Creativity

Joseph Campbell was a man of many interests.

He was most famous for his work on mythology, but he also loved to study dreams, art, psychology, literature, and anthropology.

He didn’t follow the path that society laid out for him. When the Great Depression hit, he retreated to a cabin and read for over 9 hours a day. He went from studying aboriginal peoples to James Joyce to the symbology behind Tarot cards. There was no telling where he was headed next at any given point.

Through his writings, in particular, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Campbell inspired a generation of filmmakers. George Miller, Stephen Spielberg, and George Lucas all give him a great deal of credit for their success.

“It’s possible that if I had not run across him I would still be writing Star Wars today.”

-George Lucas

After his books helped inspire Luke Skywalker’s journey, many people turned to Campbell to seek words of encouragement for their own journeys.

Whenever he was asked about career advice or finding one’s own way in life, he offered the same words wisdom:

Follow your bliss.

It’s pretty simple advice but can at times be hard to follow. Since I read The Hero’s Journey I’ve been trying to remind myself to lean into the things I enjoy and step away from the things I don’t. Sometimes the latter is even more important. If you let go of things holding you down, you free up space for things that you love.

In my case, that means more time for sitting and coffee.

“I’ve followed my bliss. And it’s been a good way.”

-Joseph Campbell

Werner Herzog is one of my favorite creatives. If you’re not familiar with his work, be sure to check him out. Grizzly Man is probably my all-time favorite documentary. Into The Abyss is another must see.

He recently talked about his 24 rules for creatives, and my brother and I decided to do some design work and make it into a print. Here’s what we came up with. I’ll write the rules below since they’re hard to read from the image.

24 Rules for Creatives

1. Always take the initiative
2. There is nothing wrong with spending a night in jail if it means getting the shot you need
3. Send out all your dogs and one might return with prey
4. Never wallow in your troubles; despair must be kept private and brief
5. Learn to live with your mistakes
6. Expand your knowledge and understanding of music and literature, old and modern
7. That roll of unexposed celluloid you have in your hand might be the last in existence, so do something impressive with it
8. There is never an excuse not to finish a film
9. Carry bolt cutters everywhere
10. Thwart institutional cowardice
11. Ask for forgiveness, not permission
12. Take your fate into your own hands
13. Learn to read the inner essence of a landscape
14. Ignite the fire within and explore unknown territory
15. Walk straight ahead, never detour
16. Maneuver and mislead, but always deliver
17. Don’t be fearful of rejection
18. Develop your own voice
19. Day one is the point of no return
20. A badge of honor is to fail a film theory class
21. Chance is the lifeblood of cinema
22. Guerrilla tactics are best
23. Take revenge if need be
24. Get used to the bear behind you

-Werner Herzog-

I first stumbled across some life-changing advice back in 2015.

I had just moved to a new country, started a business, and altogether was biting off a lot. Stress, anxiety, and burnout were all creeping into my life.

It was around the new year, and I’d set the lofty goal of reading 40 books for the year. I’m a voracious reader and on top of loving a good book, I was also facing a lot of alone time – making friends when you move 3,000 miles across North America takes time. On top of reading 40 books, I also felt like it was time to become more informed about current events in my new home country. My second goal for the year was to read three New York Times articles every day. Finally, I’d just discovered the joy of watching TED talks, especially on topics I knew nothing about – and decided to make watching one talk a day goal number three.

Those goals added up to a lot of consuming.

6 months into my goal, I was really enjoying it. I felt like I was preparing for a test that was never coming, but in a strange way, it felt like the right thing to be doing with my spare time.

Then I came across an article that changed my life. The life-changing advice was right there in the title.

Create more, consume less.

The article, from The Minimalists, highlights the void that consuming leaves us with.

Being The Minimalists, the article was mostly about consuming products, material possessions, food, and other traditional things that come to mind when the word “consumption” comes up. But the article struck a different chord with me.

What if, instead of consuming so much information – I decided to fill my own creative void?

I’d written many travel blogs and a few articles for my business, but I really hadn’t taken the plunge into daily creating. I had no time – I was too busy consuming.

That day, I decided to create more and consume less.

Instead of reading three New York Times articles a day, I started writing for my personal and company blog every day. Instead of watching a TED Talk, I put myself in front of the camera. Instead of reading 40 books a year, I cut the number in half and invested more time into drawing, cooking, journaling, podcasting, coding, photography, and even starting a book club to share ideas about the books I was reading.

Making this switch has changed my life. It’s reopened a creative bug in me that has helped me flourish in both my personal life and in my career. There’s nothing more gratifying than expressing your ideas – consuming information doesn’t come close.

If you’re in a rut or feel like you’re experiencing a creative void, take this advice.

Create more, consume less.