It's tempting to chase the idea of being unique in any creative field; after all, those are often the people that stand out. But the very pursuit of that can actually inhibit you from finding your true style, as this great video essay discusses.
Coming to you from Matti Haapoja, this insightful video articulately talks about one of the pitfalls of being a creative in our modern culture. As Haapoja discusses (and I think he's really onto something), there's a bit of a terrible irony in that when creatives try to rise above the din of culture, they can actually play into it by trying so hard to manufacture something unique that they censor their own style and personality. As the video mentions, people identify with genuineness, and this means getting a bit introspective and figuring out exactly who you are as a creative and carefully refining that instead of trying to fill what you perceive as some need in the external culture sphere. Besides, I know that at least I personally find that sort of work much more satisfying, as I'm expressing my true self, which is why so many of us get into creative fields in the first place.
Lead image by Mohamed Almari, used under Creative Commons
