Chad McMillan

I was eating lunch with an old friend the other day. We were swapping stories about our past and laughing at how we made it this far and how we ended up being the ‘creative’ people we are today. Later on, I thought back to our conversation and it really challenged me as to ‘why’ I do what I do.

If you haven’t read it yet, I suggest everyone get the book “Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. He demonstrates how everyone responds to others in light of FIVE love languages. They are: quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, physical touch, and words of affirmation. Those are pretty much self-explanatory.

So, what does that have to do with ‘why’ I do what I do? Well, I took a step back and asked myself if I really enjoyed graphic design. As the VP, Creative Director at Showcase Marketing, you would think I would be in love with design. But, it would surprise you to know that that’s really not what drives me. There is an underlying reason why I do what do.
Years ago I interned at a small college that offered several on-campus and correspondence classes. They were in need of someone to take the manuals and do a better job making them look professional. So, I bought a computer when I was 20 years old and did my best to help them out. I learned fast and people were amazed at what I could create on a computer. They constantly told others what a great job I had done and how creative I was.

You see, what drove me then (and still drives me!) is not so much a passion to create something new, but it fulfills my love language (words of affirmation). I realized that the ACT of creativity fulfills a NEED I have. If no one ever commented or affirmed me or my work would I still do what I do? The answer is, “probably not.” A good way to think about this is to imagine yourself doing the things you love doing…but imagine you doing it by yourself. If you’re a chef who loves to cook would you still love it if you were always locked in the kitchen and you never got to hear what others think about your food? Would you be fulfilled? The truth is, your love is not cooking. The ACT stimulates the NEED you have.

The reason some of you may have lost your passion for what you do in life or on your job is probably NOT because you lost love for that, but because at some point it stopped feeding the real reason you do what you do.

So, ask yourself, “Why do I do what I do?” If you’re honest with yourself, you probably will realize that a NEED you have drives the ACTS that you do. It might tell you a lot about yourself.

It might also cause you to rethink what you do.

No related posts.

The trend from your feedback was that you have no shortage on creative ideas, but the discipline and follow through needed to complete those ideas were always missing.

I’m a recovering procrastinator, and I needed to practice hard hitting, practical steps to finish my creative endeavors.

So here are 7 “In Your Face” tips I recommend:

1. Shut Up (yeah, I said it.): Stop talking about “I’m planning to…” or ” Here’s my vision…” or ” I’m thinking about launching…”. Don’t start talking until you can tell someone  how cool the last project you just wrapped up is.

2. Start Small: Don’t try to launch the book or graphic novel until you launch the short story. God teaches us that when we are faithful over the seemingly small things, He’ll set us over more. (Matthew 25:21)

3. Quit Being a Perfectionist: Launch now with what you have. Just like Hollywood, you can get better during the sequel…get the first movie going NOW!

4. Write It Down and Date It: This allows you to see what you’ve written once you get down the road and to see if you completed it. The date emphasizes if you’re wasting your time away, or better yet, if you are progressively accomplishing goals.

5. Know When You’re Most Productive…and when you’re not: If you know there’s a time when you’ll get most distracted and interrupted, find a better time.

6. Stop Working Alone: Accountability:Once you start involving others such as fellow artists, sponsors, clients, etc, it becomes bigger than you. You have others that are counting on your follow through.

7. Acknowledge Your Age: Once I began to realize that God placed me on assignment, I also realized that I had a finite amount of time to complete the mission. I’m getting too old to always be in the same place I was 6 months or a year ago with no growth to show for the time.

TAKE THE ORIGINAL POLL:

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Speaking engagements are a great way to raise awareness about you as an artist, writer, speaker or just an expert in your field. Whether you are the guest speaker or the host, a speaking event can be fun while also serving as a revenue resource.

HERE’S THE PROBLEM:

There are many colleges, churches, businesses or other organizations that are used to bringing in guest speakers and paying them a speaker’s fee or honorarium. In today’s economy, those same organizations have severely limited budgets and most can not pay for you to come speak, teach, paint, etc. They would love to have you, but it’s just not in the budget.

HERE IS AN IDEA THAT CAN HELP:

Joint Ventures: Position yourself as a source of revenue rather than a revenue expense.

Instead of asking a host organization to pay a speaking fee or honorarium, why not be willing to do a “revenue share” instead?

This is where instead of charging the host organization a fee, you and the host agree that you get paid from sharing part of the money that the event brings in; giving them an opportunity to provide make money rather than pay money only…the cool thing is that you get paid as well.

You can both share revenue from some or even all of these resources per event:

• Participant admissions (if they charge).
• Event sponsorships (especially if they don’t charge participant admission)
• Vendor participation (especially if they don’t charge participant admission)
• …even Merchandising.

This allows many organizations that never would have been able to even consider inviting you to speak (due to budget cuts).

This also drives the organization to promote the event; which typically can gain more response for your event rather than what you could have ever done alone.

EXAMPLE:
I will be conducting a workshop later this fall for an Arts organization in North Carolina. The organization is doing a HUGE promotional push to gain registrants. The organization gets a dollar amount for each person that attends. I get a share of that amount also for each person that attends.

It’s a true “WIN-WIN”!

This eliminates the upfront cost to the host, making them more able to book you in the first place. And with more bookings comes more opportunities to get…even MORE bookings!

COULD THIS WORK FOR YOU?

WHY OR WHY NOT?

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Josh Espasandin

Some of you might see art as a way to express your emotion and feeling and all that comes from the depths of your heart. If so, you’re right, but I propose that it should not be only that. I propose that we should all challenge ourselves to create art with a brain.
“‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your MIND, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.”
– Mark 12:30

Heart and soul seems to be only one part of the equation. I believe we can all show our love for God through our art, and using our minds should be part of it.
What do I mean by creating art with a brain? I simply mean: Create art that not only let’s the audience feel but also think. Paint a picture of beautiful flowing water, but then add in a child suffering from dehydration to make people aware of the world’s small amount of clean drinking water. Write a poem on the biblical unicorn (I’ll let you research that one yourself). Give a piece of art details that makes the audience wonder, discover, and learn something new.

"Well of Moses" by Claus Sluter

Let’s look at Claus Sluter’s Well of Moses from 1395, one of my favorite historical art pieces.

At the base of the well, we have Moses and other Old Testament prophets and then angels hovering above them. At the top, there would have been a cross from which the water would have emerged from. The water would then flow from the cross and down to Moses and the others. At first glance, it’s just a fountain. At second thought, we find that the Old Testament is literally supporting the New Testament, and then Jesus became living water which even covered the sins of those of the past. It’s a symbol of God’s love over ALL generations. It’s deep. It’s genius. It made me think. What about you?

Art history lesson aside, what are your thoughts?

Do we live in a world that’s too busy to have brain-heavy art?

Could it be what this world needs?

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It’s unfortunate that it’s such a well known concept.

Matt Tommey, author of “Unlocking the Heart of the Artist” says that it’s a curse we Creatives have experienced dating back to Cain and his descendants.

Don’t believe it? Ever experience any of the following in your creative pursuits:

Restlessness?

Wandering? Knowing your gift has a place, but not able to find it?

Unproductive? Trying to put your talent to work, but never earning enough.

Take a look at this brief video to see how the attributes of Cain’s life mirror the lives of many artists and creative people:

Dig Deeper:

See Inside

I highly recommend that you get Matt’s book, “Unlocking the Heart of the Artist” , where he goes into great detail on this and guides you toward the Biblical solution.

Artist, author, musician, Matt Tommey

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