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I’ve been contemplating a new project recently. I have a long list of ideas covering a range of topics, some decades old, some I thought of minutes ago. In a recent workshop, a participant who has been working on a film about a harder personal topic shared that her next project is going to take place somewhere she loves going, so every time she sits down to write, she gets to be there. She is following joy. We often gravitate to stories and art that center around hard or traumatic experiences or topics. This make sense. They’re filled with visceral emotion, art can be extremely therapeutic, people are drawn in by it, you could be getting a really important message into the world. But you have to be very emotionally ready to go there. Sometimes we’re up for it. Sometimes we’re not. This can also be apply to medium and process: Some projects require a lot of research Some are entirely from your mind Some involve collaboration Some are solo Some require physical movement or work with your hands Some are sitting at a screen Some involve expansive travel Some are just getting to your chair Some require selling or promoting Some are just for you The list goes on
I’ve found this incredibly clarifying while choosing my next creative project. It’s made me think about my favorite parts of recent projects that I want to take forward, an excitement for collaborating with other artists, my love of beauty, connection and communication. It’s also crystallized that I do not want to focus on selling, promoting, likes, comments, algorithms, and at this point, some of the harder topics on my list. Is there something you’re procrastinating or finding extra hard? Might the reason be that it’s a topic, process or medium you don’t want to go to right now? When you think about where you do want to go—and how you want to feel—what ideas bubble up?
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