This rant is sponsored by the filmmakers and creatives who bombard me with a million and one of their ideas: please shut the fuck up. I mean that in the nicest way possible. It takes a lot of energy to feign interest and I don’t have much of it to spare. There used to be a time when folks would share ideas and it felt less like a chore to listen. To be fair, I used to do it as well. Whenever someone asked me how I was doing I would have verbal diarrhea and tell them all of the projects that I’m working on. Sometimes I slip up and still do it. But I’m starting to realize that it’s asking a lot of the other person. You have so much conviction and enthusiasm towards your project and you’re asking someone else to share it. Most likely, they’re working on their own shit as well. It’s a lot to ask. Again, I’m guilty, guilty of this. So let’s both agree to work on this.

It’s a much more interesting conversation when it’s something to show someone or a site where I can find your work. If the idea is to get me interested, that’s the way to do it. I’ve been trying that out this year and it’s worked wonders. I get a lot more emails back and interest when it’s “check my work at thecynicalowl.com” than trying to run down my resume. Use that energy that you have towards your ideas and complete the project. There’s a handful of folks who tell me their projects constantly, but they never actually finish them. So we’re repeating the same conversation without much updates. It’s annoying. It also makes me want to avoid that person.

I’m a big idea person too. I’ll have a million and one ideas a minute and want to share it with the nearest person. Learning not to. No one really gives a fuck and honestly if there’s no plan to execute than it’ll never leave the idea stage. So I’ve essentially just wasted someone’s time. People start to take you less seriously if you’re always talking about ideas, but never seem to execute any of them.

So no more talking, go out and do it.