The paralysis of taste

In art there's this thing called Blank Canvas Paralysis, or when you're unable to start work on your art because you are overwhelmed with the pressure of what should the first mark be? What if I mess up immediately? It sounds silly, but it is surprisingly common and frequent in both new and experienced artists.

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While in art, this usually pertains to creating something good, I think variations of this phenomenon apply to any creative work. As a designer, I think I experience this most when it comes to taking action. I am an extremely online person, spending most of my day exploring new tools, visiting novel websites, and immersing myself in the media of The Internet. As you spend time in a medium, you develop a taste for it. With this taste comes expectations of quality and with that standards.

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This taste puts you in a place of paralysis when the expectation of what something should be is inconsistent with your execution.

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There's a reason the motif of artists is balls of crumpled paper being strewn about: the solution is to relentlessly try and try again.

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This new blog is similar. It's not fancy. I don't know what I'm doing, but it's a try.