This year I dubbed them New Year's Revolutions. Mostly because I get a kick out of almost-homonyms (like when I call them the Granny's instead of the Grammy's) but also because I wanted to make some significant changes to a ineffective system. A revolution, if you will.

It can be a challenge to maintain a steady flow of creative juices. During my undergrad I had the pleasure of studying something inherently creative which required me to tell visual stories on a regular basis. Literally required to be creative so I didn't waste thousands of dollars in tuition. I made some crappy stuff and some okay stuff. I took a lot of beautiful photos for fun and I worked every summer at camp where I created all sorts of visual media for their marketing outlets and for kids to take home to remember their life-changing time at camp.

Then I graduated, started paying bills, got a full time (not-very-creative) job. I was tired and lazy. I was no longer required to tell stories. So I mostly stopped. Drifting farther and farther away from creating visual content, I slowly started to pick it back up. I was working on small projects for all sorts of people and organizations and gaining some momentum and confidence. But I wanted more.

Back to those revolutions! I was inspired by a friend to post something on Instagram every day of the year. Its such a visual and creative platform and I thought it would be a simple way to break creative inertia. All I'd need to do is snap a photo of my day. I was also hoping that it would balance out my consumer/producer ratio. I consumed so much social media without actually producing, creating or sharing any of my own life. I was sure it was a win-win! I would get creative juices flowing and I would share more about my life with my community.

And it was great and challenging for a while. I hit a small creative road block after one month but I recovered and pressed on. But then the pendulum swung too far the other way. The contrast of rarely making anything to obsessing over creation was overwhelming. I've always been a sucker for approval from others.
(Most creative people spend at least some amount of time there, right?)

"Will people like what I'm making? Is it good enough? Is it beautiful enough? Is it enough?"

It became consuming and unhealthy. A toxic mix of envy, comparison and obsession was brewing. So I quit.

There was a poster in my gym class in high school that proclaimed, "Winners never quit and quitters never win!" Which might be true in sports, but not in life.

There's something freeing about quitting something you know is harmful. And something funny about having to quit something you thought would be really beneficial for you. So I'll keep creating, just in different formats and on different platforms. It's like ice cream. I haven't completely given up the ol' IG, but it's just too darn unhealthy to eat it every single day.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

— Teddy Roosevelt

Why I quit, and sometimes quitters can win