Kindness and the taste gap

Nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish somebody had told this to me — is that all of us who do creative work … we get into it because we have good taste. But it’s like there’s a gap, that for the first couple years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good, OK? It’s not that great.

I’ve thought a lot about this quote in the last few days and have been blending it with another thought. People can be incredibly creative. You might be artistically minded in a way that the world recognizes, or in other ways where you mix words and communication and thought to inspire change. 

The piece for me, in all this, is finding a way to be kind and gracious while each of us strive to match our creative abilities to the taste we have in our mind. It’s hard, it’s a lifetime of work, but it’s worth it when you start to see your abilities improve. 

I’d also venture that taste morphs and twists and grows, and your abilities can follow it. 

We must be kind to ourselves and others in this journey. You can drive yourself to insanity thinking you’re not good enough, but you can also encourage yourself to keep trying, to keep pushing, and to find a balance between giving up and going crazy. 

(Via goodreads)