Leaves Are Changing

What makes this time of year scary? Is it the fall breeze in the air? Strangers handing you candy? Or is it the fact that this season represents change? 

Wether we know it or not change makes us all uncomfortable. As creatives we desperately rely on routine, normalcy, and predictability to be comfortable. The next album needs to drop on time, the photoshoot must go “as planned”, the art piece needs to show pure perfection, and the list goes on.

This month I was reminded of just how important it is to change where we are located, and step out of our normal routine. Personally I’ve been running around 24/7 to make sure my business grows by constantly posting on socials, thinking up new marketing techniques, and getting coffee with potential clients. Those activities are all good things that need to be happening, but for the first time in two months I decided to take a chill pill for a day and spend a few hours of it to watch “Loki”. (Incredible show btw)

Somewhere along the line I forgot the importance that stopping for a minute to watch a show or playing video games had in my life.

To My Friends Reluctant to Pick Up a “Controller” 

Stopping to take a break and do the things you enjoy outside of work (Yes, even if you enjoy your job) is what fuels your creativity and keeps in the game for the long term. Just like in sports, if you don’t hydrate… you “diedrate” if you catch my drift. What I’m not saying is “be lazy more often”. I’m saying that feeding your creativity requires rest in the seemingly “unproductive” tasks. 

Let’s Normalize Changing Gears

Changing gears (whatever that means to you) is how we sustain creativity as opposed to burning it. The beauty of creativity is that there’s an endless supply. Consider putting aside the “Gary Fee” hustle every now and then so that you can hop back into it twice as strong. Go make November productive!

Something We Hate

Nobody likes detours. They suck. Detours keep us from getting to our destination when we want to get there. So that means it must be always be a bad thing right? At first, I thought so, but then I looked back at where I’ve been and realized that without detours I wouldn’t be where I’m at today.

An Unprofessional With a Crappy Camera

About two years ago I was sitting in a high school classroom looking at an old iMac that should’ve been replaced years ago. It “walked” photoshop. I mean literally, to say the computer “ran” photoshop would be an overstatement. With its’ constant crashing, lag, and spinning beach ball of death you would’ve thought the thing was a rectangle lamp. While working in that classroom a classmate of mine told me that I should charge money for a photoshoot for the first time in my life. The concept was foreign to me, but regardless of my doubt I did some $20 shoots with a crappy Nikon from my mother’s closet. 

Break Down The Detour

Why am I telling you this? Well, some would look at this story and claim that I was undercharging myself and using crappy equipment, and therefore I had pushed myself further away from the goal of being a full-time professional photographer. The beauty is that those shoots were doing the opposite. They were getting me there faster. Was the gear and price crappy? Yes, but on the other hand, it was what was necessary for me to begin my journey. In order to become a professional, I had to take a step, and sometimes that step looks to be counter intuitive to what the goal is.

Viewing The Detour with a New Lens (Pun Intended) 

The real question we should be asking ourselves is “how can I see the detour in a way that pushes me closer to my goals?”. The solution is simple. See the detour as a chance at a shortcut. Saying yes and embracing the “backroad” route occasionally pays off and lends itself to being a shortcut, getting us closer to our goals faster and not slower. The dirt road moments in your career are ones that you should be looking for and not avoiding. The best movers and shakers know when to get on and when to get off “the road traveled” because their career depends on it. Your career depends on it. 

I’m a part of Gen-Z, and in case you haven’t heard, Generation Z is not great at face-to-face communication. The irony is that I believe our generation has an abnormally caring heart for people- on average probably even more than past generations. Time and time again our generation is quick to talk about a new trend or popular person as if they knew them… deeply.

At its surface it may seem like a bad thing that all these “young folks” are being “influenced” by people who are “talking to a screen” for a living. Notice what I did there? I used three common phrases that have grown to imply negative connotations, but have you thought about how we could give those words positive connotations? We as young people have allowed ourselves to ONLY see the negative connotation and take that to heart which simply poured fuel on the flame of cancel culture. 

As I was thinking about this dilemma today I came to realize that maybe the key to it all is forgiveness mixed with a little bit of optimism. We as a generation are more than capable of both, but we stop ourselves from partaking so that we can hold our grudges, but I encourage anyone reading to think a little bigger… think about what would happen if we dropped our grudges, our phones, and our fear of face to face interaction and came together as a generation to be known for so much more. 

It wouldn’t take a lot of money, resources, or special connections. The beauty of it all is that YOU are the only person required for a change to happen. The person reading these words right now. You have the ability to forgive. You have the strength to present your ideas in person. You have the choice to make yourself known as a Gen-Z’er that went against the status quo in hopes of creating a more beautiful world. 

Don’t give up quite yet. There’s a good ol’ cardboard package that contains hope, all it needs is a delivery driver to bring it outside.