Creative paths, disconnection and intention, genuine pride, and perspectives of criticism
A compilation.
Embracing the genuine joy and inefficiency of creative paths
“Find a creative path that brings you joy and follow it. Perhaps it’s the intimacy of carving. Perhaps it's the slow pace of hand tool work. Maybe it’s the efficiency of production work. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be woodworking. It could be painting or drawing or writing or music.”
“Whatever it is that makes your life a little more beautiful, go do that. And don’t let anyone tell you you’re wrong.”
Words written by Erik Curtis, carpenter and dedicated woodworking craftsman.
He goes on to talk about the joy of working with hand tools - simply for the joy of it - stating:
“There is something about the inclusion of hand tool work that brings me a lot of joy. Is it inefficient? Absolutely. But it makes me smile. And that’s reason enough to continue on down that path.”
Designing courses, teaching, and writing are my creative paths. They are the paths where I find the kind of joy he describes here - intimate, slow-paced, beautiful, and oftentimes inefficient. The hours of researching, reading, drafting, personalizing, analyzing, synthesizing, drawing connections, writing, and forming - all for the joy of it - for the love of the craft. Or, as Steven Pressfield says in “The War of Art” the privilege of getting to “toil in your chosen field.”
The takeaway: “Find a creative path that brings you joy and follow it.”
Whether it’s woodworking, writing, baking, cooking, decorating, teaching, organizing, leading, or something else - and don’t let anyone tell you you’re wrong.
Disconnection, Intention, and Alienation
I first heard about the 80/20 principle (Pareto Principle) years ago in one of Tim Ferriss’s books or articles. However, I’ve often seen it mentioned in other places - especially in conversations around business. It’s one of those ideas that, once you become aware of it, you start to see it everywhere.
I’ve seen any number of interpretations (some even slightly comical), but the underlying gist is that it’s often a handful of things (20%) that actually lead to the largest percent of your results (80%).
And although this concept is often considered in the context of business, you can apply it to any area of your life.
To use it, you start by choosing one area to examine - your finances, creative work, job search, online efforts, or relationships - and then ask:
What exactly are the results I want here? And what actions are actually creating those results?
When I’ve done this in the past, the results have been eye-opening.
First, I realized just how unclear I often am about my “desired results.” As someone who prides themself on being intentional about most things, it was distressing (and helpful) to see how much more clarity I needed in key areas.
Also, it led me to have honest conversations - with myself - about my work, my relationships, how I really felt about social media, and what I need creatively.
Interestingly, I also found it to be more emotional than expected. I came to the realization that truth, or attempting to search for and live in one’s truth, also requires one to become comfortable with its initial (and painful) co-pilot: alienation.
“The cost of sanity in this society is a certain level of alienation.”
~ Terence McKenna
Genuine pride and the dangers of a prize’s divide
“Be proud, not arrogant. Back straight, head high. Stand like you deserve to be here.”
In Ethan Hawke’s Rules for a Knight, pride is described not as being arrogant, but as offering the best of ourselves to others - no more and no less. It says that pride is born of “dignity and self-worth” while “arrogance is born of insecurity.”
He says:
“Never pretend you are not a knight or attempt to diminish yourself because you deem it will make others more comfortable. We show others the most respect by offering the best of ourselves.”
In this chapter on pride, he tells the story of a grandfather who uses archery as a way to teach his young grandson about the difference between the earning of genuine pride versus the seeking of a prize. He says:
“Shoot for nothing.
When an archer shoots for a prize, he gets tight.”
“When you shoot to impress, your eyes divide. You see two targets.”
Yet, “your skill has not changed, but the imagined prize separates you.”
“Thinking more of the prize than of his target, a knight is drained of power by the need to win.”
“Thinking of nothing, you can let go.”
“When you train hard, do your best, and strike the mark, pride comes all by itself.”
Criticism and having the right perspective
In one of my all-time favorite books, The Seven Decisions, the author talks about criticism - how to think about it and how to deal with it.
He says:
“As you embark upon your journey with a decided heart, I can promise you the clamor from your personal peanut gallery of doubters and not-so-well-wishers will roar. It will amaze you! The people you thought would be on your side - but aren’t - might be a larger group than you imagined."
"If you worry about what other people think, you will have more confidence in their opinions than you do your own. Your future does not depend on the opinions or the permission of others."
"If you are afraid of criticism, you’ll have little effect on the world. Criticism runs rampant, and if you’re inhibited by it, you’ll drown in its deep waters.”
“Anytime you do something unrealistic by other people’s standards, they’ll be braying like donkeys.”
He goes on to say: “There are some people in your life who are never going to like you. Some people won’t like anything you do as you become more successful. Think about your favorite book or movie of all time. Now go online and start reading consumer reviews on Amazon or some other product review website. It doesn’t matter if your favorite book has sold more than twenty million copies or if your favorite movie did over $500 million at the box office - you’ll find plenty of critical reviews”.
He goes one step further and jokes “Folks, the critics are bad-mouthing Oprah and Mother Theresa! Who are we to be exempt?”.
When we are bothered by criticism, often we just need “a healthy dose of perspective”.
Deep Heart Reflections
What creative paths give you genuine joy? And what causes you to divide from that genuine joy?
Where in your life would you like to be more intentional (and how do you plan to be intentional about being intentional?)
Where in your life have you “earned” genuine pride? And where have you let the focus on a prize create a divide?
Whose criticism do you fear? Or, as I once heard someone say “who are you afraid to try in front of?”