You Can Never Be Too You

When I was accepted into my graduate program for creative advertising, the coordinator referred to our incoming class as “creatives on steroids”. I loved that. I screenshotted it. I sent it to my friends. …It’s empowering right?

So, with this new title, this new power, I realize I need to define myself. And, hopefully, through the process, it’ll also inspire you. We can just park and start right there.

Inspirational.

Creatives are supposed to capture the attention of an audience, right? Somehow, someway, in this busy world, creatives are tasked with producing some original form of art via some medium that will cause a passerby to actually give a minute of their spare-time-free day. But, as a creative on steroids, I strive to be inspirational. I don’t want to just catch a fleeting eye. Whether it’s a video, graphic, or lyric, I want the person to experience it and walk away from my art with a new insight.

Memorable.

But, it’s not just the ocean that’s breathtaking. Rivers are beautiful, too. Even puddles can have a unique

aesthetic. I understand that everything I create can not (and should not) be some profundity, freshly released to mankind. Thinking is tiring. So, I also desire for my creative work to simply be entertaining or humorous. Above all, I want my work to be memorable. This is a tough conundrum when you’re in a position to produce work weekly or even daily; everything can’t be memorable. Or, can it? Maybe, on steroids, it can.

Clean.

I bet you think I mean artistically, right? Not at all. Profanity, to me, is a cop out. I take it as a challenge of my vocabulary to not use profanity. Can I express myself just as boldly or just as acutely without dropping bombs of any flavor? Indeed, I strive to. Consider this a challenge.

I believe that too many of us (amongst mankind that is) waste time trying to hide our real selves. We like to dance, but we have no rhythm, so we don’t dance in public. We have an opinion, but we don’t share it because we’re scared we might end up standing alone. We have so many reservations. But, I say we pull everything that makes us unique out of the reserves and drive them into active duty.

See, if I’m as me as I can be and you’re as you as you can be, then, we can actually always be in 100% agreement because we’re always on the same page, doing the same thing: just being ourselves. You can never be too you.