It is easier now than any time in the past to get your ideas out into the world.
I have this website on which I have posted portraits and a photo booth event that we did for a graduation party. I have also used this website to work on putting my thoughts into words in the form of this blog.
But, the thing is, I know I am not a very good writer. I know that I have a long way to go.
But it would be easy to settle. It would be easy to think that I can just keep putting stuff out in the ether and that over time it will magically get better. But I don't think that's how it works.
It is very easy to settle for "good enough."
I can take a good enough picture with my phone, so why bother using my Nikon and nice lens(es)? Why bother with Photoshop when I can just put an easy filter on it and do a good enough job?
The technical aspects of so much content creation is very simple. Click to add a post, point, shoot, add filter, post.
But what about the quality of the work?
I finally finished watching the documentary Sound City, in which Dave Grohl bought the old Sound City Studio board, brought together a bunch of musicians who had previously recorded there, and created a new album on it. In a portion of his interview, Trent Reznor said:
Now that everyone is empowered with these tools to create stuff, has there been a lot more great shit coming out? Not really. You still have to have something to do with those tools. You should really try to have something to say.
The tools make the creation so easy. But you still need to have a message, something to say.
Hundreds of hours of content are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Is all of this content good?
Hell, even this blog. It's easy to upload. I open the webiste. I type. I hit "Save & Publish." But do I have anything to say?
In last week's episode of Akimbo - Distribution and Cultural Destiny, Seth Godin spoke about this:
But if your potrtfolio doesn't speak for who you are, you are doing yourself a disservice, because now, more than ever, each of us can do our best work, on our own, and expose it to the world
It is easier now than ever before to express our ideas to the world. But are those ideas a manifestation of our best work? Or are we settling for good enough?