Better than yesterday

On jealousy, competition, and the drive to create

For today's paid subscribers story, I share a few thoughts on what it means to make better. ~JRC 

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Just this morning, jealousy reared its ugly head. 

My son and I were watching a recent episode of Adam Savage's Tested on YouTube. Adam (of Mythbusters fame) was doing a show-and-tell on a set of Phil Tippett-designed tauntaun maquettes from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (you can see the maquettes at Regal Robot here). Tauntauns are those bipedal animals from Hoth, ridden by Han and Luke as they traversed this snow-covered planet. And Phil Tippett is the genius creator behind these and many other fantastic creatures in the original Star Wars trilogy (as well as a director and Oscar and Emmy Award-winning visual effects supervisor and producer).

This Tested episode was basically a skillful maker sharing his praise for another gifted creator. 

And I felt somehow less. 

This is not Phil Tippett’s tauntaun design (it’s my attempt at replicating it).

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The feeling - that uncomfortable pang of jealousy - only lasted a brief moment. I was mainly in awe of Tippett's designs and, as always, engaged by Savage's commanding presence on camera. My son and I enjoyed the episode immensely, and I mostly walked away inspired. But still, there was that instant where I wished I could sculpt, narrate, and overall create as well as either of these two masters. And that feeling got me thinking about how and why I make and what - really and truly - is my goal in creating.