A Word To My Fellow Creators (yes, that means you)

In recent years of my life, I have held much bitterness and angst towards most people. I'm sure some of you can relate. Nobody ever does anything right, or really, the way I think things should be done. Maybe it's the right way, or maybe everybody just does things differently in life. That's something I'm coming to learn.

So if you don't already know this, most of the posts I've previously written have been on the negative side. Me, ultimately judging other people and telling them how things should be done. I don't regret writing those things; that's where I was at that time and that's what I felt I needed to share here. 

Since those days, I've grown up a bit. I know without a doubt that my heart has been softened towards people in general, but mostly towards people who are "photographers." Who really knows what a photographer is these days? I don't think it really matters. We are all creators whether we know it or not, because that's what we've been made to to. To create. I think that's all that matters.

So over the past few months, I've been thinking about what I want to say to everyone on the topic of "creating." From girls I went to elementary school with who post pictures of their friends in bathing suits on the beach, to photographers in Arizona photographing Horseshoe Bend and receiving thousands of likes. This is for you and for everyone inbetween.

My fellow creators, this is for you. (And for me, too.)

Dedication - Strive to be the very best "you" you can be. Don't try to be the best photographer or the best student or the best writer or the best employee or the best anything. We are not meant to compare ourselves to each other. There is no "best" anything, because we were all given different talents and capabilities. Not everyone is going to succeed at everything, and becoming great at something takes time and dedication. If you're passionate about something, dive head first into it. Work hard and then work harder. Don't let anyone else's opinion of what you create get in your way of creating.

Publication - Some of my greatest creations, the ones I'm most proud of, are things I have not shared with anyone. Maybe I will someday, but for now, they are things that I've put my heart and soul into creating, and to me, they represent the very feelings I felt when creating them. Not everything I create needs to be shared, let alone liked. A good artist does not equal popularity. That is something I probably still have not grasped. As humans, we crave recognition. With the immediate access we have to publicizing our work, we have misinterpreted a love of art as a love of praise. I think a lot of people who claim they have fallen in love with photography have really just fallen in love with getting likes and comments on photos they post to Instagram. That's seriously what being a "photographer" has come to these days, and I think that sucks. We've dumbed down what it means to be a true artist to receiving more than 100 or 200 or 300 likes on a photo. That's not the worth of what you create, my friend. What you and I are both capable of should not be limited to someone viewing a beautiful photo on a tiny, low brightness iPhone screen.

Inspiration - Be inspired by the world around you. The real one, not just through a screen. I believe that true talent and motivation comes from within, not from looking at what other people can do. So get outside, take a trip, call a friend and ask them about their day. Be inspired by real life things, experiences and people, then use how you feel to create.

It can be really fun to see what our friends are up to through social media - where they're going and what they're doing and how much fun they're having. It's fun. It makes us feel like we're connected to lots of people, even if we don't know them personally. But I think we all know the negative effect that seeing those things happen without being a part of them can have on us. For me personally, I think I'm connecting with people by liking photos and retweeting funny tweets, but in reality, I'm usually just left feeling disconnected and uninspired whenever I view my friends' content.

The problem - A majority of this problem is not what my friends are doing or sharing. It's not their photos and it's not the praise that they receive for them - praise I feel like I should be receiving instead. The problem is that I think what they do and create dictates what I should do and create. Oh good heavens, am I wrong. I have awesome friends. They're creative and innovative and just downright talented. I shouldn't be left feeling uninspired upon viewing what they create. I should feel encouraged and motivated, but that's not the way it is. I can tell my friends how awesome they are all the time, and I do. But deep down, a part of me is jealous of each and every one of them. I'm jealous of where they went last weekend or the new lens they bought or the new friends they made while going somewhere I wasn't. How pitiful of me? I know that I'm talented and that I create good things. And somewhere in me, I also know that my time is valuable. However, I'm wasting it being envious of others. The worst part? The people that I am wishing I was more like are probably thinking the same thing as me. They're probably unsatisfied with most of the photos they take and they're probably wishing they were more like someone they're not. 

Dang. How can we change this? 

 A Solution - I honestly don't know if there's really a "solution" to this problem. Truth is, not many people see this cycle of thinking they're "being inspired by consuming their minds with what their friends are doing, but ultimately feeling depressed and left out" as a problem. I think we just don't realize the effect of what the people around us do has on our minds and our creativity. We can't imagine going a day or a week without checking in on Instagram to be "creatively inspired." That may be our intention, but clearly, that's not what's happening for everybody. Read a book, fall in love, drive down the freeway at night with all the windows down screaming your favorite song at the top of your lungs. See what that does to your mind, and see if you can't create something way more amazing than you would after scrolling through someone's Instagram "feed" that you don't even know.

I would encourage you to take some time to think about why you share what you share. Is it because you want to inspire people or is it because you know this photo is gonna get you a lot of likes? Is it because you witnessed a beautiful sunrise over the ocean and you just can't help but share it, or is it just a filler photo that looks good with your "theme?"

We've got inspirational machines in the palms of our hands. Our friends and the people that follow us are influenced by what we choose to put out into the world, just as we are influenced by what we see. Create freely and be careless in containing your imagination. Be wise and share to build up, not to tear down.

Your fellow creator, 

Kaylee