gentle advice for sensitive souls
who wanna make somethin outta nothin
There’s a certain voice I hear in my head whenever I’m creatively stuck.
It’s loud and sounds like Batman.
“Just do it,” the hyper-macho gravely voice barks, “do the work.”
“Ah great thank you Batman, I hadn’t thought of that! Wow, problem solved.”
Yuck.
No thank you.
I know this ‘suck it up and do it stop being a baby’ advice is not helpful and yet - and yet! - my head is full of it.
Don’t you see, I am a baby. A sensitive lil baby who longs to share his sensitive little thoughts with the world. Isn’t that basically the point of art?
Take this meme that instructs you to do ‘it’ even if you’re scared. I mean…maybe? Certainly not always.
“Consistency is the key,” Batman screams, but consistently doing what, exactly? Consistently beating myself up when already deep in the caves of my own self-loathing? Yea, no.
Not doing it can itself be doing it.
Here I fixed it:
Not doing it can also just be not doing it!
Not everything has to be done as a means to the ultimate end of “creating something.” We don’t always have to be productive and we don’t always have to justify our rest (he says entirely to himself).
As the Tao Te Ching says, “Do nothing, and everything gets done.” Classic Tao stuff tbh.
We need advice that points toward a different path. A gentler way for the sensitive souls.
I made this moodboard for Sublime’s newsletter (where I work!!) and wanted to share it with y’all cuz I feel like BATheads would dig it too. It’s there below for ya. Enjoy.
But what’s Sublime, you ask? (here’s a lil ad for this thing I genuinely really like using)
It’s basically a knowledge tool for creatives. Besides using it to collect inspo and save cool stuff (Pinterest for ideas), we’re seeing people most using it to actually help them Make Stuff. Especially writers and strategists and anyone else whose job it is to connect the dots, share ideas with others, what have you.
Aaaanyways - Sublime is still in private beta but your ol’ pal Al has a lil invite link for you here, so sign up and give the free version a whirl and lemme know what you think.
ALSO: I’m gonna do a lil live zoom call soon specifically for BAT readers where I share how I use Sublime to work on essays, develop my ideas, etc + share how other people are using it too. We might even do some sort of lil accountability thing with people to help them actually do stuff? It feels a lot like a real workshop which I hate and so I’ll probably make fun of those the whole time too. Should be fun!
Dates are TBD but if you wanna sign up or if you have questions just add ur info here and I’ll let you know when it goes live etc.
ok here’s the moodboard lol
But busyness has a way of stealing creativity from you. Generative work, like art and writing, requires long periods of nothingness: it’s only in that wide empty space that ideas emerge. Long runs, hot showers, commutes that don’t involve harried Slack messages and listening to podcasts at 2x speed. Sitting at the edge of a dock, listening to the ocean breathe. Novels that make you daydream.
source: the scenic route by
Jasmine Sun
To see all the ideas I gathered in making this collection, check out the Sublime collection I created for this post, everything, in time - creative inspo when stuck.
Comments!
How do y’all feel about this gentler approach to creative work? Is it helpful or, as I fear, just an evolved therapy-speak way of procrastinating lol.
What helps you when creatively stuck?
How are you generally? It’s been a minute plz send signs of life.
Moodboards Galore
Speaking of, here are some other moodboards we’ve created in the past at Sublime!
My moodboard for building a business
The world would be better if there were more software companies focused on quality, craftsmanship and longevity.
I’m still wrestling with how to coherently describe what I mean — and to be clear, this is very aspirational — but here’s my moodboard for building a business.
Anxiety + work
In 2023, I was rejected for every job I applied to, save for one: a real estate course company that sold $5,000 courses run by HGTV influencer host guys.
I was like sure yes I will do this stupid job I have no interest in no problem. Sure I’ll do this ‘case study’ where I have to write in the voice of the ‘brand visionary’ to accompany a video of him dressed up like an actual wizard. Sure I’ll lose all the Gandalf jokes because you think that’s ‘too niche’ HAPPY TO.
Storytelling
Stories are the currency of our time, but how do they work? I find formulas and structures to fall flat in capturing that ineffable essence at the heart of stories, so then what can? Why do some stories resonate and other, almost identical stories, feel forced?
The more writing and storytelling I do, the less I understand how it all works. That’s okay. A good thing. But still, a mental map of the space feels important. Here goes.
Check out the rest here.
god that austin kleon quote goes so hard
I still feel very stuck. Sometimes I do t even know what to do even while scared.