3–2–1 Design · Issue 96
On competing without losing yourself
Some weeks ask more from you than they seem to have any right to ask.
Not in a dramatic way.
Just in the small, steady way that leaves you a little quieter by Friday.
Not in a dramatic way.
Just in the small, steady way that leaves you a little quieter by Friday.
3 Thoughts From Me
I.
Lightness is not the same as not caring.
Sometimes it is caring without gripping quite so hard.
You can still love the work deeply.
You can still let it breathe.
II.
The strange thing about pressure is how often it comes dressed as importance.
The more personal the work feels, the more easily it can start making demands.
Not every demand is true.
Some are only fear with a clipboard.
III.
Competition can sharpen you.
It can also borrow your voice and hand it back sounding like someone else.
There is a quiet cost to always looking sideways.
You may still want to win.
You may also want to recognise yourself when you get there.
2 Quotes From Others
I.
On emptiness
“All sins are attempts to fill voids.”
(Gravity and Grace, 1948)
You know how easily a hollow place can start asking for things it cannot really use.
II.
On self competition
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
You can want to reach the top without letting the climb turn you into someone harder than you meant to become.
1 Question For You
Where in your work are you holding something more tightly than it needs to be held?
With thanks,
David
David
P.S. A lighter grip is still a grip. It just leaves room for your hand to feel human.
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Thank you for reading.
— Dm
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