reducing the stakes

gems of the week

• a song for my loverboys/girls

• how to mix creativity and business to create a truly incredible company - Richard Taylor and Greg Broadmore of Weta Workshop(they made the Lord of the Rings movies)

• Hans Zimmer and Rick Beato on music, film scoring, creativity, and the life of an artist

armaan’s thoughts

• a meta-skill that separates 1% from 99% is the ability to handle rejection and not take it personally

• sometimes i value my creative work less than other people value it because part of me takes it for granted. i live in my mind 24/7, so i forget the way i think/see the world is different, unique, and helps, and thus is valuable. but it’s easy to forget this. very easy.

• what would your life look like if you had complete faith in your intuitive responses?

1 reflection

i’m an extreme sort of guy.

either i love a piece of art, or it’s shit.

either the food i make is the best fucking dish in the world, or it’s going in the trash.

either this song, this movie, this book or article or youtube video is the GREATEST THING ON EARTH, or its meh.

just meh.

if you’ve talked to me in real life, you know how dramatic i am when i flail my arms around, raising my voice a little too loud and getting very, VERY passionate about whatever i’m talking about.

this is great to be theatrical and fun in conversation.

but if your internal dialogue is this bipolar, shifting between FUCK YEAH and FUCK NOOOO within the space of seconds, perhaps that introduces a LOT of volatility into your life.

emotional volatility.

spiritual volatility.

financial volatility.

LIFE volatility.

and especially pertinent at this time in my life, creative volatility.

and when it comes to the creative process, if something is either 1 or 0, black or white, life or death, then you put too much pressure on yourself.

this weekend i had a gig talking some photos for a nightclub and DJ.

i’d never done club photography before, and it’s notoriously technically difficult.

your framing must be ON point.

you’ve got to have low light lenses that are fast, wide, and sharp as shit.

your flash placement is everything.

it’s notoriously unforgiving.

so understandably i was SCARED as shit.

nervous as shit, biting my nails to my nubs until my fingers bled and stung like tiny daggers dug into my skin.

i searched endlessly on youtube and reddit threads, figuring out the perfect settings to get the BEST photos and not fuck up. i rattled my brain endlessly, counting down the days until i’d finally have to do this shoot and potentially fuck up.

my mind was dreadful. it was doubting my ability, attacking myself for even taking this job, crying because it didn’t know if it was capable.

i was truthfully being an asshole to myself.

and the reason i was being such an asshole to myself was because I WAS AFRAID I MIGHT SUCK.

i was afraid i’d shoot some photos and they’d come out AWFULLY.

because somewhere in my fucked up mind, i’d associated the work i make with it being “perfect” or “ideal”.

and god forbid i EVER make something which wasn’t AMAZING, then i’d have to put down my camera, write a melodramatic note, and jump off the edge of the cliff.

i’d put such an immense pressure on myself that i stunted the possibility of having fun.

and that’s stupid.

i’m entering creative fields/industries BECAUSE I WANT TO HAVE FUN and MAKE MONEY.

BUT HERE I AM PUTTING ALL THIS UNNECESSARY PRESSURE ON MYSELF TO MAKE SOMETHING GOOD.

BUT WHAT THE FUCK DOES GOOD EVEN MEAN???

GOOD IS SUBJECTIVE!!!!

AND HERE I AM BEING A FUCKING DICK TO MYSELF!!!!

so yeah.

on the day of the shoot, i took a step back, said “fuck it we ball. if the shoot goes bad, that’s okay, i’ll move on and continue riding at dawn.”

i took off the pressure, took a chill pill, and went in with 0 expectations.

and the shoot went quite well lol.

we put such pressure on ourselves. which is good. it helps us get the ball rolling. but once we’re rolling and we’re powered by momentum, perhaps thinking the things you do are a “life or death” situation isn’t that important.

be hard on yourself. but be kinder at the end of the day.

pce.

love you.

share this with a friend if you enjoyed it.

just send them this link.

appreciation

shoutout to my friends.

Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and more(all @armaan.ajoomal).