How can we balance the drive for improvement and creation, with the values of clarity and intentionality?

Because my drive is to add things. To add features, capabilities, new options, entire projects. Improvement through addition. Forward progress through consensus building. See something missing? Add something to fill that space. Of course, you see where this is going: There is another path.

The more you try to show, the less people see.
The more you try to say, the less they hear.
The more you try to explain, the less they understand.

~ Cierra Martin, from Stop being so right all the time

The other path is reduction. To improve things via simplification. Subtract to add clarity. Divide to declare purpose.

Don’t panic: This doesn’t turn into my declaring the end of these 7 for Sunday writings.

The real damage is done by those millions who want to ‘survive.’ The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves—or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.

~ unknown

That quote is often attributed to Sophie Scholl. But that is disputed because there’s no original source. None the less. It’s a great quote. People, like me, who err on the side of consensus building are definitely spotted therein.

In today’s post, I’m want to share the surprising lesson I learned in not posting to social media, the way I’m developing the strategy for my return, and how I’m focusing all of this on joy, fulfillment, and meaningful connections with writers and creators.

~ Dan Blank, from Why I left social media

In that article, Blank goes deep sharing how he thinks about using social media as a creator. The people who are Creatives, making their lives creating should think very carefully about everything they are doing.

What makes the difference between an outstandingly creative person and a less creative one is not any special power, but greater knowledge (in the form of practiced expertise) and the motivation to acquire and use it. This motivation endures for long periods, perhaps shaping and inspiring a whole lifetime.

~ Margaret A. Boden

Also: Hi 👋 I’m a Creative hoping to make a living creating. Have you seen my Special Projects membership? I could use your ongoing support.

Our relationships with possessions exist on a continuum. Some people lead extremely minimalist lifestyles, in which they rarely buy anything and are content with owning just a few things. Others shop almost every day and, despite experiencing tremendous financial stress, keep spending. Other people slowly accumulate possessions, finding it difficult to part with belongings they do not use – a room might become packed to the rafters; in the most extreme cases, the entire house might be nothing more than a storage facility.

~ Melissa Norberg, from How to have less stuff

At the top I started talking about subtraction. When it comes to possessions, discussions can get spicy. I have a lot of some things (approaching 1,000 books in the house—they are all tracked using library catalog software), and none of many many things. I’m not advocating for paring down. I only want to point out that things take up space both in your space and in your head… And then I’ll let this little thought do it’s work:

For example, if you are attached to sentimental items, you won’t be able to let go of clutter. If you are attached to living a certain way, you will not be able to let go of a lot of stuff. If you are attached to doing a lot of activities and messaging everyone, your life will be complex.

~ Leo Babauta

That quote is one of my daily reflection prompts. I sort of think about it in reverse order: When I’m feeling things are too complex, I start at the end of Babauta’s line of thinking. And then I work backwards through his list of examples to find things I can subtract—messaging, activities, stuff, way-of-living, sentimental items, …

I have written about this before and it is something I wish to emphasize repeatedly: efficiency and clarity are necessary elements, but are not the goal. There needs to be space for how things feel. I wrote this as it relates to cooking and cars and onscreen buttons, and it is still something worth pursuing each and every time we create anything.

~ Nick Heer, from Delicious Wabi-Sabi

There are several reasons to read Heer’s points. It’s an interesting dip into retro-digital photography (yes, that’s really a thing), the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi (appreciating beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete), and a bit of wondering about software.

So, yes, “efficiency and clarity are necessary elements, but are not the goal. There needs to be space for how things feel.” Hear! Hear!

Until next time, thanks for reading.

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