zachmcnair asked: What do you do to keep yourself inspired?
& What do you do to keep yourself organized?
Let me expand ::
You've been shooting & designing for years now, and where most creatives would find a niché and stick to it, you have continued to push the limits while not losing your head.
I believe I know at least part of your answer, but I'm always thankful to hear things in repetition.
Much love, brother.
I’m not sure what it is I do to remain inspired, other than the fact that the more I learn about anything, the fuller the realization that I know very little at all. But I’m not sure even that should be called inspiration.
A great deal of things inspire me (daily — hourly!), and, I believe everything I experience informs me creatively. But there’s no formula to that and relying on inspiration will not yield the type of consistency or discipline the creative process requires.
I have to believe that ethic of work is not superseded by the value you place on ingesting the work of others. The motivation to continue on in your particular role as an artist must be one internal. Creative implies the opposite of consumption.
In order to be consistently creative and pushing forward (this is not to say I am as much as it is to say what I want) I think simply that it’s in my best interest to study and understand the giftings of others, while also understanding how my gift is particular and unique, commit to stewarding that gift, and working hard to cultivate it.
Organization? It’s the moderation of paramater and freedom. I’m not quite sure I’ve ever had one solid system in place. However, I’ve always thought it valuable to have things in some sort of order (and especially, of course, when it comes to freelancing and dealing with clients).
Some sort of system is necessary, and within any system are boundaries that maintain order and structure, and help you become more consistent as an artist and a professional.
However, I’ve found the trick is to allow yourself enough freedom that you don’t become oppressed by your own system. That’s called perfectionism, and it kills any hope for creativity.
The goal with organization — as it is with most things — is balance.
Practically, I use Things for task and project management and all things Google to keep all emails, documents, and calendars in a central, universally-accessible location.


