Sometimes I sit with fingers poised at the computer keyboard, in eager anticipation of the words that will flow from the deep well of inspiration inside of me...I wait but nothing comes. So I head off in search of inspiration. In other words, I blog-hop and trawl the internet with no specific subject in mind. Searching without knowing what I'm looking for.
It's aimless. And instead of fueling my creativity, it runs me dry. Most of all, it makes me feel inadequate and I doubt myself and the worthiness of what I have to offer. So I end up shutting my computer feeling quite dejected because I've just spent the last hour comparing myself to someone that I've never met. Their blog is better than mine, they have more important things to say, get more comments, have more followers...oh, the list goes on!
I love what this lovely lady has to say about the subject of comparison and it's impact on our creativity:
"Comparison stifled my creativity. It caused me to shut down, to unnecessarily stress about upcoming shoots and to doubt myself. When we doubt ourselves and our God-give abilities, we are in essence doubting God...and that's not something I want to be accused of doing." - Katie McGihon
I don't want to get caught in the comparison game, it leaves me feeling small and inadequate. The purpose of this project for me is about getting to the core of who I am as the one writing here and what this space is about rather than finding new blogs just for the sake of it or comparing what I do with what you do.
In light of this, I've decided that I'm going to be very selective about how many other fellow 31 day blogs I read. I mean, have you seen how many people have linked up? Over 1000 last I checked. And each of them will post something every. single. day. How does one possibly find the time to read them, write ones own post and go about a busy life at the same time? The answer is simple: one doesn't. I'm not even going to try.
Here is my list of 31 Days series that I'll be keeping an eye on and perusing in my leisure time:
Chatting at the Sky // 31 Days of Hush
Red and Honey // 31 Days of Un-Blogging
Honestly Here // 31 Days of Healing
Sarah Mae // 31 Days to a Fresh Blog Start
Bradford Avenue // 31 Days of Gathered Art
Sweetwater // 31 Days to Love where you Live
She's the Girl that Sings // 31 Verses Writing my Life Story
So true. Comparing never creates inspiration. Jeff Goins wrote about this and said to always "create before you consume." I think about that idea often when I think about getting "inspiration."
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written!