There’s one medal all successful creatives have in their trophy cabinets.
The one we earn every day we get up and decide to create something for the world.
It’s the honour of no one giving a shit — the great lack of accolade — the lackolade.
As much as we might tell ourselves otherwise, when we take on the responsibility of creation, the potential for future fanfare is a powerful driving force.
But if we intend on making something for the world, we must prepare to get ignored for a long time.
Even if people deem our early work noteworthy, rarely do people want to hear about the time we spend practicing or all the things we made that didn’t work.
Widespread public recognition makes it more likely that our next work won’t be as popular.
And if we keep creating, it’s only a matter of time before we make something people don’t like. Fortunately, that means it’s only a matter of time until we create something people like, too.
The real badge of a creative is continuing to show up for the sake of creating — and the chance to make something better.