Lean Into Your Heart
Don’t be different just for different’s sake. If you see it differently, function that way. Follow your own muse, always.
—Morgan Freeman
I think we all have felt the pressure to make our work stand out. It feels like it will be impossible to be noticed, to get those sales, be published, book those shows, or just have our creativity and hard work acknowledged unless our work is completely different from everyone else’s. Well, I’m sorry to say, it’s true. You do have to be different, but maybe not in the way you think.
Being different is not about finding that one thing that no one else is doing. That’s not what makes you different. In fact, trying to be different, coming up with some gimmick or doing something really odd actually makes you similar to all the other people out there trying so hard to stand out but are missing the point of creating. While that kind of work just looks different for the sake of looking different, really standing out happens when you aren’t trying to be different.
Being truly unique happens when you follow your own muse. That is what will make you different. It doesn’t mean you’ll invent the next great technique in your medium or that you’ll be thinking so outside the box as to leave everyone else in the dust. It just means that your work will be as unique as you are if you follow what drives you, gets you excited, and fires up your imagination.
Strangely, identifying that thing that you love and want to explore the most can be a struggle. We are so inundated by what “should be” in our medium or field, by what is popular and trending, or by the stories of the successful creatives that came before us. All this exposure can cause us to compare what we are doing with what we’ve seen, even though none of that work was ours. None of us are Monet or Ansel Adams or Twyla Tharp, so why compare ourselves to them? We are our own original selves and what we make will be original if we trust our instincts and follow what delights us.
As some of you know, I’ve been really delving into photography lately. I have never done much with my photography because I didn’t feel like I was doing anything unique with it, not enough to pursue it as an art form. Then, not too long ago, I realized that I gravitated towards photo opportunities that I find little stories hidden in, especially those with items I can personify, giving inanimate objects personalities and motivations. I’ve been doing this forever, but just thought of it as my childish imagination. It was. It is also what made my photos relatively unique.
Take the macro flower shot here. I was drawn to it because the stamens are all gathered in the middle, looking scared, while the petals hover menacingly around them. I never thought of petals as bullies, but why not? Pretty doesn’t mean nice, as seen in many a movie.
Now, I have no idea if other people will see what I see in this flower, but I enjoyed finding that little story in there. It’s like pointing at clouds and hoping people will see the circus animals in them that I see. That kind of discovery and possibility makes me smile and gets me excited. It took me a while to recognize that this approach is my voice in photography, but now that I have, I take my camera out with direction and purpose, excited to bring imagined stories to the viewer.
If you have struggled with “finding your voice” in your work, or keep trying to create really different work, stop trying and start listening. Ask yourself what you would create if no one would ever see it, if making money, getting recognition, or having a growing creative business were not in the picture. Imagine yourself as a child wanting to create something just for the joy of it. Then pay attention to where your mind goes, what your hands do, and what your heart leans into.
It may take time to get through the clutter of your self-imposed expectations to find the pure creative joy that you can use to create your unique work, but keep at it. Do it every day if you can, but take your time getting there. Your true, unique, creative self and the pleasure you will get from the creative work is worth the trek to find it.
