The Blank Page Dilemma...

Blank pages are scary and as a creative, there is an innate desire to do the unexpected, but can we ever truly surprise ourselves? When I’m faced with a blank page, I usually have something or someone in mind. Who’s going to see this and how will they perceive what I make? Before anything even makes it onto the page I am already somewhat influenced, thus expectations are already beginning to formulate.

It’s the fear of the outcome, not the fear of starting that gets to me. But by not starting something new I’m not only preventing the possibility of failure but of success.

When it comes to a blank page, progress is what matters, constantly moving forward without forcing a result on the other side. We are always evolving and so are our ideas, sometimes better doesn’t mean ‘better’ it just means different. Being impressionable is not always a negative, to be moulded by the things we love, even the people we love, is a privilege. 

I like to imagine every blank page to first have my signature on it, this is me and this moment is the result of all my other moments up until now. When you think about your creations in that capacity even a squiggle is the most significant thing.

However, not everything we create must be extraordinary. My best ideas have been unfinished, ones I have revisited many months or years later. Perhaps we're not yet the person who is supposed to complete a project and we’ll find that part of ourselves somewhere along the way, maybe even in another blank page.

There is crushing pressure to be the best, but on my worst days Mozart isn’t the one conducting my emotions and Charles Dickens isn’t writing my diary. We all have bad ideas and awful taste, and the reality is we’re all kind of crap and because of this we are brilliant. 

The most extraordinary part about what you create, is you.