I love cooking. Not saying that I always make good dishes, but I always enjoy the process of preparing the ingredients, adding soy sauce, and even dishwashing. And if there’s one thing I dislike about cooking, it’ll be that it always makes my apartment smells like a Chinese restaurant.
Cooking is only one of the things that I constantly do. I also love taking photos, writing, reading, and planning other people’s trips. Nothing satisfies me more than helping people while knowing my ability to sustain a creative life.
Making things doesn’t mean you have to do something super creative. Writing, drawing, cooking, vlogging, gardening, volunteering, dancing, side-hustling…,and the list goes on. Basically anything that you’ve put out to the world is a kind of art. That being said, here are 5 reasons why you should always make something:
1. Helps your creativity juice flow
Remember that time when you have to brainstorm ideas about what you want to write or make? Whenever an idea strikes me, I write it down or take notes on my phone. After a while I’ll go back and revisit all the things that I’ve written, connecting the dots and turn them into blog posts.
Clarity comes from engagement, not thought. Ideas are born from actions. Whether you want to experiment a different way of making pasta salad or shooting “how-to-flip-an-egg” videos, once you start engaging with whatever you do, you’ll have more thoughts and creative ideas. And if you feel stuck and don’t know how to rejuvenate the flow, I have some tips written here for you.
2. Builds up confidence and hones your skills
Most people suffer imposter syndrome, the feeling of incompetent or not good enough. Me, too. I always believe that people around me are WAY MORE experienced than I do. But that’s the thing. Sometimes we just need to start doing and build up that confidence level instead of mourning about our inability. Confidence is a successful repetition of any endeavor. The more you put out your arts, the better you become.
If you want to be more confident, look for things to do now. That’s it.
3. Makes you happier and gives you energy
Time flies when I write. It’s obvious that when you’re doing whatever you enjoy doing, time seems none existence. Action creates goals; goals create energy and momentum. It is okay to quit once you decide the thing is not for you, but always know that you’ll be able to find something that will give you happiness.
4. Lets you notice your surroundings
When I first started learning photography and thinking where I could shoot with my Canon, my friend said to me, “It doesn’t matter what and where you take your photo, because you can take a stunning photo of a random tree on the roadside.”
I found it true, and it applies to all curiosity projects not just photography. I secretly look at other people’s shopping carts at H-E-B (a local grocery chain in Texas) when I go grocery shopping to get new ideas for my everyday meal. When I started blogging, I’d read books, listen to podcasts, and spend few hours a day surfing through online magazines to brainstorm ideas. One of the reasons why you should create arts regularly is because you get the chance to re-discover the world with wide-open eyes (literally).
5. There’s no wrong answer
Which means it’s ok to fail.
You might have made some really untasteful dishes or badly written some blogs before, but did you get scold or lose your job because of that? Probably not. The beauty of constantly creating things is that even it’s poorly made, no one is going to be hurt, plus you’ll learn a ton from the experience. I’m so glad that I made the commitment to write more this year, and I don’t care if nobody reads it because not only I get to enjoy the time writing, but also I know it’s safe to fail during the creative hours. Constant writing is only going to help me improve the skill.
It feels awesome to put out things to the world, or even just create something that you can enjoy yourself. All you need is an action plan. As Vincent Van Gogh said, “If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
Nothing can hold you back.