I’ve known Carla Johnson for many years and admire her book on creativity. I was lucky enough to have her sub-in as a co-host of The Marketing Companion to talk about the crisis of imagination in the marketing field when I had a revelation.
She said that one of the things that derail our creativity is “living up to what we think is expected of us.” This hit me like a thunderbolt, and I think it unraveled a mystery for me.
In the early days of my blogging, I was a nut. It was really sort of a stream of consciousness that may or may not have anything to do with marketing or blogging. I felt like I was at a creative peak. Most notably, I was funny.
Here is a blog post from 2010 imagining what Barbie would be like on Twtter. It holds up. Still made me laugh!
I am acutely aware that I don’t show up as funny as I used to. Sure, I can be entertaining — a clever phrase, maybe even a dad joke here and there. But for many years, I’ve never written a post with the explicit goal of being funny.
And I never knew why. Am I simply not as funny as I used to be? Has the pressure of success changed me in some way? Am I less carefree or less creative?
When Carla put this issue in the perspective of status, it provided a clue to the mystery. In 2010, I wasn’t an author or speaker. I was just establishing my post-corporate “second career.” I had nothing to lose so I just let it roll.
Today it;s different. I know that people look up to me. It feels awkward to say that, but I recognize that I’m in a privileged position to have a platform where people pay attention to me. I can set an example and I take that seriously. I’m proud of my work but recognize that the creative output is different.
Any way, my conversation with Carla got me thinking and I think you’ll enjoy it too. In this podcast episode, we get into some deep ideas about content and creativity. One of the most fun shows I’ve ever done!
Click here to enjoy Marketing Companion Episode 313
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Illustration courtesy MidJourney
