002: There is no competition

Fulfillment is a personal thing.

Expression is the reward, not the external validation.

I first heard this idea from Dr. Gabor Maté on E:193 of Steven Bartlett’s podcast.

As creatives, having the opportunity to express ourselves, is what fulfills us.

There isn't a better feeling than plucking something abstract out of our brains and presenting it in a tangible way.

One that others can relate to and share the experience of said thing.

We can feel a sense of purpose and as if we have something of value to contribute to the world.

The more I lean into this, the more I find it liberating!

Being able to get our work in front of more eyeballs is truly a blessing.

It makes it possible to go from a small creative hobby into a life-changing career move.

In the words of Austin Kleon, in Show your work, (listen to me butcher his name on the voice note haha):

“It sounds a little extreme, but if your work isn’t online, it doesn’t exist,” p.23.

This is to say, if we don’t share our work, we aren’t making it possible for like-minded people to find us.

But I have a dilemma...

Sharing my work is distracting.

I’m human! The cheap dopamine hits feel nice. It gets easy to start valuing the wrong things and start measuring my work by the likes, shares, and follows.

When I do this, I forget WHY I’m doing what I’m doing.

My answer is personal; I started Quoted Visually to remember what I read.

I thought there would be no use reading books if I didn’t develop a way to remember the ideas so I could have a fighting chance of applying them to my life.

And of course, visuals can be simple and memorable – perfect!

Not only that, if I find something useful, there is a chance that other people might also feel the same.

Again, Kleon reminds us:

“Share what you love, and the people who love the same things will find you,” p.19.

So, what’s my message here?

When we share our work, we are vulnerable.

But if we arm ourselves with the right expectations, we can protect ourselves.

Having a bunch of followers doesn’t make me feel more fulfilled.

It is most certainly a privilege and is a key to unlocking opportunities for myself, but it doesn't make me a happier human.

An audience is something we can all build for ourselves.

But as creators, we can’t expect to measure the success of our work based on how it performs on a particular day of a particular year on social media.

Followers and likes will fluctuate. And we must recognise that much of it is out of our control.

The profiles we build online can change in an instant. We don’t own them.

But we have complete ownership of our minds.

The way we feel when we create, this is the high that we should chase, as we mindfully navigate our way through social media.

We are lucky to live in a digital era. These tools are ours to use, but we mustn’t let them use us!

p.s. any artists out there copying other people's work, you're missing out on the best bit – solving the puzzle!

Final note:

In the spirit of sharing my work, I just want to finish by mentioning my 2023 Wall Calendar!

Grab yours in time for Christmas and help support me on this journey.

All the love, Hannah aka Quoted Visually x