For long as I can remember, I always had a triple-fistful of ideas.
My artistic love was first expressed via a medium-textured sketch paper and a no.2 pencil. I would look at a completely blank piece of paper and be enthralled by entire universes begging me to be visualized.
I soon discovered that while a picture may be worth 1,000 words, finding those words to complement that picture also brought me tremendous joy.
Countless youth hours were spent pouring into short stories, proses, poems, and young adult novels still waiting for a release date (still on my to-do list to touch up and release one of these!).
I also found myself as a kid performing in acting troupes and every school play (minus one) until graduation. I was, for all intents and purposes, a theater kid.
Even still, being an award-winning poet and theater kid at 12 years old wasn't exactly positioning me favorably with my broader peers – at school or in the hood.
So what's a child to do? Put music underneath these poetic rhymes and perform as a rapper was of course the most logical next step.
On one side, I was teaching myself HTML to make my own websites and cheap video games. On the other side, I was scripting intricate word patterns, performing in front of 100s of people at a time, and selling my own CD-R mixtapes. What a time to be alive.
Today, it may seem like "of course Ace would grow up to use his creativity professionally." But while growing up under the poverty line, being creative was less of a career path, and more of a survival mechanism.
Yes I, like many kids my age, watched 106 & Park after school and imagined our eventual "blow up." But I also had a summer job at 14 to help put food on the table. Let's be realistic, right?
“Really felt like yesterday — Couldn’t grab a second plate // Ever since the second grade I knew I had to entertain // I wish these bills had said the same“ - Call Me Ace, Celebrate
So when does an idea become "realistic"?
TL;DR: when it's real to you.
When your vision is just as palpable as the world you live in. When you can't stop thinking about it. When you spend your irredeemable time scoping and crafting your idea, as a sculptor does clay.
When you actually tried to convince yourself of how foolish the idea is, in an attempt to prevent yourself from pursuing it further. And then you keep pursuing.
An idea unpursued is just a thought. We all have thoughts, and no idea is really "new." Just a remixed version of what already was.
"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." – King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 1:9
Nonetheless, when you grab that idea and start your remixing process (📌 this word), you birth something directly intrinsic to your reality. Your job as a creator is less about expressing something "new", more about expressing something real.
Once you're focused on your job, that's precisely when your idea realizes.
But to keep the idea being real? That's the process of constantly creating, building, iterating, and sharing. Not because you're seeking validation, but instead because you're delivering something of real value.
“If I ain’t had the platform I have, I’d still do this // Strip this all away, I’d still be playing like acoustics.//" - Call Me Ace, WAKE UP
Ideas are formed inside, but live outside.
I don't know much about living a monk life – completely detached from the rest of society in effort to live a holy, untainted life. But what I do know is that even monasteries have community. Even a monk is never truly alone.
All the more so, a creative and their idea(s) don't exist in a vacuum, devoid of human interaction. I would go so far as to argue that an idea is not real, and a person is not creative, unless they exist within the context of community.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make noise? The answer is no.
I know for many creatives, there's a fear around sharing an underbaked idea ("what if someone steals it?") as well as a super baked idea ("what if they don't like it?").
The solution? Share it anyway. In doing so, you will meet three types of people:
- The Indifferent: These people may give you a simple platitude or a like on social media. Or maybe they’ll even smile and say “that’s cool” at the networking event. But that’s where it ends. Deep down, they‘re not moved. They're not your fans, but they're not “against you” either.
- The Lovers: These are people that care and want more. Usually accompanied with positive words, deep follow-up questions, and a Point-Of-Sale Conversion. Over time, they even become your biggest ambassadors and key part of your marketing campaigns for new lovers. We love the lovers!
- The Haters: Who many creatives fear, but these are people that also deeply care about what you're making. They just express so in an abrasive and almost obstructive way. Their reason for “hating“ can be a number of things: misunderstanding of you/your brand/idea, jealousy, past hurt/trauma from a similar idea, boredom and the search for an entertaining back-and-forth, the boldness that comes with online anonymity, etc.
You want haters just as much as you want lovers — both let you know that there was sound in the forest.
My best advice for haters? Don’t give them your peace of mind, but do allow them to boost your algorithms. 😉
“What a hater tell me is non-offensive // Keep engaging with me, baby, go and run up these metrics. //" - Call Me Ace, No Assistance
Pursuit isn't a one-time action. It's a way of life.
The most underrated part of building an idea is the building part. The sitting / dreaming / fantasizing / drafting part definitely feels so much cooler and stimulating.
But honestly, drafting ideas isn't really pursuit. It's more like procrastination disguised as pursuit.
Don't get me wrong – drafting is dope. I drafted this post before I published it. But if I never published it, then what good was all the drafting?
Moreover, if I only published one-time, dusted my hands, and called it a day, then am I really pursuing this, or was this more like a short-term assignment to submit?
In real life, we don't get "grades" on our pursuits like we do exams and papers at school. At least, not in the traditional sense.
The real grade comes when the idea you had – e.g. to pursue creative writing – takes root into your very being. The draft-publish-share cycle becoming engrained into your routine.
Where, whether or not you were drenched in social feedback, you still pursue. It's a driving part of who you are. It's not about the outcome, but rather the process itself.
There's tons of momentum that will take place in your life once you focus wholly on the pursuit. Don't look up to monitor the "social media analytics." Don't be distracted by what the other person is doing in a similar lane.
Draft. Publish. Share. Repeat. With resolved commitment. Once you have that, then knowing when to pursue your idea will be a no-brainer.
Are you ready to commit? Share with me that one idea you've just been sitting on wondering if you should take the plunge and pursue!
