The Cost of These Dreams.
Rebelion, War and Family Drama.
Hi 👋 Abd Sid Here, You are reading The Epiphany, a weekly newsletter about living like an artist and living a life you don’t regret on your deathbed.
This is the life of a creator—a journey filled with highs and lows, joy and stress, smiles and tears, and a lot of self-doubt.
It is not easy, but it is the path I am called to follow.
This is my journey, my story. It isn't always easy, but it is always fulfilling. For in every struggle, there is growth, and in every creation, there is a piece of my soul.
Who is a creator?
These days, the term creator comes with an understood prefix—content.
But for me, it means what it means. Someone who creates something new, useful, or beautiful out of mere inspiration. Whether they produce content or not, designers, writers, musicians, artists, and entrepreneurs are all creators.
Looking back, I realize that my passion for creation and design was always a part of who I am. When my classmates and peers liked to play GTA, Call of Duty, and Fortnight, games like Clash of Clans, SimCity, and Zombie Catsway appealed to me. They provided the space to innovate, strategize, and let my inner designer shine through.
They called me old-fashioned. They called me a daydreamer, but that almost never disturbed my daydreams. It was my escape from the reality of my own life—of not having friends and not being able to excel academically.
Everyone of us as creators, we see the world from a completely different way; we're observant of what most people ignore, and it’s almost magical.
Rebelion, War and Family Drama
It’s an act of rebellion, being a creator, and you’ll face doubters, possibly in your own family (Man will never fly because flying is reserved for angels. ~ Father to Wright Brothers), but above all, don’t lose the desire to create. And I’ll tell you what? Don’t even give a penny of mental energy to people who don’t realize your dreams; they don’t deserve any of it.
And that’s only half of the battle. Then there is this inner battle, and more often than not, it’s way harder to win. There is this ancient African proverb that I really like that goes, “When there’s no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.”
Fu*k Your Ego
In my experience, the ego is the enemy within, and it does a very good job of protecting you. As gases must collapse in a nebula to form a star, so too must your head hurt and your brain cells collapse in order for creation to occur. In the book The War of Art, Steven Pressfield called it "Resistance,” and it’s always there, shielding from struggles of creativity.
Earlier I wrote Being a creator is an act of rebellion, and it is because you must let yourself collapse and crumble in hope to come out the other side with something beautiful, which most of the time you don’t, which only fuels the resistance.
Despite all of this, some of us are refusing to change because there's something deeper, a calling to bring forth ideas and see your vision come to life, making it all worthwhile.
To anyone walking this path, embrace it. Your journey, with all its highs and lows, is unique and valuable. Keep building, keep designing, keep creating.
Your Friend,
~ Abd Sid.