Creativity Tip 24: Pursue Ambitious Projects (Spotify Video Episode)

Creativity Tip #24. Pursue ambitious projects. Take a moment and think about your favorite works of art. What's on the list? Movies, paintings, music albums, theater productions, or perhaps a series of novels. If you think about it, chances are most of your favorite artworks also happen to be impressive in some way. They achieve something noteworthy, exceeding the average expectations of their medium. For example, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings took him 17 years to complete. The original book was a work so massive, the publisher told the author that it needed to be divided into three books, and so it was. But the length is not the only aspect that makes it exceptional. It was Tolkien's ability to build an entire world, one that feels both foreign and familiar to us, and one which is driven by interweaving narratives and characters. He even invented new languages just from Middle-earth. Or how about David Lynch's Twin Peaks TV series? Very few TV shows can claim both the cult following and cultural impact that Twin Peaks did in the 1990s and continues to have into the 21st century. Even if you've never watched it, you recognize its references, such as the infamous Red Curtains, or phrases like "The Owls are Not What They Seem". This is quite an accomplishment, as it takes a tremendous amount of willpower and coordination to get even an average film produced, let alone two seasons of a masterpiece. Red Lynch had this unwavering sense of creative vision, and he'll be remembered for it. The Lord of the Rings and Twin Peaks are inarguably classics in their respective mediums, but at one point they were simply ambitious projects in the minds of their creators, little acorns with enormous potential that had taken root and needed to come into form. It's hard to imagine how something like an entire universe can be contained within one person's imagination. But that's how all Masterpieces start, and the warm darkness of our skull, an ideal place for ideas to thrive. You know it's funny, any Masterpiece we experience in its final form never reveals to us the countless hours of work that went into it. But as we experience it, we all have an innate understanding that something is exceeding our expectations, that something is exceptional. For example, when we look at Emily Dickinson's 1,789 poems, or Vincent Van Gogh's 900 paintings or "Horanomous Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights", these works were not accidentally brilliant. The artists set out with the intention to pursue an ambitious project, and that's the key. They were extending themselves into work that was ambitious to them. A strange thing happens when you make the conscious choice to go down such a path. When the project is challenging, it demands you to be exceptional. If you are not exceptional when you start it, you will be by the time that it's over. During the process, it compels your growth exponentially. Why is this? Well, because in the areas in which you may be weak or lacking, you have to grow to succeed at the project. To climb to the summit, you have to acquire new skills or level up the ones you already have. And this is precisely why all artists, regardless of medium, should pursue ambitious projects. Emily Dickinson once wrote, "We never know how high we are, till we are called to rise. And then, if we are true to plan, our stature's touch the skies." It's only through challenges that we can rise to the occasion. Some of us might avoid big challenges in our creative work out of the fear of failure. Perhaps that's you. But this is backwards. It's a form of self-sabotage to clip your own wings. If you are only creating in your comfort zone where you feel no threat of failure, then you will create very safe work. And perhaps that's okay, and you're okay with that. After all, it's not going to rock the boat much. Could it be successful? Sure. Vanilla is successful. But eventually, vanilla is entropy. You have to challenge yourself through your art making. That's the only way you keep growing as an artist. Curiously, this aspect translates into the work you do. And something that audiences can innately feel, so you have to respect your audience. Because even if someone doesn't consciously know the ins and outs of a medium, or its historical context, their unconscious can register these finer points. It picks up on the depth of the things, because it is itself a sea of great depth. You see this effect bubble up when you listen to a song or read a passage from a book, and you don't like it. You don't know why you don't like it, but that feeling is inescapable. Then your friend says, "What do you mean you don't like it?" And you just shrug your shoulders and say, "I don't know. Something seems off." This is a perfect example of the unconscious at play in our experiences with art. And the proof that art communicates with the unconscious. In that moment, your unconscious has picked up on a detail which you are not yet aware of, which only after some deliberation are you able to crystallize it into words. So respect your audience, and respect your own vision. Sometimes a long and challenging project is the only way to communicate something with greater depth. In a weird way, if you are creating entertainment, then you are creating work for people's conscious minds, the surface level. But if you are creating art, then you are creating work for people's unconscious, the depth, and how do you communicate with the depth through deep, soulful work. Something to think about. Now here's a clip from David Bowie talking about challenging yourself as an artist. Always remember that the reason that you initially started working was that there was something inside yourself that you felt that if you could manifest it in some way, you would understand more about yourself and how you coexist with the rest of society. I think it's terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfil other people's expectations. I think they produce, they generally produce their worst work when they do that. And if the other thing I would say is that if you feel safe in the area that you are working in, you are not working in the right area, always go a little further into the border than you feel you are capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth, and when you don't feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you are just about in the right place to do something exciting. You heard it from the man. It's such an insightful point. I'll repeat it. If you feel safe in the area that you are working in, you are not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you are capable of being in. And when you don't feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you are just about at the right place to do something exciting. So how does this translate into the topic we are talking about? Learning, working on ambitious projects? Well, this means that the exciting stuff exists in unexplored terrain. Now this doesn't mean that if you are an accomplished piano player, that you should switch to the cello, although that could certainly be exciting. Instead it means that you need to now apply that expertise to an ambitious project or goal which gives you that feeling David Bowie was referring to. When you don't feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you are just about at the right place to do something exciting. A great example of this would be the singer, songwriter Damon Alburn, who was a successful rock singer in the band Blur during the 1990s. Then seemingly out of nowhere, he joined forces with the visual artist Jamie Hewlett and they formed a hip-hop group called The Gorillas, who only exist as cartoon characters and invite guest rappers for each album. Like what? It still sounds like a crazy idea. Talk about both taking a risk and pursuing an ambitious project. I would wager that in the first few years of The Gorillas, Damon Alburn had to learn a tremendous amount to pull that off. He was working in a different genre of music, leaving rock and going into hip-hop with electronic music elements. He was also now a collaborator with other artists, and he was the frontman of a cartoon band. Now, notice this. This ambitious project provided Damon Alburn refreshing challenges, which were still in line with his skill set, singing and songwriting, but which demanded his growth as an artist and collaborator. So it's not about switching to a completely different art form. It's about engaging an ambitious project with the skill set you already have. The reason I'm so enthusiastic about this particular topic is that it's been an essential part of my creative journey. I love ambitious projects, and I have the utmost respect for a good vision. I'll sometimes agree to work on a project for that reason alone, and whether it's successful or not. But at least I had fun doing it, and hopefully leveled up my abilities in the process. Over the years, I've worked on several ambitious projects. I worked as the orchestrator on two Hollywood films. I co-wrote and produced a pilot for a cartoon series with my close friend. I composed the original score for an experimental feature film which won an award for best original score and a dozen other projects. All of these compelled my growth and honed my skills, but there is one which holds a special place in my heart. It's the time I self-produced a music album called "Catharsis". There's so much I can say about that experience, working in a new field, collaborating with singers and rappers, very much like Damon Alburn, all of that would distract us from the point of this episode. So it will have to wait for another episode of Creative Codex. It's dedicated to that project exclusively. If you're interested in that kind of thing, let me know. For now, what I want to make clear about "Catharsis" is that it was very much an ambitious project. It became my life for four years. I would go to sleep thinking about it and I would wake up thinking about it. I would write little notes about the production goals while on the subway. I would write down lyrics for the songs while at my job. It was an all-consuming work. And in that regard, it compelled my growth and lit my creative spirit on fire. Because it demanded so much of me, I had to rise to the occasion. I had to not only write and produce eight songs, with featured singers and rappers, but also create eight original illustrations for each song's cover art and a music video for each song. I say all this not to show off or brag, but to say that I know what it feels like to work on an ambitious project. And I really hope each of you get a chance to work on something as fulfilling as that was for me. Now, some of you negative Nancy's out there might say, was it successful? Did they get millions of views on YouTube? Did you get a high-demand music producer job because of it? Well, I'd say is that your idea of success? YouTube views? A new career? Well, if that's what matters in life, then no. It was a complete failure. But if we rephrase the question and measure success in a different way, we could say, was it fulfilling for you as an artist? Did it help you grow both on a personal and creative level? To both, I would say, absolutely. It was one of the most fulfilling experiences of art I've ever had. And the deep satisfaction I feel and the pride I carry in knowing that I climbed to that summit, no one could ever take that away. In closing, respect your vision. If you feel drawn toward pursuing an ambitious project, do it. Especially one which is within your skill set. Future you will thank you for it. Until next time, this has been Creative Codex. I'm your host, MJ Dorian. Dig deep, my friends. If you'd like to view some of the work I did for my music album, "Catharsis," I've provided the link to the YouTube page in the episode description. Enjoy it. [BLANK_AUDIO]