Finding My Path to Creative Happiness for 2025 and Beyond.
I finally found what I'm looking for!
Creatives are an interesting bunch.
We enjoy gifts and abilities other people marvel at and wish they could possess, but these talents are often dismissed by us because they come too easy. So we don’t value what we can do, ignoring the belief we have something worthwhile to offer the world.
We struggle with how to use our talents in a meaningful way, leading us on a long search for enlightenment, desperately seeking answers about doing what we love while never actually doing what we love.
We figure out the answers to happiness have been in front of us all along, but our insanity of overanalyzing everything keeps us from pursuing the dream we’ve had in our hearts from the very beginning.
We decide to ignore what we should do and what brings us joy because the same people who coveted our abilities now tell us our dreams are stupid and we’ll never make a living from our craft.
We live with a deep sadness and regret while walking a path that was never intended for us to walk. All the creativity we hoped to unleash into the world gets bottled up and buried in a dark place, never to be seen again.
Then we die.
Maybe you’re different though. Perhaps you’ve been fortunate enough to not experience these types of tragedies in life as a creative person. Be thankful.
But for me, this has been my life from the beginning.
I knew from a very early age that I was different, unique, and talented. This was made very clear by the kids who marveled at my abilities to draw whatever I wanted and who always paid me for my art — as well as the teachers who constantly punished me for using those talents instead of applying myself to the academic studies.
My journey as a creative person has not been an easy one!
While I’ve been blessed to have achieved a high level of success in my career as an artist and designer, despite being told I’d never make anything of my life many times, I still feel the pain of regret and sorrow.
And I finally figured out why.
When I was sixteen, my creative pursuits started to take off like a rocket. I was customizing t-shirts, Levis 501s, and Chuck Taylor All-Stars with Sharpie pens and an airbrush. The artwork was all hand-drawn, very eclectic and psychedelic, and highly inappropriate for today’s cultural standards. Fellow students and friends ate it up. And they offered to pay me great money to do their own clothing.
I never intended to launch a business. I just wanted to express myself.
This dynamic changed everything!
My ability to design what others wanted me to do has made me money since the fourth grade and I’m very grateful for this. But it’s also come with a high price.
When a creative gives up what’s in their heart to create, in exchange for what other people desire and pay for, their soul begins to die. It’s often a commercial exchange that only benefits the buyer.
Selling your art for someone’s approval is much different than selling your art because someone loved it.
Don’t get me wrong.
If you make a great living using your talents to please other’s needs, it’s something to be thankful for because many creatives never make money from their abilities.
Yet it can be a double edged sword that harms you.
Like it’s done to me.
For the last 30 years, I’ve been consumed with chasing the money. Every decision, every project, every idea has been about financial gain. My relationship with creativity hasn’t been about freedom of expression but return on investment.
And it’s fucked me up.
We all need to make a living and do things we dislike, but creatives need to continually express themselves freely in the best way they know how. We need to create from our hearts or the happiness inside us will fade away.
Sadly, capitalism is a big reason some of the most talented artists and musicians of all time ended up manic depressive, addicted to drugs and alcohol, or lost their lives from accidental overdose or suicide.
These legends were unhappy because they gave up their true love in exchange for commercial success, often doing only what the galleries or record labels wanted them to do. For them, creativity was no longer about their passion, but being trapped in a prison. And they paid a high price for it.
My hope is getting back to more of what I love to do.
Going forward into the future.
I’ve really come to understand over the last few days that what I thought I wanted isn’t what I really desired at all.
I don’t want to be an entrepreneur, I want to be a creator.
I don’t want to manufacture a brand, I want to be the brand.
I don’t want to follow others, I want to walk my own path.
I don’t want to write for likes, I want to write for impact.
I don’t want to chase money, I want to chase my dreams.
All the conventional business experts have indoctrinated us to believe we should follow the standard entrepreneurial path, where profits and growth are the key metrics to being successful. We’re told we should sacrifice everything so we can build an empire or get a Shark Tank investor.
I think that’s all bullshit now and I’m tired of it!
What I remembered from my early days was the incredible joy of pouring my heart and soul into a project, not because I was getting paid, but because it truly mattered and was meaningful to me. When people appreciated that work along side of me, that was the reward.
I want to feel that again.
Our success shouldn’t be measured by the amount of dollars in the bank or how many subscribers we have, but by producing great work that’s created from the heart and what matters to us intrinsically.
It’s time to move forward from the entrepreneurial mindset to the creative one.
Sharing these thoughts with you feels like a huge relief and brings a smile to my face.
Finally.
Why Am I Doing What I’m Doing?
In my post, Where Do I Go from Here, I shared some quotes from
post that motivated me to answer this question.Here’s what I wrote in my journal:
Writing is how I love to express myself. I enjoy sharing my ideas, perspectives, success, failures, and experiences with others. I desire to be a great storyteller who inspires others to live their best lives. I want to help people figure their shit out so they can feel free and at peace.
I also must get all of these ideas and stories out of my head so I can feel my own happiness and sense of purpose. Yes, I want to earn a living from my abilities and craft, but it’s killing my soul to not unleash my creativity into the world.
The people I can best connect with and help based on my own experiences in life are other creatives and solopreneurs – people who have ideas and dreams they want to pursue but don’t know how to do it.
It’s as honest and real as I can be.
As selfish as it might sound, my purpose is writing for myself first because this is the cornerstone to my happiness. I can no longer worry about the results and whether I’ll get likes, comments, or subscribers. I must share what’s in my heart.
But I know this.
When anyone writes or creates from their heart, it is a beautiful gift that benefits others as well. Someone, somewhere, will find it and benefit from it. And I believe my experiences will also help other creatives and solopreneurs.
I think it’s a win-win.
Hello. I’m James Dalman.
As someone who has spent a majority of my career creating, building, growing, and managing brands, I understand the power of branding. It’s a fascinating topic and something I fell in love with.
Yet we can also waste an infinite amount of time worrying about getting it right.
After years of buying hundreds of domain names (that I’m now selling) and making constant changes to build something perfect that everyone will appreciate, I’m officially done! It’s been an exhausting pursuit driven, again, by what all the experts have told us to do.
I just want to be myself for a change, the creative person I was meant to be. Maybe I’ll even go back to using the name “Jimmy” like I used as a kid.
As for the design thinking part of this publication …
It doesn’t matter to me anymore to have a tagline or newsletter name, but people often need to understand at a glance what you’re all about, right?
Design thinking is a practice I’ve used most of my life to solve problems whether it was for professional or personal needs. It’s an ability that helped me look at things from different perspectives to come up with a better solution.
But I really like this definition found via Google.
Design thinking is connecting with the people you're sharing your idea with by crafting a story that focuses on the big idea.
The big idea here is that we can all design the business or life we dream of. This is the DNA of who I am and how I can best help myself and others.
So there you have it.
Thank you for reading!
I want to say how much I appreciate all of you who have connected with me, inspired me, and continued to read my work despite all the changes. It’s all been such a crazy ride to figure things out but now I feel at peace.
This year I have a plan and a new path for creative happiness. I’m working on a content calendar and a better way to share a lifetime of experiences.
Let us thrive together!
Thanks for reading. Stay warm and safe. Enjoy your day.
Rock ‘n’ roll, Jimmy! I love reading this piece from your heart. I can’t wait to see where you go.