I had this mantra I made up a couple of years back while doing my Artist Way program. It was “Create not consume”, and I just saw it again this weekend while boothing at MAD Market. It’s nothing crazy, just a reminder to make more than I take in, so that I would always be creating.
Today, as I was taking a chill day to rest from the heavy weekend, I was playing Skate on the PS5 at my parents place. My baby was being babysat by my sister, and my dad was practicing guitar, so the TV was free. (Clarice was at home, she didn’t take leave today.)
Anyway, as I sat there and tried trick after trick after trick, I realised I could not do these tricks in real life at all. In real life, these tricks would have taken me years of practice to do. If I skateboarded endlessly for a few months, I might be able to take a crack at a couple of tricks at most. But everything I was doing in the game was make believe. I wasn’t going to be come a real skateboarder playing a video game.
In that same way, there’s no equivalent of play pretending a role in my mind. If I want to be a creative person, I have to produce creative things. If I want to write, I have to turn up here at 12AM and write a post. Nothing in my head becomes real until I create it.
I am commiting to skateboarding in 2026, that’s for sure. But I am also commiting to creating more in the year ahead. I’m happy attempting to read a 100 books again, but I will also be aiming to create a lot more.
I’m not happy with play pretend, and I can’t be happy with it, if I want to be proud about who I am and what I do.
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