A Fine Mess
‘Let me understand your creative process?’ asked nobody ever.
The platitude — ‘it’s the journey not the destination’ — is not applicable in the creative world. People want the result and don’t give a shit about the process.
I get it.
Self-Portrait
Shame, though, because for me, the journey really is the deal. Selfish, I know. But more people could be their own source of creativity if only they realised how much fun self-mutilation and disdain can be.
Weeks of broken sleep. Half-remembered dreams. Fragments scribbled anywhere. Hours down rabbit holes that collapse behind you. Permanent hesitation that the idea is good enough and false hope when it really isn’t.
Evenings when you count the days you’ve lost. In the mornings, when your head figured it out without you,
I collect unconnected pieces. Today’s useless thought — next week’s big breakthrough. An idea that’s a throw-away today but takes the breath away tomorrow.
The creative process looks and feels like a breakdown in process. A process that causes pain and joy in disproportionate amounts.
A great day means nothing can remain the same.
No one sees the process, so no one properly values it. They want the finished product, not the ugly birth. No, I can’t explain why. No, I can’t make it happen faster.
I used to create tidy narratives that sounded professional. But chaos isn’t something to hide; it’s all I’ve got.
May the bridges I burn light my way — a sentence I’ve always loved.
The carnage isn’t anyone else’s. Break things, make a mess. Turn your head on and off a few times. Try buying more time, but be ready when the sparks fly. Then jump in and pour the paraffin.
My enemy is premature clarity, which is likely false certainty. The wrong conclusion should be polished to a professional shine. Generate evidence at each step. A great idea without proof is a great idea without a contract.
Creativity doesn’t fit on timesheets.
What I Know:
No one will ever see or value 90% of your actual work
The mess isn’t the obstacle; the mess is the only path
If it looks efficient, it’s probably mediocre
Your best ideas first look like failures
The productive creative moments often look like complete inactivity
Deliberate irrationality is sometimes the most rational approach
Spontaneous aha moments happen at the end of the process, not the beginning.
Distraction isn’t the enemy of creativity; very often it’s the secret ingredient
The harder you try to force an idea, the more it retreats
The ideas that terrify you are usually the ones worth pursuing
Many breakthroughs happen when you’ve stopped believing they will
The work that feels most like play often becomes the most serious
Constraints don’t limit creativity; they ignite it. (Get to enjoy the blank page)
The difference between genius and madness is timing
The most valuable connections happen between things you weren’t supposed to connect
Overthinking kills creativity; underthinking never reaches it
Relax — a confused mind is often a mind on the verge of clarity
The solution rarely comes while staring the problem in the face
Creative work requires a willingness to look stupid for longer than feels comfortable
The stuff that feels most pointless today may be what saves you tomorrow
Creativity is the gap between order and chaos
Profound ideas can arrive dressed as mistakes or jokes
Intuition isn’t mystical — it’s your experience speaking in a language you’ve forgotten
When people ask how long something took, ah — they never do.
Clients often think their project should take half the time you need — they’re always wrong. How would they know how long it would take?
The pain of creation is invisible to anyone but the creator.
What looks like procrastination is your brain solving those problems you don’t know you have yet.
People who haven’t created anything substantial always think it should be easier.
Your most significant breakthrough may be dismissed as ‘obvious’ by someone who couldn’t see it coming..
Everyone expects perfection on the first draft, but they will never survive seeing your actual first draft.
People mistake your necessary isolation for antisocial behaviour
The timeline never includes time for staring out windows or midnight panic.
What others call burnout is often just the middle of your process
The static might clear tomorrow. Or it won’t. Let it be.
Final word to Frida!
“I was born with an open wound, and colors pouring from it. Don’t call me brave or a martyr; I’m just a woman who learned to love even in the midst of pain. I am a brush, I am a scream, I am broken flesh and a burning spirit. I paint myself because I am the only thing I know with fury, with tenderness. And if anyone doesn’t like it, don’t look at me, because I didn’t come to fit in, I came to be.” — Frida Kahlo
