It's ok to get worse

[alias_sqbr]

A post I really liked on tumblr made me realise something about creativity I don't think I've ever seen before:
It's not that taste is subjective, and what feels like "mediocre" to you may be amazing to someone else.
It's not just that creating while mediocre is a necessary step towards being good.
It's not even that it's ok to stay mediocre if you're having fun.
All these things are true. But it's also ok to be mediocre, and get worse, and still keep going anyway.

I have this huge fear of Getting Worse At Things and I'd just never questioned it being an inherently terrible thing as a creator that means you should stop. And I mean obviously I'd rather not get worse! And I don't think I am! But accepting it as a possibility that wouldn't mean the end of everything is very freeing.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

Thanks for that link. I know I've got worse at some things (thanks to health issues both physical and mental) but that post is weirdly inspiring.

[alias_sqbr]

I have too, now that you mention it, but for some reason didn't connect them. Maybe because it is all associated with the Big Mess of my feelings about disability.

[jesse_the_k]

Am looking forward to this post because worsening has been definitely happening in the last five years. I welcome my equanimous brain weasels, if they're on that train.

[alias_sqbr]

Yeah after writing this I started thinking about how I have gotten worse at a lot of things due to chronic illness. It feels different somehow, still pondering why. But it's certainly something I've had to come to terms with.