...Look Past The Mirror (a note on the fill-in)
With the end of the year/the beginning of the new year around the corner and the discussions I’ve been having with Gold on FacePalmer POWER UP (if you’re not sure who that is and what POWER UP is, check out the FacePalmer Instagram @facepalmer.brand), I’ve been thinking about factors that stop me, personally, from achieving or even just starting something I’ve been wanting to do. Yeah, there are things like other priorities, feeling like you don’t have the right equipment, not having enough knowledge that get in the way. If I’m being honest, there’s also the feeling of being lazy, or choosing to be lazy because I don’t feel motivated or inspired to do it at the moment. Although some of these factors are understandable and rational, something in me says I’m just making excuses to avoid an underlying issue, a fear. I think this fear might be something you are feeling when it comes to filling in the back design of your “F.M. x THAR115 x F.P.” merch.
That fear is the fear of messing up, the fear of it not being good enough for your standards or worse: the standards of others (cue over dramatic gasp from audience). I literally just took an hour “break” between writing this sentence and the previous sentence because I didn’t know what else to write. Instead, I could have been word spitting just to get ideas out and then hopefully land on an idea or path I could edit later. Even though I know whatever those rough drafts could have been would not have been seen by the public, the fear of putting out something that wasn’t exactly what I wanted was enough reason for me to stop trying or even start, in some cases.
If you’ve been sleeping on filling in the back design for these reasons, I want you to know it’s okay to mess up. It’s okay if it’s not perfect. Yeah it’s cool if it looks perfect and nicely designed, but I find it more authentic and vulnerable if it isn’t (not purposely of course). There’s something beautiful and brave about owning those mistakes and literally carrying them on your back for everyone else to see. And even though those mistakes, those faults, are on display for everyone else to see, what’s beautiful is seeing how you don’t let those things define you. Instead, you make how you work through and learn from those mistakes define who you really are or are growing to be.
Filling in the back design might not carry the same weight as that other thing you’ve been putting off, but let it be that first baby step to start.
If you’d like to hear more about this topic, tune in to FacePalmer POWER UP* ep. 9 on Monday, 12/9/19, at 7pm PST on Instagram. I’ll be discussing this topic with Gold as part 2 of our 6 part series on starting and producing our passion projects.
Also, GO CHECK OUT GOLD’S PAGE ON INSTAGRAM @gold.ameir
He just launched his project SANDBOX HEROES. You can also check him out at his website at www.goldclemente.com.
I hope this blog post helps and gives you more clarity. Hope to see ya’ll on the livestream!
*FacePalmer POWER UP is a weekly space I hold on Instagram Live where we can engage and exchange about the highs and lows of our week, in order to POWER UP each other, together.