The Cost - Something Most People Will Never Get

I woke up this morning at 6am, wide awake. "Now what?" I thought to myself. "I am wide awake, everyone else in the house is sleeping, now what?" Being involved in the creative I have found there is a cost that most people don't get. A cost most people just take advantage of. Here's a few things I can think of off the top of my head as I write this after putting in a couple hours of work already this morning... it's almost 8am, sheesh!

- Being Creative is Not Easy. Sure it comes easier to some, but to get what's stuck in your head onto paper, video, graphics, etc. is not always easy. It's a labour of love. Sometimes it flows easily, other times its your skill set that gets in the way. Not only that but coming up with creative ideas is not always possible, the well can run dry and you need to find new inspiration (books, movies, nature, urban 'landscape').

- Creativity Is Often Cheaped On. People think creative people can just live off nothing. I wish creative people all stood up and said not anymore. I wish the people who just rip off other people's creative gifts would get out of the way, they're hurting the industry, they're wolves in disguise in the industry and should be pummeled with timbits.

- IT happens anytime. When you get that next great idea, IT could happen anywhere. I don't know how many times people have told me they have got their best ideas sitting on the toilet. I have a theory about that... yeah I know... I think it's because they finally took a chance in their day to just sit down and think some things through. The moment they stopped to take care of business they started to gather their thoughts, their inspiration and BOOM goes the Dynamite on their idea (that phrase should be copywritten by Matty Morgs).

- The Cost Financially. Once you look at cost to buy software, computers, hard drives, tablets, resource files, tutorials, books, movies, coffee's, cameras, video camera's, tripods, duplicators, more software, more resources, the total adds up. When you get a quote from a creative person, they're not just quoting you a price to use their skills, they're quoting you a price to help pay for all their materials they use to create with.

- Creative People are Different. My humour is different, most people don't get it. I think that's funny and yet again most people don't get that. Creative People have "things" about them. They are THOSE people and I am proud to be grouped with them. There is a cost socially to be creative and most people don't get that.

Next time you are working with a creative person, ask them what makes them tick. Ask them what it is that keeps them going. Next time you're with a creative person try to look deeper then just some looney person who doesn't always make sense and see what's going on below the surface.

A Random Rant by

Matthew A. Hawkins