Creativity is Optimism, Making Art Defies Negativity, Be a Creative Warrior
This is how we move forward against the winds of 2025.
Hi, and welcome to my little Substack corner. I write about photography, art, design, and the craft of living creatively. I am glad you are here. Consider subscribing to keep up with what I am doing. I promise not to bore you. If you would like to support my efforts, that would be amazing and so appreciated. Either way, I am super happy you are here.
Why Creativity is Optimism in Action
In its purest form, creativity is an act of radical, in-your-face optimism. Every time an individual picks up a camera, opens a blank document, or enters a laboratory, they are profoundly expressing their faith in the possibilities before them.
The connection between creativity and optimism is fundamental to understanding the creative process and its relationship to human resilience.
The very act of creating requires us to believe in a set of ideals.
Our ideals.
The ones we struggle with every day, every evening, every time we go to create something. Those ideals lead us through devastating pain, and unbridled joy.
We know what we want, what we must do, and we commit to that with eager abandon. Sometimes with a fear of the unknown
We can see that finished piece before we start. We hear that melody before we notate it. We live through our characters as we shape them on the page.
It is the belief that knowing it can exist is enough to see us through the execution.
This goes beyond visualization; it seeps into the fundamental space of creativity. That optimism that tells us to go ahead and make it, click that shutter, add that paragraph.
It is literally WHY we create.
Or attempt to.
Whether we're photographing a landscape or developing a new technology, we must first believe that we can, on our own, bring something new into existence.
The "I can do this" mindset is far beyond simple confidence.
It's a personal declaration that the future holds a possibility worth pursuing.
Worth the work.
Worth bleeding over, and losing sleep, and overindulging in coffee and tacos.
Maybe even liquor… single-malted liquor. (The good stuff.)
When an artist stands before a blank canvas or a scientist approaches an unsolved problem, they embrace the optimistic view that a solution exists.
And that they alone can discover it, mold it, persuade it, wrestle it, mug it into existence. Stand upon it with fist raised and proclaim it is their own.
“I MADE THIS!”
What's particularly fascinating, and downright useful these days, is that one cannot be truly depressed while in the act of creation.
The intensely focused engagement required to create something new seems to act as though a magic spell can pull us out of our darker selves, offering glimpses into what could be rather than what is.
This incredible power of creativity serves as a natural antidote to despair.
It’s literally - and utterly - transformative.
Not because it denies our challenges, diminishes our desires, or lays waste to the fallacies of our own perceived predicaments.
It can transform because it insists on our ability to respond. In fact, creativity demands we respond.
To challenges.
To ideas.
To roadblocks and muck and people with their negative agendas.
Creative folks tend to be perpetually forward-looking, their minds already fever-dancing with the next project even as they complete their current one.
Constant focus on future possibilities is optimism in its most active, and powerful form. Not just hoping for a better future, actively working to create one.
Honestly, humanity's collective hope has always been sustained by creativity.
From the first cave paintings to the incredible art of Egyptian Kings, to TikTok’s newest dance craze, our ability to imagine and do is one of our species' greatest sources of resilience.
Each creative act, no matter how small, adds to this legacy of hope, shouting out that we can indeed shape our world for the better.
We can. We sure as hell can!
Creativity isn't optimism expressed in an artifact.
It's at the core of the very nature of optimism itself.
Every time we make something, we reaffirm our belief in the possibility of positive change, in our ability to contribute something meaningful to the world. Whether a photograph, poem, story, piece of music, scientific breakthrough, viral dance move… whatever!
So make a photograph, paint a canvas, write your novel, finish that symphony, build that chicken coop… whatever you are contemplating to make or do, make and do it.
You become optimism in action.
It’s your right and your responsibility.
In fact, it’s your duty.
Just before hitting send this morning, I received a notification of a new post at one of my favorite Substacks, Process, by Wesley Verhoeve. I recommend you read his article today… It is absolutely spot on.
Recent Writings:
Ruins of Two Guns, Arizona (Medium)
Crush your photography in 1% Increments (In The Frame)
The Art of Seeing: A Photographer’s Journey Beyond Looking (Medium)
The Power of Personal Projects (Medium)
The Challenge, and the Power, of Impatient Patience (In The Frame)
See y’all next time.
When you are ready, here is how I can help you succeed.
Group Mentorship: a small group of photographers who meet to show images, work on their portfolio, and build their businesses with help from a wonderful group. Lifetime membership for one fee.
One-on-one Mentorship: You and me - working together in an intense 6-month push to get you on the way to over $30K in additional revenue. The work we lay down will help you increase and scale your business for years ahead.
Coming in 2025, a One-on-One, 6-week plan to get your marketing system in place. You will see results immediately, and by results, I mean assigned work that pays you. More coming.
Such a good read
Truth! Getting myself wrapped up in the creative process is guaranteed to make me feel better. A bad day in the darkroom/behind a camera/whatever is better than a good day doing someone else’s bidding in an office.