Comparison is the Thief of Variety

We often forget that there's always someone out there who surpasses us in some way. I may be great at drawing, but I've met people older and younger than me who are outstanding. They could be faster, neater, more creative or just have a much more appealing style. That doesn't mean my work is bad or any less, my style isn't theirs. 

That's the whole thing about creation, as the creator you'll always find flaws with your work. As a creator, you'll see things differently than others, art is all about how you perceive things. No one should degrade their work because it isn't 'as good' as another's. What someone sees as perfect, you might have already logged about fifty mistakes, silently wishing they don't notice what you have. You sit down and compare your work to one that gets more engagement, but that isn't always about the superiority of your work. There's always a community ready to engage and consume the media you provide them and you just have to find the people you appeal to. 

Although, comparison can be a positive thing too. It encourages growth of course, whether it's a healthy kind is up to how a person decides to go about it.

It's always a good idea to observe something and push yourself to be just as good or even better, but when does that become more about perfection than about the drive to create. I believe comparison is a thief of variety, you post something you took ages to create and the comments leave you apoplectic. 'Sarah made a better one.', 'This looks just like something Freya would do!', 'You need Zara's voice on this track not yours.', but you enjoyed making it. You thought everyone would appreciate it so why aren't they? People forget that the human mind isn't limited, that creation is all about variety and a person's unique signature. People are afraid of innovations they aren't used to, they're quick to scorn and mock what they're unfamiliar with because they don't want to take their time to admire it. You sit and ponder over whether you’re good enough, you wonder if the words people direct at you have some truth to them and you completely dismiss the initial intention of your work. You have forgotten the message you wanted to relay because no one got the message either, now you shrink into yourself and let the world interpret it in whatever way they see fit. You’ve let someone else tell the story you wrote in a twisted game of Chinese whispers, the version where you never uttered a word.

As a result, you surrender to the concept they handed you and twist your imagination into something that makes them feel good. You make your thoughts pliable and they bend it to their whims, now everything looks the same, and everyone loses their creativity. You get scared to try something new because if they don't understand it immediately then you'll be mocked, and you know how hard it'll be to gather that courage to go for it again. I think more people should be accepting, not of everything of course but people should start opening themselves to the limitless versions of the way one thing can be interpreted. In turn, creators should push harder. You can't just give it one go and shy away into a dark crevice because the two hundred people who saw your work didn't understand it the way they should've, the world is made up of about eight billion people, someone out there will want what you give. Not everyone is lucky enough to be an overnight sensation. It will not be easy; it never actually is but you have to keep pushing for what you want if you want to see a difference. Consistency is one thing that will make your work reach the people who are ready to accept it, even if it takes a year or two.

Comparing yourself and others to someone else limits you to a bracket. A circle that tells you not to try something else, not to be as whimsical as you once were. Truthfully it's getting boring, so create, be innovative, be loud and be different, because if even fifty people like what you do, you can guarantee that more people would like it too. Stop following trends because they bring traction, stop trying to kill yourself to be just as perfect as someone else is because they don't think they're all that great either. It's hard, because even when you don't judge your work someone else will, that one condescending snide comment in the crowd of all the praise that will make you pause and overthink Remember then, in the moment that you start wondering whether James' remark is right, that you liked your work, and so did others, if he doesn't then it's not for him. So yes, comparison does hinder variety, it makes people strive to be like others or just stop altogether, and we shouldn't. I'm not going to stop drawing because I'm not as good as Picasso, I started drawing because I liked it and I will continue because I still like it. 

Don't limit your imagination because the world isn't ready to accept what you bring to life, because you liked it, and I promise you even if only one person does then that's enough even though it does not seem like it.

Written by, Amina Abdulkareem