The most natural way for me to engage with the world

When in doubt, create.

These four words are not only the title of one of my books on being prolific, but they’re also the daily mantra that equips me to live a fulfilling life.

It’s one of the few practices that has universal functionality. Whatever problem shows up, odds are, there is a way for me to create my way out of it. Or at the very least, create my way through it.

That’s how my brain is wired. Making things has always been the most natural way for me to engage with the world. Creating is the support system for my life. It’s my primary way for weaving my picture of the world and speaking to myself about what I need.

When in doubt, create.

Maslow, on the other hand, opposed single mindedness. He famously said that if all we have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. His philosophy is known as the law of the instrument, which is a form of confirmation bias. Seeing what we want to see. Only searching for things that confirm our preexisting beliefs.

But what the doctor failed to observe was, if we know how to use our hammer in fifty different ways to solve a thousand different problems, then why waste our time become a master at the chainsaw?

There is no rule that says we have to be well rounded.

Woody writes about this in the closing monologue of his black comedy film:

Whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide, every temporary measure of grace, whatever works.

Listen, we all do what we have to do to survive the impenetrable layer of black, icy futility that covers our lives.

Hammers, nails, who the hell cares what the tool is called? The more we hammer, the more we will understand what hammering means for us, and the faster we can show ourselves the way out.

What unique method of hammering can you bring to the nail of your problems?