Finding Time to be Creative

Being a creative person, in a creative family with every member doing something creative, I find it hard to hear others who don’t have loved ones to support them. My wife is a proper artist (paints, draws, digital, pottery, sculpture, etc), my son plays piano and is learning Blender and my daughter dances. This means that whenever I need time to get things done, writing wise, they are more than willing to give me the time required.

This is not the case for others, though. They don’t live with creative people who see our passion as a waste of time and a mere hobby. This is disheartening to hear as we require that time to get things done.

But what is a hobby and when does it become more? Is it only the amateur hobbyist, then the professional like J. K. Rowling, George Lucas, or Banksy?

I argue there is more to being a creative than that. It is a myth that professional creatives are discovered overnight. They go through years of training, hardship and rejection before they become an overnight success. Mainstream media ignores this as it is a better story if they are brand new and successful.

What is a Hobbyist?

A hobbyist is someone who does something creative for fun. They are still a creative and in some cases still artists. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about their intention of creating. A hobbyist is someone whose intention is the act of creating. Sitting down painting the miniature, or canvas, is what is important. It is not important to complete the project, just to work on it. It is also not important how often the hobbyist works on the project. If they complete something, it is a happy accident.

Passionist

This is a term I just coined. It encompasses the middle ground. The large middle of those who are more creative than a hobbyist, but have yet to be the overnight success. They have a passion for being creative and every professional has gone through this process. It is for those who want to be professional. A Passionist strives to complete projects. They work to complete things and the act of working is the happy accident. The reason being that they can sell completed projects and make them the overnight success they desire.

Professional

These are the overnight successes. These are the J. K. Rowling, the Brandon Sanderson’s, the Banksy’s, etc of the world. The misconception of them is that they must have talent and therefore success. Each other of them worked hard to get through the middle stage until they got lucky. Luck has to do much to do with it. Many were in the right place, at the right time, and they all were proficient enough in their craft that they were noticed.

How much do creatives need to make to become a professional? Simple. How much are the expenses? If it costs two thousand dollars to live, then all they need to make is that number. They don’t need to make six figures to be considered a professional.

What does this mean?

Hobbyists are hobbyists cause they want to be. Most are happy where they are and have no intention of trying to become a professional. Those Passionists have grown to love what they are doing, and they want to do it for a living. It is these who need the most support. They need people to buy their completed projects, to give them the time to complete them. They are not hobbyists. They are ambitious and want to be professions. The best thing we can do is to nurture and support them. As for what can be done. Sometimes it’s a simple act, like giving them a few hours a day to work on their passion. Cause one day they may become that overnight success.

This journey is not something I can do alone. It takes support from many people for it to become a reality. The easiest way is to visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. They are available in all countries and for free in Kindle Unlimited. I have a tip jar set up at Ko-Fe, where you can buy me a coffee. Or you can also visit me on Facebook. Your help and support are much appreciated.

The Many Jobs of Nathan Pedde – Film Industry

In the seventeen years since high school (everything sounds horrible when you do the math) I have worked at many jobs. When I graduated, I thought I was going to be the next Steven Spielberg. So I applied to Capilano University (then Capilano College) up here in Hollywood North, I entered their first year Film Program, then the ELTC Lighting Program. I was going to get into the film industry and become a director.

The problem was that I discovered I had an issue working with actors. I couldn’t talk to them, and they pissed me off. Which is why I went into film lighting. I worked as a lighting technician for a few years. You can even find me on IMDB.

I worked on projects like X-Men 3, Battlestar Galatica, the L-Word, and countless others. The glamour of the industry quickly faded into a cold reality.

This was fifteen years ago, and I have been told the industry has changed. Back then, the film industry is not viable employment for those with families. The hours are long with twelves being the standard. The industry also uses an on call system, which makes it hard to have additional employment waiting for the calls. A day on a film set would net me three hundred bucks. But if I only worked two or three times in a month, it was impossible to pay rent to let along being able to have a career.

The union was also designed not to help new members get employment, but to keep the lazy-good-for-nothing-old-timers on easy street. Every third project I got a call on, I saw an old-timer (one with a low number and therefore all the calls) get sent away from a set collecting the minimum time. The scam was that they knew no production liked them, but as they got called when they wanted a job, they went to set. Because they showed up, they got the two-hour minimum. Then they called the office and informed them they were available and went directly to an original set. Rinse and repeat.

For me, it was impossible to get all of my hours to get full membership in the union. After the struggle, I gave up and went to do other things. Film was not and is not for me.

I will talk about the other jobs I have had in the coming weeks. I have many. Perhaps I will even revisit my time in the film industry. I have stories to tell.

This journey is not something I can do alone. It takes support from many people for it to become a reality. The easiest way is to visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. They are available in all countries and for free in Kindle Unlimited. I do have a tip jar set up at Ko-Fe, where you can buy me a coffee. Or you can also visit me on Facebook. Your help and support are much appreciated.

The Digital Revolution

No, this isn’t a call to action of some radical revolutionary group. This post is about something more substantial. It’s a history lesson and a brief talk about current trends. As a student of history, I see patterns in events that are shaped by and shapes the world around it.

In the last 250 years, the world has changed. It has gone from being the height of empires and imperialism to a global trade network. It has also changed from being agricultural in nature, to being industrial.

With the discovery and invention of steam power, the factory was created. This pulled people to urban cities. Steam power replaced many agricultural techniques, which pushed people away. The steam plow replaced the worker at the farm, but the worker still needed to eat. This factor drove them to the city.

This trend was spread over 250 years as the world became more and more urbanized. Cities have gotten more massive as the population of the world exploded. The pattern doesn’t seem to have any sign of stopping. Or has it.

In North America today, the big city has many pulls. City services, access to luxury goods, access to high paying jobs, and the internet. But these pulls have been eroding over the last thirty years. The high paying jobs are being moved overseas to China and Vietnam. With Amazon and the Premium shipping, those luxury goods are a day away. No need to go out of the house to get them. City services are becoming less relevant as many smaller towns are bolstering their services. The internet is available in most places. The big cities are also pushing people away. The high cost of housing, high crime rates, the lack of community, and the lack of jobs to pay for it all.

One trend worth noting is the change of jobs. Manufacturing jobs have moved out of the North American city. This has left people filling low paying service-level positions. There is no way to earn a living working in the service industry. They have been trying to make it work since the 1990s and still haven’t been successful. One type of jobs that have been created is the digital job.

Twitter. Patreon. Ko-Fe. Youtube. Amazon. These are just the glamorous new digital jobs people are making use of. Added are virtual call-center and customer service jobs. Coding, graphic design, and other software design jobs are also fueling the revolution. These new digital jobs are hard to find. Most times, it requires the worker to work for themselves. This is a scary aspect that tends to keep people from signing up. The term scam is often used. Yet, I know of many people who have successful digital jobs.

This new trend has removed a big pull of people to live in big cities. Jobs. Being a digital job, most of them are worked from home. This creates a push from the big cities. Why live in a tiny expensive house, when the worker can spend the same amount of money and live someplace smaller and more rural getting a whole house.

This is the trend. The removal of high paying jobs from the city, coupled with the creation of a digital economy, has given people the freedom to be able to move from the highly polluted city.

This is my end goal. A digital job where I don’t have an office to go to. Where I can work from home, see my kids more, and all that jazz.

This journey is not something I can do alone. It takes support from many people for it to become a reality. The easiest way is to visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. They are available in all countries and for free on Kindle Unlimited. I do have a tip jar set up at Ko-Fe, where you can buy me a coffee. Or you can also visit me on Facebook. Your help and support are much appreciated.

Imposter’s Syndrome

As you all may be aware, I’m not one to follow the standard logic behind Writer’s Block. The standard is that it is this immovable force that the Muse puts before you and forces you not to write. I believe that it is your subconscious standing in your way telling you there is something wrong with your story.

From the website: Psychology Today

The imposter syndrome is a psychological term referring to a pattern of behavior where people doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent, often internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.

This is on the lines of what I believe that imposter’s syndrome is. Unlike Writer’s Block, there is no mistake on what it represents. There is no ‘hack’ in my mind to solving it like I do with “Writer’s Block.” Why? Cause I have it.

Every Sunday for the past six months, I have been publishing a blog post. And every Sunday, I see the same people reading what I say and liking it. It turns out that there are people out there from around the world who want to read what I have to say.

I honestly don’t know why. My mind says that I’m not special with nothing good to say, despite being able to post every week. It also tells me that I haven’t earned even the success that I have so far and that it was a fluke. The anxiety that I had to post this blog kept me from writing it for a month so far.

The Silent Killer of Creativity

The big issue with imposters syndrome for many people, myself included, is that it stops us from trying. It also prevents us from seeking help. There is a stigma to it, that perhaps those thoughts are correct and that if you come out and say it, people will judge you for it. 

It stopped me from writing or doing creative things. It has stopped me from drawing things, from trying new things and from putting my work out there.

The threat of being exposed as a fraud is a giant wall for many people. They end up drawing endless notebooks worth of material, and never post it anywhere. They write novels and novels of stories. However, they don’t put it out for publication. The threat of being a fraud, of opening your mouth and proving to the world the truth is too great for many people.

Even the best of us.

The Neil Armstrong and the Neil Gaiman Story. This is one of the stories which gives me hope. The astronaut felt like he was an imposter. He walked on the bloody moon, and he felt like he didn’t belong in a group of successful people.

Many of us have the same feelings. They are successful, they have made great strides in their field of work. Yet, no matter what they do, they still feel like an outsider, like a has-been, a fraud, a failure.

To Fight the Good Fight.

But how do I fight it? How do I keep going, despite at times feeling like I am the biggest fraud out there?

The answer is complicated. I have to convince myself that what I’m doing isn’t that important; that it is okay if no one reads it.

This mentality means that when people tell me they read my blog, it is incredible to me. Because why would anyone want to read it?

I also have my goals set up. They are a vital part of my strategy to beat imposters syndrome. The threat of not making my goals and failing this year is bigger than imposters syndrome. It forces me to write the words and do the things, even though deep down, I think that I’m a fraud.

If you like what you are reading and wish to support me in my endeavours, please sign up to my newsletter, visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. Or buy me a coffee. Your help and support are much appreciated.

Putting Money where your Mouth is.

At some point words become nothing. At some point, the spoken word is nothing more than a meaningless squawk from the human lips.

I am referring to the endless babble that people do in regards to their hopes, their dreams, and their plans. I hear it all the time. People talking about what they want to do in the future. Either a job, a vacation, or finishing a task.

Yet, that’s all it is. Endless talk and babble without any real substance. However, what is the reason why its nothing more than talk?

People have dreams.

My nine year old has dreams. He wants to make video games and programs when he grows up. It is a worthy dream to do something that he enjoys. In fact, I encourage it.

I have a friend that has dreams. He talks about it all the time. His goal is to move to a tropical island in the Caribbean. He wants to live in an endless summer without having to deal with cold winter weather.

However, there is a difference between the nine-year-old and the thirty-something.

The nine-year-old has little ability to follow his dream. He is nine. My friend is in their thirties. He is an adult and as such, he has the freedom to follow his dream and his passion. He just needs to figure out how, but he doesn’t.

In fact, the nine-year-old is currently doing more to accomplish his goals than the thirty-something-year-old. My son is studying all types of coding on his own, in school, and on a few web sites like Khan Academy. The programs and coding which he learns are rudimentary and very basic, but it is a start. I have told him that if he keeps up the hard work, then he will get to build a real game in no time.

My Caribbean friend, however, I am not sure what he is doing to accomplish his goals and dreams. He talks as if he is, however, the status of where he is in accomplishing his dream hasn’t changed.

He routinely deviates from his goal. If he wants to live on a tropical island, he has many different problems to address. One is figuring out the immigration system, the second is some source of income. For that, he needs a skill that he can use. Diving is one; if he earns some diving credentials and is able to teach tourists how to dive, he could use that as a way to earn money. He has done none of that.

The Fragile Dream

In a discussion made over drinks about my dreams and his dreams, I asked him how far along he had gotten. The answer was not very far. He is dragging his heels, scared. His dream is this crystal object in the future. In his head, it is pure, beautiful, and pristine. He is afraid the dream isn’t going to be as he imagined in his head. Achieving his dream may prove that it isn’t as he thinks.

It’s a good point. How many times do we want something so badly, but see it with rose coloured glasses? The image in our head is formed through media and our imagination. When we finally get it, the reality doesn’t match the dream. It is a very real problem.

Not an Excuse

All of that is an excuse. Like the sun in his face or fingers cold. Poor excuses for things that don’t matter. In my mind, it is more important to stop making excuses and put your money where your mouth is. If you want something, then go do it. Stop dragging your heels and go. Make a list and start checking things off. Eventually, you will achieve your goal.

Secret

And here is a final secret before I sign off. As you move towards your goal, there will be many chances for reality to bust the rose coloured glasses. Things never work out the way you expect. It is the nature of things. You just need to adapt and roll with the flow. If your dream is something worth pursuing, then it will hold up when the glasses shatter.

If you like what you are reading and wish to support me in my endeavours, please sign up to my newsletter, visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. Leave a review, or buy me a coffee. Your help and support are much appreciated.

Waiting and dreams

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. ― Steve Jobs

Life has been compared to many things. Chocolate is the most famous that I can think of at the moment.

To me, life is a pile of sand running through your fingers. It dribbles through and before too long, it has disappeared into nothingness. One day you look around and realize that ten years have rolled by and your life is the same as it was ten years ago. The goals that you dreamed of, still undone.

There is never a good time for anything. There is never a good time to have a baby, to leave a job, or to write a book. The time is never right, and there is always something else that will come along that needs to be done first.

In the last post, I talked about dreams and goals.

Today I am going to talk about it again. I feel like it needs reinforcing. This topic is more important than people realize and it deserves a second blog post.

The statement that I get most often from people when I tell them that I am an indie-author is:

I would love to write a book, but I don’t have the time.

Or:

I will write my books… but later… when I am retired and I have time.

Life is a finite resource. You will only live for so long. And unlike other types of resources, we have no idea how long that we have left. That fact scares and encourages many people. It scares and inspires me. Like many people, there are many different things that I want to do before the inevitable comes.

The time to accomplish your goal is now.

Not tomorrow.

Not next week.

Now.

Stop procrastinating and do the things. If every day you do one thing that takes you that much closer to your goal, then eventually you will get that goal. It can be a small thing. If writing a book is your goal, write a page. If it is losing weight, then exercising that day will do it.

Every day and every decision must move you towards that goal. If you want to write a novel, binge watching Game of Thrones might be counterproductive. Going to the burger joint for a greasy fatty burger might also be counter to losing that weight.

The last point that I am going to make about this tonight is, ignore the naysayers. The toxic friends that have nothing good to say about your decisions. When I decided to move my family across the province so my wife could go to university, there was a handful of people that had nothing good to say about it. Those are ones that I have no interest in listening to. Don’t listen to what others have to say, just do the things that you want to do. You will have fewer regrets later if you do.

Until next time.

Stay Shiny.

Goals, Dreams, and Money

“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.”

I am not sure where I heard that. It might have been from someone famous, but then again, it might have not. But over the last few weeks, it has resonated with me.

Today, I am going to talk about dreams and money.

Most people that I know have dreams of some kind. They are deep desires, and wishes of things that they want to accomplish. Some want to own their own house, some want to travel, some want to meet the perfect person and settle down. Some will tell everyone that they encounter about their dreams. Others will keep their dreams close to their chests. If they tell anyone, it may fly away and fail to happen.

Those that I have met that don’t have specific dreams have problems. You see, dreams and desires are goals. They keep us focused and moving forward. Dreams will allow us to see the light at the end of whatever tunnel that life is dragging us through. Without a goal, you become becalmed. Stuck in one place, without any direction. Dreams are fickle things, they seem like they are right at your fingertips one moment, then gone the next.

Dreams, you see, keep us sane.

Life comes at us hard and fast. We close our eyes and years have rolled by like sand through our fingers. We start work, blink three times and then realize that we have been working for the same company for five years. Yet nothing in our life has changed. We still live in the same crappy apartment paying rent, have a massive debt load, out of shape. All that has changed is things have gotten worse. Anxiety, depression spring up in our lives and stands like a roadblock.

I believe that having a dream, a goal, then keeping it in front of you. Focused on it, ever doing things to accomplish it will focus your life. You will be able to make decisions that go towards that goal. If you are planning on buying property and that is your goal, going on a vacation to the tropics is counterproductive. Going on an expensive vacation will not bring you closer to that goal. You can justify it to yourself, but it still won’t change things. People can justify many things if they put their mind to it.

By having a goal and making decisions towards that dream, you will accomplish it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day, it will happen. Dreams also take sacrifice, commitment, and stamina. It takes an hour of bad decisions, made in the spur of the moment in the middle of a time of high stress and emotions to completely ruin all of the progress that took years to get to.

But not just any goal will do. Many people have abstract goals. They want to lose weight. Or make more money. Most people never think about their goal enough to break it into parts and pieces. It is too scary. Dreams are fickle, to think about it too much will cause it to scatter.

But dreams and goals need to be thought about. Plans need to be made. Steps need to be laid out. A goal that has steps is a more straightforward goal to make. If your goal is to lose weight, then having a step of going to the gym three times a week, every week, is a good step. Having a weight loss goal is secondary and the next step. Getting into the healthier habit is a better first step. If your goal is to earn more money to afford a house one day, then living within your means is an excellent first step. Cutting out unneeded expenses will take you that one step closer.

I have a dream.

It is a glorious dream, one that I am keeping close to my chest. But I am making decisions that will allow me to get to that dream. Cause one day, it will happen. And one day, I will tell everyone about it. But today is not that day.

Until next time.

Stay shiny.