Over the last few weeks, we have all been inundated with ads on how we should improve ourselves this year. From changing our diet to going back to school, marketers are working hard to make you feel bad about who you are and where you are in life so that they can sell you some kind of quick fix that will turn it all around. The problem is, there are no quick fixes. It's not what we do today, it's what we do every day that matters.
Small creators like myself don't have the luxury of putting hours into our art every day. We have jobs, friends, families, and obligations that take us away from our passions and steal away our time to create. It can be easy to push your art to the back burner when there are bills to pay and deadlines to meet. This can cause a lot of us to cram our creative time into short little blocks and then lead to us beating ourselves up because we weren't able to deliver during the small window that we gave ourselves. This also leads a lot of us to avoid creating in the first place. So, instead of talking about a quick fix to all of the creative problems that plague us, we wanted to tell you about something inspiring that
Stevie Soul did in 2016 and 2021 to push himself and his creativity forward in hopes that it will inspire you to push yourself and grow in 2022.
Stevie Soul is a singer, beatboxer, and multi-media producer from Detroit Michigan that used beatboxing to overcome a childhood stutter. He has performed in front of all different types of crowds, collaborated with some of Detroit's best artists, and won the first Detroit's Big Shot competition this past Fall. He is incredibly talented and incredibly inspiring, especially because he does not stop pushing himself to be better and grow. In 2016, he decided to make and post a video every day for a year. At the end of the year, he said he knew himself better and had improved his beatboxing skills, plus he had a record of his journey over a year to look back on when he needed some motivation to keep going. So, he decided that in 2021 he wanted to do it again. This time he committed to posting a 15-second clip on his
Instagram stories every day for a year. Sometimes he used the moment as an opportunity to create a cool sound or to showcase the sounds around him. Other days he gives you an inside look at his life as a beatboxer and creator. At the end of the year, Stevie once again found that he was better. Not because of what he did one day, but because he worked at what he loved a little bit every day this year.
If you are in a rut or looking for some creative inspiration, we highly recommend heading over to Stevie's Instagram to watch all 52 weeks of 15-second clips. It's inspiring to see so much creativity in short little bursts. After watching for only a few minutes it's clear that it's not what you do one day, but what you do every day that matters.
So, how can you spend "15 seconds a day" working towards your goals this year? How can you put yourself and your art at the forefront by giving it a little time each day? Watch Stevie and take what he did as inspiration to focus on yourself and your growth every day this year. Allow yourself good days and bad days and give yourself the time and space you deserve to grow. Don't let the marketing wizards fool you, make small goals, work towards them every day, and by this time next year, you will have reached some if not all of them!
~S
