Have you ever noticed how some people tend to only compare themselves to the best of the best? You can look at something they do that looks fantastic, but when you say so, they just pass it off with a flip of their hand. Ever wonder why people do that? Here's why:
Okay, okay, there are also people out there who are fishing for compliments, playing the faux humility card, or just have low self-esteem, but... the people who honestly pass it off and move on to the next thing do it for motivation. Here's how people like that think:
If you make something, say, a drawing, and think it's fantastic, you're just going to stop. You've made it. You're awesome. There's nowhere to improve, you've mastered this art thing. Aaaaaaaand... now it's boring. If there's nothing to improve upon, then you're just doing the same thing over and over. Sure, it might be a different subject, a new theme, but in essence, it's all the same. Why bother? I have a bad habit of doing this with things I'm mildly interested in- I do enough to feel that I've got a grip on how it's done, then get bored and move on.
But if there's something that you could do better, then there's something to strive for. There's a taller mountain out there than needs climbing; a wider ocean to sail across; a style of painting that captures the viewer's eye and moves their soul. And for people who have that passion for something, that's the drive, the motivation. To be better, improve, make things more realistic/ fantastic/ awesome/ whatever. That thing that I just did? Meh, it's done, move on. The next one though... wait til you see that!
Still don't get it? Consider this: remember seeing a child take its first step? Everyone gets all excited, because it's new- it's a new development, it shows progress, and (little do they realize) it means that things are about to get a lot more interesting. Now, how often do you see people get excited about walking across a room? Unless something has recently robbed them of that ability, it's no big deal, because we do it all the time. It's not that it isn't an amazing thing, that we can balance and control these sacks of flesh and bone to perambulate across a piece of floor that is hurtling through space in a barely-charted arm of the galaxy... it's just that we've done it. Huzzah. Move on.
That's how passionate people feel. It's not that we don't recognize that what we've done in the past is nifty- it is! And thank you for saying so! It is nice to have accomplishments appreciated, but, well, we already have something else in mind that'll put that to shame. It's just going to take a bit until we can make it/ draw it/ record it/ do it and be able to share that with you. So from all of us who are a little crazy, thank you. But just wait til you see what's coming next...
Okay, okay, there are also people out there who are fishing for compliments, playing the faux humility card, or just have low self-esteem, but... the people who honestly pass it off and move on to the next thing do it for motivation. Here's how people like that think:
If you make something, say, a drawing, and think it's fantastic, you're just going to stop. You've made it. You're awesome. There's nowhere to improve, you've mastered this art thing. Aaaaaaaand... now it's boring. If there's nothing to improve upon, then you're just doing the same thing over and over. Sure, it might be a different subject, a new theme, but in essence, it's all the same. Why bother? I have a bad habit of doing this with things I'm mildly interested in- I do enough to feel that I've got a grip on how it's done, then get bored and move on.
But if there's something that you could do better, then there's something to strive for. There's a taller mountain out there than needs climbing; a wider ocean to sail across; a style of painting that captures the viewer's eye and moves their soul. And for people who have that passion for something, that's the drive, the motivation. To be better, improve, make things more realistic/ fantastic/ awesome/ whatever. That thing that I just did? Meh, it's done, move on. The next one though... wait til you see that!
Still don't get it? Consider this: remember seeing a child take its first step? Everyone gets all excited, because it's new- it's a new development, it shows progress, and (little do they realize) it means that things are about to get a lot more interesting. Now, how often do you see people get excited about walking across a room? Unless something has recently robbed them of that ability, it's no big deal, because we do it all the time. It's not that it isn't an amazing thing, that we can balance and control these sacks of flesh and bone to perambulate across a piece of floor that is hurtling through space in a barely-charted arm of the galaxy... it's just that we've done it. Huzzah. Move on.
That's how passionate people feel. It's not that we don't recognize that what we've done in the past is nifty- it is! And thank you for saying so! It is nice to have accomplishments appreciated, but, well, we already have something else in mind that'll put that to shame. It's just going to take a bit until we can make it/ draw it/ record it/ do it and be able to share that with you. So from all of us who are a little crazy, thank you. But just wait til you see what's coming next...
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