Stop Hurting Yourself

With the weather getting warmer, I recently got back into disc golf for the season. I grabbed my discs, hit the field, then gave my first throw. My goodness it was terrible. What was I expecting? A perfectly thrown disc with a beautiful flight? I didn't warm up, of course it flew terribly. Knowing this, I laughed it off and threw another. Just like this moment, I have had creative moments that followed this same pattern. I take a few weeks from photographing then pick up my camera expecting to make the best work, only to realize all my compositions look like crap. I had to realize something that I hope to share with you today: you will not make your best work immediately. This is in all areas, whether you have taken a break or if you are consistent. You must ease into the "good" work that you will be proud of. In other words, you gotta warm up.

In this blog I want to explore this idea of warming up. What do we need to do to warm up and why does it even matter? I look forward to hopefully answering these two questions.

Why Warm Up?

A good creative opportunity is like a tea bag. You must learn how to warm it up and let it sit for just the right amount of time to get the most out of it.

Just like we cannot be expected to perform our best physically before warming up, we can not perform our best creatively without proper time and intention in warming up either. Like an athlete, if we try to do our best at something without warming up, we will end up straining and hurting ourselves. The bigger risk here as creatives, we risk hurting our creative soul, our drive to create.

So we don't want to hurt our motivation to create. We also don't want to see ourselves as less. A lot of people, including me at times, see a creative ability "easier" than a physical ability. I am doing my best to disconnect from that notion because it is not true at all. So first, I want us each to take a moment and appreciate the fact that we have the urge to create, that we have the ability to see through on that impulse. A lot of people do not possess that, but we do. You do. Be grateful for that fact. Warming up creatively helps us not lose this gift that we possess, so let's get into how we can properly, and safely warm up creatively without losing the fun in it.

Warm Up Yourself

The first one is kind of obvious. If your creative ability involves any form of bodily function or movement, no matter how big or small, it is important to warm those things up. Whether that is a small stretch before a photo walk, or doing hand and finger stretches to avoid arthritis while typing your next big novel, it is important to get into the practice of sustainability rather than chaotic action.

This doesn't have to be boring or take a lot of time. I like to think of it a little differently. Instead of thinking of this practice as warming up my body so I don't get hurt, I spend the time appreciating that I am able to use my body in this creative way. With each stretch, I feel my muscles, and I feel my ability to do the creative act. There are a lot of people that do not have the ability you have, so spend this time appreciating yourself.

Warming up your body is kind of obvious, but let's tackle something a little more nuanced: how to warm up your creative side.

Warm Up Your Creative Spirit

I am going to be speaking from a photographer's point of view in this section, but I am sure it will apply to other art forms. There have been many times where I see a creative opportunity where an interesting subject is obvious and is just waiting to be photographed. This could be an interesting place I have never been before, or someone in a place I am familiar with that is in a bright dress that highly contrasts with the scene. Although these are great to come across, it is important to realize that each opportunity like this has a trap. The trap being this: there is more than just the obvious picture there.

No matter the scene, I have to remind myself that my job is to not look through my camera and capture the images. My job is to observe. To remain open to any ideas that come my way. To see the obvious cool photos, but to also see the small things that might be brushed aside. My job is to take in the entire scene, not just the thing I think is cool. A good way to do this is to remind myself to warm up my scene. To stay longer, to get different angles of the same subject, to try different things that maybe I wouldn't have tried. Do I want to go to a cool scene to hopefully get one good image, or would I rather stay longer to find 10 images I consider hidden gems? The answer is obvious to me, but everyone must make this decision on their own.

The point being this: if you continue to do the same thing over and over, you will never get better. You will never improve as an artist, and your best work is already behind you. Warming up allows you to realize these patterns that you have. It allows you to grow past them, to experiment, and to implement them in a safe environment where if it fails, you can move on happily having learned something from the process.

Be Intentional

In conclusion, just warm up. There is a time and place to jump into something spontaneously, but if you are trying to create work that is meaningful to you, warm up beforehand. You might learn something in the process, or come away with a better product if you hadn't. Plus it "gets our reps in" per se. It allows us to practice and to detach that practice from how we see our own ability and self-worth. We don't want to be like the guy who shanks a golf ball and curses at the grass because we think of how bad we suck. We want to be like the person who shanks a golf ball, finds a moment of humor and gratitude, then sets another ball down to hopefully hit it better (don't hate me, I don't play golf, the point is there though).

Just don't expect yourself to be great when it is the moment of our suckiness where we learn the best. Don't be afraid to fail, just fail intentionally. One of those "failures" might be your next success. Learn something, grow. Don't let your best work that you have already made determine what you are supposed to make moving forward. So go warm up and make something interesting.