DISTRACTIONS Part 2 (sort of) from 2011. A confession.

Originally Written: October 22, 2011

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A Confession About My Creativity

Writing three pages on creativity turned out to be harder than it sounds. I'm typically not a fan of following someone else's prescribed routine. It usually makes me irritated. But I think I know why now.

Since my creativity and ideas never got realized - since I let envy of others and what they've accomplished consume me - I never thought about this until this very moment.

How I've Been Living

I think I live life with the intent of purposeful distraction. There are times when I don't want to know the world and my own creativity. I listen to music loudly, play games for hours, watch movies, even read - all to distract myself from deliberate focus on creativity.

However, I believe time is slipping away.

My Revelation

I don't have to be a comic book artist like I was years ago. It doesn't excite me the same way anymore. I just feel that the creation of those sequential panels was telling me something else.

Creation of worlds was and is the most exciting aspect of things for me.

I love to see them come alive. Sometimes I think our world is not a world but a story of unbelievable detail - that it is someone's story. Some complex novel of a transcendent nature that becomes the only thing we know.

An Interruption (That Matters)

I'm writing this 30 minutes after the above, having gotten distracted by my son's emotional outburst in his soccer game.

Two Key Aspects for You, My Reader:

1. Distraction Isn't Always the Enemy - Sometimes It's Incubation

What I labeled as "purposeful distraction" in 2011 wasn't procrastination or avoidance. It was my creative mind telling me I wasn't ready yet. I needed time to let ideas marinate, to live life, to gather experiences.

For you: If you're feeling like you're avoiding your big creative work, ask yourself - am I procrastinating, or am I incubating? Sometimes the music, the games, the movies aren't stealing from your creativity. They're feeding it. The key is knowing the difference and not letting incubation become permanent paralysis.

2. Your Gift Might Not Look Like You Expected - Look for What's Underneath

I thought my gift was drawing comic book panels. But what I really loved was creating worlds - building narratives, imagining possibilities, crafting stories where people could see themselves differently.

When I stopped trying to be what I thought I should be (a comic book artist), I discovered what I actually am (a world-builder, a storyteller, a creator of frameworks that help others author their own lives).

For you: Your true calling might be hiding underneath the form you think it should take. Don't get attached to the medium - get curious about what excites you most about that medium. That's where your real voice lives.

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Looking back at this 2011 reflection, I can see I was already building the foundation for everything I do now.

I just didn't know it yet.