Ladders and Ecosystems

You’ve probably heard some ladder language.
It’s a way of framing creativity and business in a way that pits us against each other. Some people are at the top - and others are at the bottom.

Ladder language sounds like -
🪜A grade actor
🪜 B grade film
🪜 Look who you’re up against
🪜 Sending the elevator back down
🪜 I can’t compete with that
🪜 She’s the best in the biz

Ladder language defines who you are in comparison to others, rather than how your work makes others feel and think and move.
Exclusivity. Competition. Ascension.

But creativity isn’t a ladder.
It’s an ecosystem.
A collection of people, gently nudging each other in the direction of growth.
Not always intentionally, but by the nature of the way we are all breathing together.

Breathing in inspiration.
Breathing out art.

A movement in and through.
Not up and down.
Beside, not against.

We learnt a lot of nonsense from the education system. Your final grade in high school is a rank. A number to let you know how many are above you and how many are below. Your happiness or disappointment - relative to the happiness or disappointment of the others. Succeeding only by someone else’s failure. Failing only by someone else’s success. Their good work shouldn’t be your competition, but your inspiration. Their crappy work shouldn’t be a confirmation of your rung on the ladder. Let it all feed you and grow you and pull you and move you.

The good and humbling news is your mistakes and crap work feed the whole too. So often we’re so stuck on ploughing ahead and being ‘the best’, that we neglect to see the power of decomposition. The way the waste can turn to fertiliser for the next big, beautiful thing. The way true humility can give us new perspective on our next grand idea.

There is nothing to be lost. And nothing to be won.
Just feeding and being fed. Moving and being moved.
Planting, growing, shedding and rest.

There’s much more than just upwards and onwards.
There’s inwards and backwards and the lessons of descent.

So next time you’re caught in a ladder mindset, look anywhere but up, and feel the expansion of what’s possible, and what’s beautiful.

{ Character shot: 2017 }