I think it's funny how often the only thing standing in our path is ourselves.

When something else is obstructing us from reaching our goals, it's annoying, sure, but it's weirdly comforting right? "Ah man, if only that barrier wasn't standing in my way, I'd be taking over the world! Alas, I am but a leaf on the wind. An unfortunate person bound by the chains of fate. Oh well, guess I have to give up on it!" It's such a comforting thought that more often than not, the person complaining about this insurmountable barrier is the one who set that barrier there in the first place!

"Yknow, I really wanted to get into art," a friend of mine said recently, "but getting into digital art is such a mess. You gotta get a fancy drawing tablet and then spend god knows how long on art studies, and I don't really think I have the time for that." They set up all these requirements for what a "worthy artist" should start with, when in reality, none of that was ever a requirement - you can start getting into art with a pen and paper and jackshit else. The artists I know who do this shit professionally started by doodling Sonic the Hedgehog OCs on the sides of their notebook. As Arin Hanson famously said - "you think I came out the pussy drawing fuckin' mozart?"

I run into this exact same problem myself all the time - as I mentioned in the very first blogpost I published (while under serious sleep deprivation), I'm constantly wondering if what I have to say is "interesting enough", "unique enough" to be worthy of making your devices have to load those whole 7kb and render my ramblings onscreen. And the more I think about it - it doesn't have to be! A lot of people respond by saying "no, I'm sure what you're saying is unique," but no the fuck it isn't! It's been said a thousand times by a thousand people, and still - it's worth writing!

It's worth writing just because I want to write.

The terror that hides deep within me (and I assume hides deep within many of us) is a fear of trying and failing. Of trying our hardest and creating just a total piece of crap end product. We end up being our own harshest judges, and not for no reason - we want creation to be a test. If it's a test, we can succeed in the test, and man is succeeding a rush. But of course with this potential rush of satisfaction comes the equally plausible chance of failing, and that horrifies us. A lot's been said about loss aversion and how humans tend to run away from failure even when success is equally as likely, so I want you to quickly consider how self-contradictory this method of incentive is.

So, if not for some abstract idea of success, why should you make?

Because you want to. And I know you want to make, because if not, you wouldn't still be reading my dumbass thoughts on the topic! Creation in it of itself comes with some joy; the experience of turning some abstract idea in your head into something that exists out there in the real world comes with its own rush, even if no one ends up seeing it. That, in itself, is all the incentive people need, but we keep polluting this simple and effective incentive with shit like vote counters and profit incentive and NUMBER GO BIG OOGA BOOGA type bullshit that makes us forget why we actually make shit.

So go on. Make stuff. Finish that WIP you've been pushing back for ages. Or just delete it if you don't actually want to work on it but felt like you need to. Work on something for you, for your own joy and satisfaction, rather than the rest of the world's.

Come on. I know you had some idea while reading this post. I know you're procrastinating on starting it.

Go on.

MAKE STUFF!