Martian Notes

I hate but I have to admit that I am currently drifting or at a standstill, professionally speaking. I am stuck in a situation of having no passion for what I should do and feeling potentials untapped, if there are any, reminiscing about Steve Jobs’ earlier interest in caligraphy learning. In these awakward and unproductive days, I feel the need to be propelled with pep talk, which could bring a fake sense of self-fulfilment, or at least the item of staying motivated is checked.

So here I am, jotting down Pamer Druckerman’s advice for creative work, from the chapter of how to give advice from her genius work of There Are No Grown-ups.

You are qualified.

Everything that happens is potential inspiration for your work. Seek out inspiration, too.

Stay in the room, offline. Much of life consists of the dead time between events. Figure out your clearest, most productive time of day to work, and guard this time carefully.

When you have an idea, write it down immediately. You needn’t reinvent the wheel each time you create.

Grow where you are planted and embrace anomalities.

Don’t be too silly or too profound. Be generous.

Pay attention to what you are doing on the side.

Ignore the naysayers. You control the work, but you don’t control whether other people will like it.

Done is better than perfect.

It is okay to be an obessive.

This Herculean extravaganza is worth it.

Even if you follow all these rules, your first attempt will be terrible.

It turns out that I have to love this whimsical, obessive and plodding little creature, i.e. myself, more. Pack it on the shoulder when things not work out and don’t swear too much when it underperforms.