the most basic of creative tasks? It comes and goes? Who knew!?
If you’re reading this post, chances are, you’ve known me from one of my creative endeavors. A few of you might know me in person. I imagine that both groups know just how many times I’ve tried various creative outlets. Woodworking, drawing, video content, board games, photography, writing… I try pretty much everything.
I’ve worked hard at developing many “talents” and almost every time the inspiration came from some unexplained compulsion. I would learn some new fact or discover am method about—literally anything—and immediately had to try it for myself. I couldn’t stop thinking about that thing until I put my brain and hands to work, crafting something new—and inevitably give up after a short while.
Welcome to “Chevee tries writing once again.”
A few weeks back, I posted about a woodblock print that I recently completed. I wanted to talk about that project in a little more detail than I did on The Daily Shed, and I thought maybe this website was a good place for that. I gathered some pictures, and my thoughts, and started writing the article.
I could have just posted it, and went on with my life, but I was aware that my old mailing list was dead. Google discontinued that product 2 years ago. If I posted it, the people that had signed up years ago to hear from me wouldn’t know. I reasoned that before I could post that article, I had to resurrect the mailing list somehow. I’d need to find a new product to host my mailing list and connect it to my site—and, if I’m going to to through that trouble, I’d need to commit to some sort of regular update that would make it worth my time.
Worth my time? That’s the ting. Who wants any of this?
I ask that question sincerely, and hope you’ll entertain answering me. I’ve been posting a daily diary on YouTube for nearly 8 years now and without regular feedback from awesome people who decide to make my channel a part of their lives, I probably would have given up years ago. I like connecting with people, and that is the crux of what I’m looking for every time I create. I have an idea, and I immediately see people embracing that idea or creation. I strive to form that bond for even a fleeting moment.
I printed an edition of 95 woodcuts and handed them to (mostly) strangers on a cruise ship. They lit up when I told them what it was. It filled me with joy and aspiration. I immediately started thinking of ideas to repeat that success. I started thinking of new prints I could work on. I started chasing that high. That’s where my creative inspiration is born.
What am I hoping to achieve with this and future articles? Motivation. Inspiration. I’ve been working on something in the background for a while now. A bit of writing that I hope to some day publish. It’s something I can’t really release as piecemeal and needs to be a complete work before I let others experience it. I want to finish that project, but I struggle every time my fingers meet the keyboard. I struggle with impostor syndrome, writers block, motivation loss—they’re all the same thing for me—and it’s taking me far too long to get my thoughts on the page.
Maybe by starting something here—writing something small on a regular basis that connects with others—maybe this is how I find that spark to keep pushing on. I’d like to replicate whatever it is that keeps me posting daily videos. Do you have any ideas for me? Things you’d like to read about. Questions you’d like answered. Topics you want to discuss. Let’s do this together. I’ll write an article every now and again. You’ll get it in your inbox, read it, and give me some form of response. That will fuel the next article, and we’ll see where it goes. Maybe somewhere along the way, I’ll pull that background project to the foreground and actually finish it.
Thank you.