Ibrahim Abazid
The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are
— Carl Jung
Most of the times whenever I’m making a creative work for myself, school or even someone else, I often find myself faced with a question. It is rather a challenge.
A challenge that whether the work I’m producing at that moment of time is going to be perceived well or not. And what if that work doesn’t? What if nobody cares about it? Do I resume the process of creating that piece of work or do I step back and hold? Do I hold back because someone else might not be fond of it? Should I stop because it may not be approved by the crowd? Because a certain person or voice might think of it as unworthy or, even, good enough?
I’ve come to realize that it is important to balance out that creeping voice whenever I’m producing something. To really focus on the real reason as to why I’m creating. To rather trust that inner drive that pushed me to create in the first place, regardless of anybody else’s thoughts of the outcome.
That reason being, believing in what I do and loving the process of creation. Because really, that is what authenticity in work genuinely means. To make something because I want to, and not because of what the perception of the outside forces or the public is.
And if we really think about it a bit more deeply? What’s the other option? What’s the alternative? Is it to replicate the crowd in order to be approved? Or is to create an ordinary copy of millions of other pieces of work?
I would rather not do that. I would rather not copy someone else for the sake of trying to reach their success. For the sake of being like them. It eliminates the truth and authenticity from what my work is about. It alienates me from my work because it is not coming from a place within anymore, but rather, it is there to comply with others.
Our differences are what make us precious, a sentence when I contemplate, I find it to be fascinating. Fascinating in the sense that it makes me imagine its opposite.
A world where we are all the same. Where we all operate, live and act exactly the same way. More like replicas existing on a planet controlled by a system. Turning us into a bunch of robots doing the same job over and over.
I think that we should reach a certain balance between creating something that we think is going to be perceived well and a work that we make because we believe in it. A piece of work that we put our thoughts and aspirations to bring about because it is coming from an authentic place.
Create something original and true to ourselves. Create something that is unique and authentic because it is coming from a true place within. Create work that brings us fulfillment and joy!
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Even if it was going to be ridiculed or if we grasped that it won’t be successful by the eye of others. To me, again, that’s what authenticity means. That’s what an authentic work is.
So, I guess we all should go out and create. Create something original and true to ourselves. Create something that is unique and authentic because it is coming from a true place within. Create work that brings us fulfillment and joy.
Work that involves our own fingerprints. Because at the end of day, embracing our differences is what provides us with a sense of meaning. That our stories are actually distinct. They are also worth sharing with others.