Whether in software, music, film or photography, creativity is a relentless pursuit of one’s highest self.

It is an unfortunate tragedy of the human condition that we seem to view the process of creation as a set of steps to be followed rather than a lifelong passion to be practiced until we die.

Because creating isn’t about what we get at the end of it.

It’s about who we become in the process.

We are not just creating things.

We are creating ourselves.

​

The pursuit

No matter the medium, human beings are built to make things.

It’s what we do.

We create families, homes, institutions, art, ideas, communities, and an infinite number of other entities that depend upon the genius of the human spirit to come into existence.

And as we create these things, we become different people along the way.

Because who you were when you started learning to code is not the same person you are when you launch your first project.

Who you were when you wrote your first song is not who you are when you release your first album.

And who you were when you got your first job is not who you are when you start your first business.

Yes, the results matter, but the reality is that the outcomes we produce are really just tools we craft in service of who we are becoming in the process.

Because creativity is evolution.

And evolution, by definition, doesn’t stop.

​

The process

The art of creation is built upon a foundation of learning.

Constant learning.

I once heard it said that businesses are either growing or dying.

I believe the same is true of the individual.

Artists, creators, and entrepreneurs.

I personally know I am at my best when I am learning something new.

But that something has to be in service of a project or a passion.

I must be using that education to fuel creativity, otherwise it’s just procrastination by another name.

We must be consistently learning.

And we must be consistently creating.

Both of these functions are opposing sides of the same coin.

One cannot exist without the other.

​

The product

It’s easy to look at creation as a means to an end.

I want to make a product—I made it—it’s done.

Ok, now what?

We made the thing we set out to make—are we finished?

No.

Because none of us has the mind, today, that we will need to create our best work of tomorrow.

And for most of us, the best is yet to come.

But we have to get there.

And that means learning.

And making.

And doing.

It means being students (and practitioners) of the craft of creating.

Anything.

Everything.

There is no medium that is off limits.

If you are a musician, learn to film.

If you are a developer, learn to write.

If you are a photographer, learn to build.

Because when you fall in love with the journey of learning, making, evolving, and repeating, the world opens up and the process becomes the reward.

And that’s where the magic happens.

​