The Circle of Life, But Make It Creative.

This weekend, I took some time off to watch a few movies, so in between watching "The Fall" and "When Harry Met Sally", I actually resorted to watching my favorite Disney film of all time, The Lion King.

When I finished watching I realized something - the creative journey is super similar to the film's arc, and that's why Simba will be the metaphor for today's essay, an essay about the journey of a body of work in the creative athmosphere/landscape/jungle.

Simba is our body of work.

Adjusting to the movie arc, our idea that we just thought about, be it a draft, or rewritten 10 times over, is currenly on Pride Rock. You can say it is safe, yet to be exposed to the world, and far, far, far away from the rest of the Jungle (Social Media in our current era).

We keep it there to protect it from other opinions. Maybe because it's not polished enough yet? Or maybe because we think it's not the right time for it to leave that rock?

This stage is super easy to stay in. It's safe, there's no judgment, and in a way it's a perfect habitat to keep reworking with no pressure at all. How easy? Yes, but easy is not fun, it's not daring, and definitely not what we're looking for! Because we can't stay there forever.

The work is now published.

We just published our work onto the landscape we are operating on. Imagine Rafiki holding Simba up at the edge of Pride Rock; that's us showing everyone the work we put out. The kingdom, in our sense, is the audience, because they now witness this work for the first time. Just like in the film.

There are a lot of different emotions when we press that button. Will the audience like it? Will they accept it? How will they take it? So many questions that might pop up, and it makes sense, because this thing wasn't there before. It's right to question it.

By doing this, we are standing at the edge of Pride Rock.

It symbolizes the change in our journey! from defending the work by keeping it in a safe place, we are now showing it to the world and letting them know: hi, there is something new here, and you should take notice.

A new question arises. Who is Rafiki in the creative journey?

Rafiki can be a mentor, or a culmination of all the projects we put out beforehand. Think of an inner voice that reassures you the work can live out there, and more people should see it. But Rafiki can also be someone you never knew, because now you might have people you don't know sharing your work, showing it to their own kingdom. And that's honestly such a great way to look at it.

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Ok we all know what happens in the movie now, let’s not mention it.

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The world is now shaping Simba. In a sense, the work has traveled, and we are looking past the shares. We are now looking at the interpretation of the world, engaging with our work with no direction or chance to guide it. That means comments and citations, be it good or bad.

Once the work is out of our hands, we cannot change how it is being perceived, or how people choose to look at it. Which is interestingly probably the most important part of the game here - because it proves maturity and trust in the work.

When you put work out, some people might choose to look at it in ways you never intended it to be explored. And it is so, so, so important to make peace with that, and understand that each person’s interaction with your work says more about them than it does about you. Not necessarily in a bad way, but they lived a certain life, an upbringing and everything that shaped them to look at things in a certain way.

So yes - comments, good or bad, shouldn't pull your body of work in every direction. Hakuna Matata, anyone?

Some people will be Scar, some will be Timon and Pumbaa, and honestly, you need them both to be able to create more.

CIRCLE OF LIFE!

The work is out, and it taught the creator a few lessons, some that made them return back to the start, but this time not as a scared cub. As the king. Just like Simba in the film.

And here's what's super cool! this body of work has now become the Pride Rock for the next one. A sort of incubator, a safe space, and the realization that it can be chased, created again and again and again, and presented once more to the kingdom. Defeating the Scars of the landscape, while always finding the Timon and Pumbaa when needed.

It also teaches us that the journey is far more important than the end result, because if we didn't go through the rough patches, we wouldn't be able to grow past them and return better than ever.