Vlog by the Bay // How Detaching from the Outcome can Help Blossom your Creativity
Hey Guys!
The sun decided to come out today and so I headed outdoors to film a video for you! I headed down to a lovely little park that is right on the water.
Today I am talking about the idea of detaching yourself from the outcome of your creative project - whether that be a blog post, video, music, art, or any other creative endeavor.
Video Notes
I am a recovering people pleaser and had a big perspective shift a few months ago when I listened to an interview by Elizabeth Gilbert (Author of the book Eat Pray Love). She offered up the notion that as a creator, we are not responsible for creating something that will be "successful" but letting our creativity pour out of us and take form. If we are proud of what we created, then whether people like it or not is a side issue.
By detaching from the outcome of your creative endeavor, you are basically saying that your self worth as a creator is not tied to other's opinions. This has been a potent shift for me, and so I thought I would share it with all of you fellow Steemians in case it helps you as well.
In this video, I talk about a conversation I had with a musician friend of mine on this very topic and how this perspective shift has helped him.
This isn't to say that this way of thinking is "right" or good for everyone - but it has seemed to open me up more creativley and allow me to create without worrying as much what people will think of me.
Please listen to the video to get the full content from this post. This text simply serves as a high level overview!
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Is this something you have wrestled with or thought about in the past? If you have a different perspective on the idea of detachment, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.
Can't wait to chat with you guys in the comments!
xo, Lea
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I can totally empathize with this. When I am worrying about the end product (finishing a video by the end of the day, for example) sometimes I get lost in a sea of ideas and end up doing nothing, or combining too many things and having a jumbled mess of content to edit through. Then you can end up with a weird and inconsistent video.
When I allow myself forget about the fact that I want to edit and upload the video within the next 24 hours (or whatever the time frame may be.) I can do things naturally and allow ideas and events to happen in a regular flow and that lends itself to much more interesting content in my experience. Instead of feeling like the events are planned, you can connect with your experiences and be yourself in a way people will notice and appreciate.
Thanks for the thoughtful response! Stress really is a creativity killer, and it’s great to hear that you’ve learned how to step back and give yourself a break. You said it perfectly that by letting things flow naturally, the content turns out much better!
Upvoted!
That's so nice! Yeah the sun was out here on the east end too! YESSSS WARMTH! But oddly enough it's suppose to snow tomorrow :\ weirdo weather here in Canada.
Totally agree with everything you're saying. When I make content, I figure "if this will help someone great." and if in my heart of hearts, it has value, even if it's a little or a lot (that's obviously subjective) then so be it. Just lay it down and let it go.
We just made a chat for discord #onelovedtube - for dtubers! One of my friends I met on here made it because I wanted to send PM on steemit (I wonder if they'll ever implement that)
Anyhow! Great one as always!
Sounds like we are of a similar mind on this subject! I am not I was the best at this (hence the recovering people pleaser comment) but it is definitely something I work on!
Thanks for letting me know about the discord channel! I’m not on discord too often, but I will definitely check that out. I always love connecting with fellow Dtuber’s! We gotta support each other. 😉
Yeah! I actually wish I was more of a people pleaser. I've been known to just do my own thing and not care (which can sometimes hurt others feelings) so I'm moving towards the other side! I guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses :)
Coolio!
#onelovedtube
Oh too funny! Maybe the best spot is somewhere in the middle then. 😉
Probably where we all want to be :) some start right. Some start left. And we all just try to make our way somewhere in the middle ;)
#onelovedtube
This is one of Elizabeth Gilbert's gems of wisdom. You can find many of them in her book Big Magic. Dan Brown (author of The Da Vinci Code) expressed the same concept with a different approach as he said he writes to himself in the way he wants to read and enjoy reading.
Thanks @coruscate.
YES another Liz Gilbert fan. I think she is incredible. I haven’t read the book Big Magic, but I have listened to her Big Magic podcast. If you haven’t heard it... it’s def worth checking out! She basically has people who are feeling creatively stuck apply to be on the show and get coached by her. It’s a pretty fun setup and I’ve really enjoyed it. 😊
Never heard of it, I guess it really worth checking. :) Thanks for the advice.
Omg a 'recovering people pleaser'! That's amazing. I'm with ya ;)
Hahah yep! It’s something I work on every day.
Hey, I just noticed that you are up in BC! I live right across the border in Bellingham Washington, but I actually have a lot of family in BC. I am at dual citizen! 😎
Oh nice! I'm in Victoria currently, but will be moving over to Vancouver before the summer. :)
Oh that’s awesome! My grandma lives in Comox. She and my grandpa used to live in Campbell River though, so I went there every summer as a kid. I think Vancouver Island is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Definitely one of my favorites!
Switching your allegiances to Vancouver, eh? (Sorry, I had to! 😆) are you excited for the move?
Haha! Ya, it was a hard decision at first but now I'm just excited. I'll be finishing my Wine & Spirits diploma in Vancouver starting in September so it just made more sense to move over vs. commuting a couple times a month. :):)
Wow, congrats!! Sounds like a pretty awesome field to get into. 🍷
I am so happy to see that I am not the only one living with the fear of the outcome like your friend musician, funny is that i released an album in the past, and did countless of gigs, but i always have that stress. I really learn how to let go of it with steemit every day.
It's all normal for an artist to see these little imperfections in a song especially when it's live, but I think (sometimes) we are the only one that can notice those mistakes, and it's very important to just completely stop caring about the outcome as you just said.
It's a good idea to set yourself an amount of time, and once time's up , you can't touch the song anymore, edit, or even think about it. It's very hard though because there's that thought "What if I could do better in the next version".
So yeah I am with you when you say "Let out what needs to be let out"
Thanks for the thoughtful response. I like your idea about setting a time limit for editing songs... that would be hard to stick to though!
Every time I try to write a song, I end up hitting a wall pretty quickly. I think I need to work on the idea of “just letting things out”. 😊
It's even harder when writing a song, because there's a part of your story on paper, so it's easy to become too subjective.
The wall that you are hitting is good, it means that you are not satisfied with the result and thrive do to better.
I am not saying i have a solution for this, but this is what I do for originals :
I either work bit by bit, once I hit the "brick wall" that you mention , i record the latest "version" of the song on voice not and move on to do something else and will get back to it later.
It allows me not to get too critical, as it often comes from repetition .
The second way is to "go through the brick wall", meaning, that you will need to finish the song by any means even if you are not happy with it. It can be excruciating but quite effective
Thanks for the words of wisdom! I tend to do the first one, where I put it down and walk away for a while. I wonder if busting through the brick wall might not be a bad thing to try though!
Me too I take the dog for a walk and get back to it. I find inspiration such a fragile thing that I don't want to upset the balance :) . Cheers take care!
Oh that is true! Sometimes we shouldnt worry way to much how everything should play out, but we should just do it why we started it in the first place
It can be hard to do... but sometimes it can really help! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post @edwinbeutti!
I also think that when trying to detach from the outcome, it becomes a ton easier to do that when you come from an abundance mindset. It gives you that reassurance that you'll be ok, regardless. I always tell people who are scared, or nervous about failure, to say that their's plenty of time to relearn what you've failed, and give it a try again. I do my best to go into any situation with that mindset, realizing that I have the time to improve regardless. Great article!
Ahh great point! We tend to live in a scarcity mindset, which can put dampers in our creativity as well. I actually really needed to hear this today... so thanks for the encouragement!
Very much agree with this.
Putting expectations aside and letting the creative flow freely take you where it goes is not only the most enjoyable way of creating but often leads to the new, original and unexpected
LOVE it! Awesome to hear that you already out this idea into practice and it has been working well for you.
Absolutely your self worth should not get distorted with others notion about it... U put your heart out and don't fear about the outcome of the things.. That is the way to go
Well said @mirshamin!
THANK YOU. I need to work on detaching from the outcome. Great concept.
I’m so glad you found this post helpful!