You Must Keep Going
Inspiration from a kindly old man, lessons in analog, and “two-by-caster.”
Hey, friends! I don’t mean to bore you with talk of the weather, but spring is in the air, and I’m thrilled for it. Let’s get into it!
Keep Going
I saw one of those videos on social media where an artist paints, and in the background, inspirational music and dialogue play. I don’t recall what the painting looked like or what the song sounded like, but I do recall being enthralled by the spoken words.
I ended up chasing down the original source. It belonged to a gentleman who kind of resembles the old man in the movie Up. I learned his name is Ian Smith, a retired dentist and former rugby player who now produces TikTok videos under the handle writers.cramp.
In the opening line of dialogue, he states:
“The truth is, you must keep going. I repeat, keep going. Why? Because you deserve to see what happens when all your hard work pays off.”
Watch the original in its entirety below:
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I love the message.
As a creative, it can be easy to get discouraged when things aren’t going as planned. Sometimes you face resistance for seemingly no reason. Getting my newsletter together this week is proving more difficult than normal, for example. The words aren’t flowing like they normally do. I can’t seem to type a sentence without at least three typos, and my computer is being crazy-sluggish.
But I know I’ll be happier once I’m done than I otherwise would be if I quit now. Smith reminds me that I owe it not just to my readers, but to myself, to finish the work.
Smith drops three or more equally inspiring lines in his monologue. Take a look for yourself. It might be just the inspiration you need!
Make it Physical
I spend a lot of time on the computer pushing pixels from here to there, and I’m not complaining. I actually really like working in the digital realm—graphic design, web design, writing my newsletter, developing software—it’s all great, but there’s just something about physical media that digital can’t touch.
I was reminded of this when I saw Beth Mathews’ time-lapse video below featuring a design she’d printed being folded into a physical mockup.
From the video, you can see it’s for a consumer packaged good—specifically buttermilk cornbread. While I’m sure it looked cool in Photoshop (or maybe Illustrator), it looks so much cooler in real life.
In recent years, I’ve made a point to print my students’ work in my digital graphics classes. I budgeted for a nice, larger-format printer, and I keep our shelves stocked with high-quality paper and plenty of ink.
The look on a student’s face when they’re handed a poster of their work is much different than when it’s simply exported as a JPG.
When you go from digital to analog, you notice things that you never could on-screen: how colors work together in CMYK vs. RGB, the legibility of a font in the real world, and the size of the various elements in your design when not zoomed into 1200%, to name just a few. If the end state is analog, making a mockup is crucial.
If your work is mostly digital, though, I’d still encourage you to bring it into the real world for two reasons:
It’ll feel more permanent and therefore more meaningful than just some file you’ll inevitably forget about. This will subconsciously elevate your effort and output.
Analog takes more time and care. There’s no undo button in the real world. As such, you’ll be forced to work more deliberately and with greater intention than you would in virtual space.
Be like Mathews and make your work real.
2x4 Builder’s Challenge
I often write about how creative constraints lead to creative breakthroughs, which is probably why I got so excited when I saw this challenge in a Facebook group I’m a member of.
The 2x4 Builder’s Challenge challenges instrument builders to construct an instrument using just a 2x4. I’ve procured mine, and I’ve already gotten to work. The gallery below features the early stages of my build. I’m currently planning to build a fretless, three-string telecaster-style dogbowl resonator out of a single piece of white pine.
I’ve calculated that I’ll have plenty of material so long as I resaw two pieces of 2x4 into two sets of four planks that I glue up into the top and bottom of the guitar body. So far, it’s going well.
I’m still trying to decide how I’ll finish it—paint, stain, shou sugy ban—but I’m having a blast working on it in the meantime. Enjoy work-in-progress shots below:
I’ll keep updating you on my progress over the next couple of weeks, but this challenge has a deadline, so I do have to make sure I make progress quickly.
One More Thing
One of my goals is to foster a greater sense of community with this newsletter. As such, I’d love to know what creative things you are up to and to feature them here. No, seriously. I want to know what you’re up to.
Drop me a line in the comments section below. I want to learn about it, write about it, celebrate it, and promote it here. Let me know what you have cooking.
Until next time,
—Mike
I’m struck by how many Substack Notes are just variations of “don’t give up.”
Giving up is caused by our mind’s attachment to a result.
If we are living in the present, participating in the flow of life, working without attachment to the result, encouragement is unnecessary.
When we are present, we do not know how today’s experience fits into the larger picture. So how would we determine failure and success?
Presence gives us so much more than encouragement!