Beware of Gatekeepers

Getting started with a new creative project is tough.

One obstacle to getting started with something new are the gatekeepers whose sole purpose is to protect their interest from you. Similar to benchmarking, gatekeeping can cause you to stumble before you take off. They make it hard for you to enjoy something because you’re not as interested in it as they are. According to the super-reliable Urban Dictionary, gatekeeping is seen as:

When someone uses a hobby or interest as a means of elevating themselves above others to give oneself a sense of being superior transforming their passion or knowledge about a particular subject into an ugly tool of self-inflation.

-GoodGuyFitz

Beware of gatekeepers as you explore new creativity as they will do whatever they can to make you feel weird about exploring the new interest. They started somewhere too and weren’t always the high and mighty holders of knowledge and expertise as they are now. They were noobs at it once too and now that they’ve put in the time to learn more about it, they feel the need to defend their interest from others. That can be extremely discouraging when you’ve finally worked up enough courage to try something new only to find resistance within the community you’re trying to enter into.

Gatekeeping happens a lot online when you join a forum or online community (like Medium!). Those places are great for learning more about your interest so it’s a good idea to check them out when possible. Just have your guard up and remember that for every gatekeeper, there are ten genuinely welcoming people who seek to only share their knowledge and love of the interest with others (side note, I’ve been very impressed by the warm welcome I’ve received by this community!). Find those people, learn from them, and strive to become one of them someday. When you grow in your creative interest, you too may be standing at the gate — the choice of whether to open it or close it is up to you, but if your creativity is closed off to others, then please remember where you started and be supportive of others’ humble beginnings.

How do you fend off the gatekeepers?

For more creative resources, please visit my website: Lazy Creativity (ourlazycreativity.com). Plus, if you subscribe (you’ll be prompted on the Home page), I’ll throw in a free copy of my book, Lazy Creativity.

Find me on LinkedIn: Kyle Bernier, MAATC | LinkedIn or on Instagram: @Kyle_Bernier. I sometimes make pretty things.