It’s Essential to Uncover What Truly Makes You Happy
How figuring out what you actually like will help you in your creative life.
Think about the last book you read from start to finish. Maybe stayed up until 2 AM to reach the last page or set your alarm for 5 AM so that you could dive back into that world the book created, before slogging to work. Or, maybe you sat in your car during lunch hour, devouring those last few chapters.
The books you hate putting down show you what you love, or at the very least enjoy.
It probably wasn’t The Metamorphosis by Kafka, or War and Peace by Tolstoy that made you flip pages one after another. More likely than not, it was Big Little Lies, something by Danielle Steel or John Grisham, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, or Eat, Pray, Love, or Ender’s Game, or any number of novels that have hit the bestsellers list in the last 10 years.
Be honest about what you enjoy if you’re trying to create something of your own.
It’s so much easier to write, create art, or just get started if it’s in a genre that grips you. Not the genre you think you should pursue.
“What kind of book do you read and feel sad that there’s only half of it left, instead of being impressed that you’re half way through?
That’s what you really like.” — Paul Graham
Instead of struggling through writing poems (when you read no poetry yourself), why not write that sci-fi short story that’s lurking in the corner of your head? Or, the comedy TV pilot you could write in your sleep because you’ve literally watched every single sitcom created after 1990 and just know you can do better.
Your depth of knowledge sometimes lies in those pockets of interests you might find embarrassing. Those comic sites you compulsively flip through during your 90 minute commute? Maybe that points to your love of visual humor rather than stand-up. Time to push pause on struggling through the stand-up set you’ve tried to write for the past year. Grab some pen and paper and start sketching.
Don’t discount a direction that seems easier, lighter, more fun in general, simply because it doesn’t seem like a worthy pursuit.
Everyone enjoys being entertained, or seeing art they can understand. It’s only snobs who refuse to read mainstream literature or sample runaway blockbuster movies.
So try your hand at imitating something you enjoy. You never know what type of work will come of it.
This post was inspired in part by Kara Cutruzzula, a prolific writer who sends a motivating & inspiring daily newsletter. One of her recent emails included the Paul Graham quote seen above. Ever since reading it, and the post in its entirety, I’ve mulled over how that applies to the work I do and that I’m interested in. Analyzing your own habits and seeing where you spend you happily spend your time versus feel like you’re slogging, is a way to find where your true interests lie.
