What Makes Your Creative Work Matter?

James comes out of the marketing wing of the Gifted Underachiever clubhouse feeling disillusioned. The marketers are coming up with catchphrases, but they’re not producing anything. He wants to know, “What makes my creative work matter?”Pat can sympathize, but she’s got no real answers except that while you’re creating something, it has to matter to you.We do many projects that never achieve monetary success—that’s the nature of the industry. But Pat believes that the project has meaning, as long as it matters to you while you’re making it. You just need to keep creating things (and sometimes find another way to pay the bills). Once your project is out in the world, you discover whether it matters to others only if it finds its audience, makes money, wins awards, or gets some other kind of attention in the marketplace.We talk about the continuity of themes throughout a career and other ways you can look at the meaning of your creative work.Questions for Listeners:* What themes keep surfacing in your creative work?* Can you attribute them to anything in particular, in your past or just an obsession you have?* Do you know of any famous creatives whose projects are wildly different in theme or content?Buy us a Coffee and Win a BookHere in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 20 coffee angels will get a free guide!For Further Exploration:Cherry Jeffs: How to identify themes in your art to create meaningful work:https://www.cherryjeffs.com/discover-themes-in-your-creative-work#Orla Stevens: How to look at seemingly separate projects and uncover connections in your art:Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. Free, no spam, unsubscribe any time. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com