The curse of comparison
A new book came out this month, Women Of Design: Influence and Inspiration From the Original Trailblazers to the New Groundbreakers. I’m not in it.
A friend of mine saw my stuff on this blog and said, oh, you should sell your stuff on Etsy. So I went to Etsy and saw literally hundreds of awe- and envy-inspiring pieces, and thought, I can’t compete with this.
So, boy, what a way to depress myself right around the holidays. In today’s instant-connection world, it’s far easier to set the world’s best as your own measure. After all, you can easily view thousands of wonderful crafts, paintings, websites, logos, prints, etc. etc. in an hour’s time and even more easily find yourself lacking. At least before the web, if you avoided bookstores and magazine subscriptions, you could more easily fight off that internal critic.
When I changed careers to become a designer, of course I dreamed of getting my work in the design annuals. Being written up in design magazines. And while I have gotten some awards for my work, it’s fair to say that I am not a household name in the design industry and that’s not likely to change at this point in my middle-age life.
The point of this post? To remind me and any of you out there who have the same depressing thoughts that if you don’t learn to take pleasure in the process of creation, you will be at the mercy of the curse of comparison. That curse paralyzes you from starting anything new because, well, “it’s not going to be any good, so why bother?”
So in the spirit of giving—and to be nice to myself—I remind myself that the creative process should be its own reward.
Tags: curse of comparison, Etsy, self-esteem
December 18th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
This entry struck a cord with me. I am a photographer in Washington D.C., and sometimes(more than I’d like to admit) I find myself intentionally avoiding looking at other photographers’ work. I find it depressing, and I start figuratively ripping my work to shreds and feeling depressed.
Below is a link to a radio interview with Jim Rubens, former New Hampshire State Senator; and author of “Over Success: Healing the American Obsession with Wealth, Fame, Power, and Perfection” (Greenleaf).
It is an exploration of the impact of the “keeping up with the Jones’” mentality can have on our psyche in the age of the internet, and tabloid celebrity worship. It parallels the differences in our ability to compare our work to other artist pre-internet and post-internet.
As you said the key is to find reward in the creative process, or as it applies to our every day lives in the process of living.
http://wamu.org/programs/kn/08/12/16.php#23646
Studies show one in three Americans are “pervasively dissatisfied with their lives.” We look at how genes, commercial culture, and global hyper-competition are combining to lock millions of Americans into an unsatisfying race for success.
December 18th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Sean, thanks for the links–looking forward to checking them out. Glad to know I am not the only one beating myself up–well, that doesn’t sound quite right, but you get the point!
April 14th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Great posting, Chris. And, as one mired in the curses of comparison recently, I totally get it.
I’m so glad you posted the Tree of Life image on Twitter. I see just how truly gifted you are. You’re not just a great resource for us other designers in the area (you and Anne Kerns–gotta give props to you both!) but you create beautiful images. Keep that inner critic quiet. You deserve to be head of your creative table…
April 14th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Kathy, thanks so much for the kind words!