noteworthy wrote:
George Cochrane:

Most days from 9:30am to midnight or later, I’m working on *something*. Some days the work is really engaging, some days it can be boring and pedestrian, but it keeps the habit of always pushing out ideas, always thinking and creating and shaping, in motion.

There’s a section in Anne Lamont’s "Bird By Bird" that talks about the cruciality of writing "Shitty first drafts."

The difference between you, the “not-creative” and people who seem to always have something new springing forth from them? They do their thing. It might be painful, especially at first. It might be frustrating. You might throw out the first 20 things you make, hate them, hate yourself, and curse the day anybody encouraged you to try.

But at least you’re starting.

Regular creative throughput tips the scales in your advantage, keeps the bearings smooth, and quells fear, letting you, once again, surprise yourself.

Ira Glass:

Not enough gets said about the importance of abandoning crap."

If you're not failing all the time, you're not creating a situation where you can get super-lucky.

I cannot agree more. I highly encourage people to explore creative hobbies, regardless of how off-base they might be from their other pursuits. In fact, I encourage them to be way off base. Because true innovation, creativity, and the pursuit of happiness comes from combining rather disparate things.