Let's not make things prettier than they are, okay?
Dear fellow steemers,
Please allow me to introduce myself:
I'm a 35-year old/ young creative with years of experience in struggling. Since my first days at school, I have been fighting against the system, albeit merely internally. I was a shy little kid.
Honestly, I've always had trouble with authority, people calling themselves (my) bosses and all things that were obligations.
I'm sure I'm not the only one out here who feels the same.
Nevertheless, I followed my parents' advice for many years. I finished high school and went to university immediately afterwards. There, I struggled for 7 years but graduated anyway and then - after my graduation, at 25 years of age - I had no idea where to go.
I can tell you one thing, it surely didn't lead to a (fitting) job. I wanted to be a filmmaker, but had a film theory degree and hardly no connections. Besides that, I did not really want to be part of the (film) industry.
What exactly did I want?
The only thing I knew, was that I wanted to create things, probably movies and not just as a side gig. Preferably, I would like to do this outside the system but make a living on it anyway.
Flashforward
Now it's almost ten years later and I have spent most of these years struggling. Changing jobs all the time, being unemployed for months in a row, traveling - albeit way less than I wanted - and making very little money doing the stuff I like to do most.
I even taught in the higher education for almost three years (2013-2016) and that for somebody who never liked the educational system. To the outside world, it seemed like I was doing well those years, but on the inside, I felt miserable. I wasn't doing what I like to do most and - to be honest - I was losing the energy to do so.
So what do I like to do most?
Most of my time is spend thinking up and telling stories, in all kind of ways.
- I am an independent microbudget filmmaker, working on my first feature length film.
It's a Spanish thriller, set on the smallest of the Canary islands. For those of you interested, here's a link to the project:
http://microbudgetfilmproductions.com/index.php/los-ojos-rojos
Besides making movies, I'm an avid podcast listener, reader (preferably old fashioned books), a thinker and, if I get the chance, I talk quite a lot too. I love to listen to music, watch movies and walk in nature to recharge my energy.
Not too long ago, I started a project called "our favorite movies", aiming to share people's stories around movies that they once saw that kind of changed their lives.
I am also in the early stages of writing my first book, or possibly two books and am seriously thinking of starting a podcast.
My attempts to share my creativity, find an audience, give and receive feedback and interact with fellow creatives (on social media platforms) have never really taken off, for several reasons that I couldn't entirely grasp.
About a month and a half ago, I got interested in cryptocurrency, mainly the freedom/ escape from the system aspect around it . It was only yesterday, that I stumbled upon Steemit and it felt like something that could actually tie all my loose ends together. So let's give it a try.
What can you expect from me on here?
Although I might change my mind later, I aim to start out with sharing posts on creativity, focusing on the (daily) struggles and emotions that creatives experience and how to (possibly) deal with those.
These posts can be seen as a proof of concept for the book that I am working on, a guidebook for Struggling Creatives but I mainly try to help out others, hoping that they won't need to make as many mistakes as I've made over the years/ decades.
My twinsister, who is an illustrator, will make my posts (a little) less static by adding post-related drawings. I am already looking forward to collaborating with her on this project.
Before I forget, please feel free to provide me with any feedback!
I hope to make the creative process a little bit less stressful for those of you who are just starting out or who are even thinking of giving up. Please don't. If I can do it, you definitely can!
Anyway, for those of you who are still reading, thanks a lot for lending me your valuable time.
I will try to be more concise in my upcoming posts.
All the best,
Vincent
P.S. Don't hesitate to connect with me. I will try to be as social as possible and who knows what our connection might lead to in the future!
My Twitter feed (where I feed the birds): Vincent_Nijman
