To do, or to be… This is a big question, maybe one of the biggest actually, and a major creative trap.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the mental construct of creating, this really makes a lot of sense when you think about it; making something novel, something new, expressing ideas & thoughts. This is personal work, there aren’t a lot of guidelines or boundaries in this endeavor. Getting too far into your own head is a continual trap in the creative process.

This idea of “doing or being” really spoke to me, and it’s something I’ve been pushing myself to pay attention to recently, especially while in the process of creating. We live in this ultra-competitive/comparative world with social media, news, marketing hype, and constant connectedness hitting us all the time… It can be too much. I so easily fall into the trap of comparing myself to what I see that really has nothing to do with me or what I’m doing. These “perfect” presentations on social media, etc. seem so real and believable, how can anyone ever compare to this?

So, to do or to be?
Doing is putting yourself into your work, and having the guts to push your ideas forward without much concern for what everyone else is doing or thinking.
Being is basing what you do on what you think you need to be, and what others think you need to be. It’s an endless comparative, competitive game that can drive you nuts! Where can that ever end?.. It never does because it’s not “real”, it’s what you think is real. It’s a trap that can destroy genuine creativity.
One of the biggest dangers of technology (to me), is falling into this trap of believing things you see online are all real with no actual context, this is the creative trap.

Just “do” your thing and the “be” will come, and it will be yours to own. Be yourself and have the courage to let it be exactly that. I believe this is where the most interesting work comes from.