The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

February 13First Make a Mess

In creating, the only hard thing's to begin; / A grass-blade's no easier to make than an oak, / If you've once found the way, you've achieved the grand stroke; in the worst of his poems are mines of rich matter, / but thrown in a heap with a crush and a clatter; / Now it is not one thing or another alone, / Makes a poem, but rather the general tone.

James Russell Lowell—“A Fable for Critics” (1848)

Creativity is a messy thing.

Often it is the distillation of our heap of ideas that leads to a stunning creative breakthrough.

Lowell's poem was a popular criticism of the writing of many of the era's most notable authors, including, in this stanza, Emerson.

Your ideas will have critics. Your raw creative leanings will go unfinished. Your best, most financially promising ideas will likely spring from your ability to assemble new ideas from old concepts.

Todd Henry, the author of Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day, calls this work meshing. It is all of the “work between the work” that makes you more effective when you are working. It consists of things like following your curiosity, studying, developing your skills, and asking deeper questions about why you are doing your work.

This is how you find your genius contribution, but only if you're at first willing to make a crush and clatter.

Challenge Question

1. What part of your vision contains the richest matter?