Why I’m doing what I’m doing

Fifteen Why’s

A challenge courtesy of the excellent Design Trust. I wrote this nearly 10 years ago but it still holds true. Sadly I can’t have number 14 any more and it did shake all of this to the core. I wanted to post this to remind me though that these reasons are all really good ones and I need to hold onto them in those times when everything seems too difficult. Some of them are aspirations that I don’t always achieve of course … I’d love not to mind what other people think about my work all of the time, but managing it some of the time is pretty good.

WHY you are working for yourself?

WHY are you a creative (sole trader or freelancer)?

WHY are you a designer, maker, illustrator, photographer, ….

WHY do you do this work?

It’s really difficult to come up with 15! But worth the effort as it makes you dig a bit into your own motives – and identify your own needs. Having come up with 15 ‘whys’ you then have to identify your five core values that arise out of these – five words that sum up what is really important to you. So here’s what I came up with:

1. Because I don’t want to do anything else.
2. Because I love books and paper and words and I have ever since I was small – they’ve always been the most important thing to me. I could get rid of all my other possessions – house, car, clothes … But not my books – and a few films.
3. Because I hate being told what to do – being employed and having my day dictated by others; being surrounded by people in an office all the time.
4. Because I want to live and work from home, in the countryside that I love.
5. Because I want to work at my own pace, spend time with my dogs – have them with me at work.
6. Because I feel driven to make and create every day and that feeling is with me all the time.
7. Because I like – I actually prefer – being on my own, in my own space. I crave solitude.
8. Because the piece of work I create is all mine and entirely within my control. It’s quality is down to me. There’s no one else involved in the process.
9. Because I like saying I’m an artist.
10. Because I love what I can do with a single piece of paper – the simplest and cheapest of materials.
11. Because I want to wake up everyday and do something I enjoy, not something I have to make myself do.
12. Because I don’t have to worry about what other people think – whether they like my work or not. I am driven to make it regardless. So I am free of that oppression that comes with looking to other people’s judgments and opinions.
13. Because I can strive for perfection but the nice thing is in what I’m doing I’m free of an objective right or wrong; there are no absolutes.
14. Because I get to live with my Mum which is very reassuring and supportive and makes me feel safe.
15. Because I can set my own artistic challenges; I can spend time learning, reading, thinking and reflecting.

Arising out of this, I think my core values are:

FOCUS
CONTROL
SOLITUDE
CREATIVITY
LEARNING