It's in the act of making things that we figure out who we are.
Austin KleonRead
Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.
Interpretation
Create and pursue what you genuinely want to experience in your life.
This quote encourages individuals to take initiative and actively create the things they desire in their lives, whether it be art, business, music, literature, or products. It emphasizes personal agency and the importance of aligning one's actions with their passions and interests, fostering a sense of fulfillment and purpose.
In practice
In a motivational speech for aspiring artists.
It's in the act of making things that we figure out who we are.
The best way to get started on the path of sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning it in front of others.
The only way to find your voice is to use it. It’s hardwired, built into you. Talk about the things you love. Your voice will follow.
If we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running from it.
Usually, when we talk about creativity, it's about self-expression, which is great, but for work to be art or design, there has to be someone on the other end. The audience makes the work come alive.
Don't think of your website as a self-promotion machine, think of it as a self-invention machine.
A dead hydrangea is as intricate and lovely as one in bloom. Bleak sky is as seductive as sunshine, miniature orange trees without blossom or fruit are not defective; they are that.
I enjoy the challenge of trying to say things beautifully. The message is secondary in that sense. Obviously, I have something that I want to say that's very, very important to me - but the process of actually crafting it is essential.
They are fairies; he that speaks to them shall die. I'll wink and couch; no man their works must eye.
Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity. So it's like, just take advantage of these last few years because none of this is ever going to happen again. You'd better be prepared for doing a lot of touring because that's really the only unique situation that's going to be left.
I couldn't possibly write 'Next to Normal,' but God, I can weep and watch 'Next to Normal' five times.
I'm always trying to reach a transcendent point, a romantic point, but reach it in a really unconventional way, a really profane way. To get to that romantic, touching, heartbreaking place, but through a lot of acts of profanity.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.