Five Things I Learned Doing A Lot Of Stuff

My friend Josh sent me a Cracked article that didn't make me feel bad or annoyed with the writing on that site in general. By the way I know that they are always looking for writers and that I can contribute to their site if I win the chance. I have sent a few things in years ago and never got anything published. Also, I just don't need it to happen. I have thirteen blogs with thousands and thousands of things that I have written about. I am close to 2,000 posts on this site alone.

When you do a lot of different things people that don't (or some that do a bit of them) will have things they want to tell you. In this Five Things I Learned Doing A Lot Of Stuff I'm going to try to not sound too bitter. I'll likely fail because I know how I am when it comes to this kinda thing. Having hobbies or skills that others think they can cash in on makes for strange relationships and every few years I pick something up and get told “You can get paid for that.” I know this. I don't care. This is why. Oh, and anything colored is a link to something I do or am talking about.

Most Of Your Friends Won't Care

This is something that I still struggle with. There is a part of me that does things just because I can and it makes me happy in some way. Then there is another part of me that gets upset that a lot of my friends are aware that I do certain things but never comment on it to me in any way. I don't expect people to keep up with or watch/listen/stare at everything I do. But it would be nice to talk about the things I'm interested in with people I consider a friend.

At the moment I do podcasts (currently five), draw, write blogs/stories/articles, movie and TV reviews, paint, Perler beads, have my own music shows, write about food, and use Pixlr to manipulate photos. I also used to do a series Doom Mates. A few months ago I started creating music and produced a song for a contest that I won. Very few of my friends seem to care and I had to be reminded by one that it was about me enjoying myself, not getting approval from other people. I also need to stop getting annoyed when people send me links to articles with things I've already written about.

Everyone Knows More Than You

As soon as someone tells me how much money I can get for anything I do I blank out. Have I thought about making money for anything I do? Sure. Do I care enough to try? Not really. My friend Kiyoshi got me to publish four books a few years ago and I doubt even five of my friends ordered a copy for 99 cents. Mind you, some of these were the same people that told me that I should be making money doing something.

There is a difference between support, encouragement, and talking out your ass. The last one seems to be more prevalent. To me support is practical advice and giving whatever you can financially or with time to get something done. By the way, click here to help Kiyoshi get an incredible story completed and published. Encouragement can be just pressing “like” or saying “good job.” Talking out your ass? That leads me to the next one.

Most Advice is Bullshit

A lot of people think that making money or having something creative published is like getting a job in an 80's film. I can just walk into Marvel with a handful of drawings and have them go “Whoa, kid! You're hired!” or “You write? Great! We have this pile of money just sitting here for someone that does exactly that!” Today publishing a book is easy...if you don't want make money. Okay. There are certain people that catch lightning in a bottle, write shitty YA novels, and are making mad paper. But there are also people that have written great novels that you will never get to read let alone see made into a series of terrible movies.

I wish people would look into what they are pushing people into before trying. I would much rather have someone say they enjoyed my stories than pretend they know what they are talking about and tell me how to be famous. When someone tells you how easy it is to make money it just makes you feel like you aren't even trying. That is if you are into it for fame or money.

Its Not The Same For Everyone

I know this may sound insane to a lot of people but I don't do the things I do for money. If I did I would be miserable because I don't make money off of anything I do. I recently found someone online that was copying my Perler designs (and even making the same mistakes I did) and they are charging $3 for each one. My wall is covered in over 400 of them. I make them because its fun, not for money. But have a skill that someone can make money off of and suddenly its collaboration time!

By the way, if you can't tell by now, I don't play well with others. I've even mentioned it in job interviews. But if I am working with people that have the same work ethic and goals it is beautiful. I hate having to pull someone through a project. I'd rather just do it alone. There are a lot of people that have ideas and no follow through whatsoever and those are shitty people to work with on something. As a warning to anyone that wants to work with me on a project in the future: I hit the ground running. I love seeing a group of people talking about a project that will never happen. Those are the ones I easily accept because I know I'll never have to do anything.

Self Help Means Just That

Its funny when someone will buy a book to teach them how to read a book. The phrase “If you want something done right you got to do it yourself” makes sense when you are creating something. If I waited around for help or someone else I'd never get anything done. I used to have a podcast with a former friend that ended because if he decided to no-show or forgot we were recording it wouldn't happen. I ended up creating my most well read blogs because of that. I used to be a part of Tha O Show and The Bench Guys and each time the host just...stopped. Sure he has perfectly good reasons why but as far as I know he just took his ball and went home.

If you are not doing something because someone else isn't ready do it yourself or do something else. If you can't do something because you don't have the money (meaning using money as an excuse to procrastinate) find another way or don't do it at all. If you can't finish your vampire story write something about aliens. And for the love of god stop saying you don't have time to create something you say you want. Because if that were true you wouldn't have wasted time reading this.

Click here for previous Five Things I Learned.