Lately I’ve been questioning myself a lot about what I should make. There’s so much noise, especially on YouTube. What would you create if no one was looking? Make these and you might get rich. Here’s a powerful way to release your creativity.

I’m not linking to any particular video because that’s not the point. The point is that all these plant different ideas in my mind about making, and that is creating confusion. So I’m reminding myself to keep it simple and just make stuff that lights me up.

What does beautiful mean to me right now? Visually it’s bright colors and repeated patterns. Emotionally it isn’t anything obvious. I know I like miniatures, and I always start there. I know I like motion. In my work, I’m not trying to say anything profound or reveal any particular truth. I’m simply trying to evoke a childlike awe and wonder and curiosity. I’m trying to evoke a bit of magic.

And that brings me to the question: when was the last time I was truly lit up? The last time was when I was solving something. Like which colors should I use for coloring a block print? How do I get a Cricut cutter to cut windows for a passenger car? How do I make the front of a tall building as a 3D print? I do like solving little puzzles like this.

One puzzle that I think about over and over again is how to abstract an image into something delightful. Christoph Niemann is my hero when it comes to abstracting the world in a delightful way. So I think that’s the direction I need to look at more at. And if anyone reads this and identifies with the struggle, do what I’m doing here. Write about it. Journal. Keep asking yourself questions, over and over. You have the answer, just as I found an answer above.