CRAZY LIL’ IDEA VEHICLES: Building & Rebuilding Idea Vehicles with green pigs and Creativity
Every creative has been there, deep in the ruins of an idea we were once excited about. We’re might be embarrassed, we’re certainly confused and it could lead to us questioning ourselves as creatives. It’s painful and one of the worst parts of creative life, but what if it’s supposed to be this way?
I recently went out on my own, job-wise. I’m Full-Time Creative It’s something I had been planning on, dreaming about, and on July 1st, I did it. Then everything hit the wall. What I had built and the direction I was going, wasn’t working. The buffers I had in place broke, and I was stuck on where to go next.
Oh shit, now what?
Years ago, this would have crushed me. My mind would say that clearly, I’m a failure and I don’t deserve love or cash for my efforts. I had a black & white perspective on the world and held the dreaded FIXED MINDSET.
My mind would tell me that,
“If I was any good, this would have been good. And because it’s not, I’m not. “
Back then, I didn’t understand the GROWTH MINDSET and I didn’t have any idea how creativity worked. It stopped me from getting shit done and I was miserable. But now, I’m starting to know better…
Here’s what I know now:
I know that when I hit a wall, it means that my idea needs to grow. The idea I had before got me this far, but in order to keep going, it needs to die or evolve. It doesn't mean it was a bad idea… it just wasn’t THE BIG IDEA you thought it was. That is ok.
Ideas are kind of like the spinoff Pig Game from Angry Birds. Bad Piggies I know, I know, but hear me out.
Basically, the rules of Bad Piggies are that you build a crazy vehicle for your pig, then push him down the hill and see if anything survives.
That’s exactly what we do with ideas.
Gather all the stuff we have around us; our skills, our taste, and the materials that we have access to.
Then we build a crazy little IDEA Vehicle with all the parts that seem to work.
Next, we push it down the hill of life. Meaning, we put it out into the real world and we see what happens.
Now to see if it survives. We observe it to see if it finds an audience or fails miserably. Or worst of all… if it doesn’t do anything at all.
Then we’re supposed to adjust.
If it doesn’t work the first time, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure or not creative or that you should give up. It means you have to pivot and grow.
The things we build with creativity are structures of ideas. Creations we make in our minds and then we bring them into the real world and see if they work. Ideas lead to other ideas and it’s all about growth. It’s this process happening again and again - that is creative living.
I had to learn to become ok with an idea not working. I am still learning to let it go and grow because holding on to ideas that should have died will burn you out.
I have to be ok with people seeing me fail.
That can be embarrassing. People are going to see you fail! You’re going to have to get over it.
So here I am today, taking my next idea, putting it together the best that I can… and running it down the hill. If it survives and I’m happy with it. Great!! On to the next one. If it doesn’t, then it’s back to the top of the hill and trying again. That’s what creative living is and how we grow.
I hope you found this encouraging. You got this, bud!
Show up, and do the work.
I’m in the trenches of creativity with you.
- Ryan Leacock