Is This Anything?

and other questions we ask when the work gets quiet..

Jul 23, 2025

There’s a question that shows up almost every time I create something that matters to me.

Sometimes it sneaks in early... just as I’m sketching something down that feels like a ‘maybe.’ Other times, it waits until I’m deep in the work. In the reaching out to other creatives, the voice memos, the three files named “final_final_thisone.”

But eventually, it asks:
“Is this anything?”
Is this worth finishing?
Is. This. Worthy?

It’s not loud. It’s not cruel. It just sits there… waiting. And some days it feels louder than the idea itself.

But the more I talk to other artists, the more I realize: We all ask this. Even the ones who seem certain. Even the ones making beautiful things, consistently. We ask it not because we’re lost, but because we care.

Because we can feel the gap between the vision in our hearts and the mess on the page.

That tension? It’s not a problem. It’s proof the work still matters to us.

We don’t talk enough about how much fighting goes into creating something gentle. How much resistance can show up in the quiet. It doesn’t always shout. Sometimes it just shows up as tiredness. Or distraction. And those emotions suddenly s p i r a l into a questioning of it all. 😅 (Let’s not talk about how fast we can go from feeling a little off… to convincing ourselves that maybe we were never good at this to begin with. A three-act internal drama starring… us. 🎭)

There are days when I feel like I’m dragging myself through the fog JUST to get a *glimpse* of what I felt at the beginning. Days where I open the same file twelve times and close it again because it doesn’t feel like anything yet. Days when I feel left behind.

But.

I’m learning (slowly, gently) that doubt is not a signal to stop. It’s part of the process of staying. Staying in the room. Staying with the idea. Staying with ourselves, even when it feels easier to check out.

And maybe that’s the real work:

Not just finishing. But staying long enough to let the doubt be there without letting it decide everything. That maybe, JUST MAYBE, those feelings are… data and not destiny.

What if we keep going, not because we’re sure… but because we’re still curious? That’s been saving me lately. Letting curiosity carry me when confidence doesn’t show up.