inspired

There’s a reel that found me recently, one of those quiet scroll-stopping moments where the algorithm, for once, got it exactly right. It spoke of something many of us experience but rarely name: the creative gap. The idea is simple, yet gut-punchingly profound. As creatives, we are often deeply dissatisfied with our own work, not because we lack imagination, but because our taste has outpaced our skill. We can see the magic in our mind’s eye. We just can’t quite get there… yet.

I’ve felt this tug more times than I can count. That burning vision of a concept, a line of text, a video sequence, a visual identity… and then the inevitable frustration when the output falls flat. It’s not quite what I meant. Not quite what I saw. Not quite what I felt. This is the creative gap. The chasm between what you dream and what you make.

And here’s the twist: this gap exists because you care. You care enough to see things differently. You have good taste. You recognise beauty. You know what great work could look like. And that is the very reason your own work often feels like a disappointment. Because it doesn’t (yet) meet the standard of your own vision.

The reel quoted Ira Glass, whose words every struggling creative should hear: