[3/30] Craftsmanship

I’ve been told to learn from others.

I’ve also been told to trust myself, don't listen to the haters.

But the market decides what's valuable, not you.

Also, you need to put content out to educate people because they don't know what they want.

It's all very confusing.

The Stoics teach us to rely on our own judgment, to not be swayed by the masses. But biology and history remind us that straying too far from the group once meant death. The internet gave us a way out. A way to be different and still find a place to belong just not always in our immediate circle.

So, after a very confusing few years. My new way of operating it so hold both truths.

That we _can_ trust ourselves, and still learn how to make things that others find valuable. That every time we produce something, it's a negotiation on what's valuable. It's negotiating with the world (the audience, the market, managers, etc.) on what valuable actually means. That maybe what I have to offer has some flaws but it's still valuable because it has other things people hasn't seen before.

The best metaphor I can think of is the blacksmith.

A master of his craft. He knows how to make sharp and lasting swords. He sells them to the village. People use his swords and some times they break. Maybe it's a flaw, maybe it's mishandled.

The blacksmith doesn’t assume he’s wrong. But he doesn’t dismiss the feedback either. He investigates. He looks for gaps in his method. He listens to people but he trusts himself too.

He doesn’t just give the customer what they ask for. He makes something better. Because he’s the blacksmith and he knows better.

That's craftsmanship to me. The idea that we can produce good work, take in feedback, and still let our instincts lead the way.

I like this way of thinking about my own work. But it's hard to do sometimes when you have people screaming how wrong you are. But it's about trusting yourself that you will do the right thing, even when you're wrong.