Why I Share Once a Day, Not Once a Week

One of the most common questions I am asked is why and how I share my work every day. I am also asked some variation of this:

"Why don't you work on a larger essay, video, or body of work and post it weekly or monthly instead of daily?”

The short answer is that I’ve tried many versions of this, but it didn't work for me. Breaking down what I'm doing into smaller pieces feels more natural to me, which largely comes as a result of my particular way of being autistic/having ADHD.

However, this can be difficult because I do have a fear of bothering people with my work creating and sharing in smaller portions. As a result of this, I've considered sharing less many times because I don't want to "clog" people's feeds or take up too much of their space. I get very insecure about sharing in this way, even though it feels natural to me.

However, there has been an image that has helped me keep creating amidst all of this: a paintbrush. And here's how that image became important to me:

I came across a quote by the African American sculptor Augusta Savage that struck a chord with me one day while researching her work:

She said, "I have created nothing really beautiful, really lasting, but if I can inspire one of these youngsters to develop the talent I know they possess, then my monument will be in their work."

This quote holds a significant amount of power for me because for Augusta Savage, despite being the only black woman commissioned by the World Fair, Augusta Savage's work was destroyed after the fair in 1939. When you see Savage’s work and think of it being discarded, it is heartbreaking. So to hear her say that she hoped her work lived on through her students has an even deeper meaning. Furthermore, she wasn't just interested in her work living on through “one” special student, but rather a community of students.

This quote helped me reframe the idea of work always needing to be a “product” that will live on in that shape forever. Of course, there are many times when it becomes that, but there are many other times when it doesn't, and that’s okay.

This quote made me realize that sharing my work in small pieces every day can help others learn, even if it's just learning how to be present or taking a deep breath for a few seconds. So even though I don't currently have any students, I see my daily work as something that can help others learn in their own unique way.

I may not be as skilled as Savage in working with clay, plaster, or marble or as “focused” as many others in making weekly or monthly works, but I do use my own tools, such as a paintbrush. It has become a symbolic reminder of the process and a reminder of how I can return to it every day in my own way, and sometimes those little things become books and courses and so much more! However, even when I do that, I typically need help from others to bring those things to life and make them the best they can be. Books need editors, and projects need art directors, and there are so many others that are “needed” for those things, and I am so grateful for that.

And at the same time, on all the other days, I am free to focus on moving along from one little piece to the next in my own non-linear way, and I can embrace that without feeling embarrassed or ashamed of it.

I definitely challenge myself to make larger works like books, and at the same time, the small daily sharing helps me stay with the process.

Each piece of my work is like a brushstroke on a larger canvas that will not be finished until the end of my life. Augusta Savage's words have taught me that letting the work live beyond me in the way it wants to is what matters. And if it ends up being broken up into a million tiny pieces, I am more than okay with that.

So when it comes to the paintbrush, I am seeking to look at it as a form of art itself and not just see it as a means to get to the canvas, but seeing the canvas as a means to make a larger body of work with my life. And sometimes, that may end up looking like a final product of some sort, but a lot of times, it might just look like me being present in my life, and I just happen to have a paintbrush in my hand.

I certainly don’t think that every artist or writer has to have a process like mine. I simply wanted to share in case it was helpful to anyone else struggling to serialize what they do like someone else. There are many different versions of this, and this is only the beginning.

So in those spaces where you have a hard time seeing the larger picture, I hope you can consider the ways in which that might be okay. Of course, that may not always be the case, but perhaps what the paintbrush can teach us is that it is valuable and has meaning even before the final piece is complete. - Morgan Harper Nichols