Genius is a myth

We all have stupid, unfinished projects that we don’t talk about. 

All the musicians you love have a voice memos app full of songs they don’t want anybody to hear. All the artists you love have sketchbooks full of pieces they hope you never see. All the writers and photographers and directors you admire have tons of work that isn’t very good. 

But for some reason, when we stumble on our old work, we get discouraged. When we see art we created years ago, we get embarrassed. Seeing it makes us afraid to share art today. 

Maybe the difference between you and the artists you admire is not any inherent gifting or genius. Maybe the difference is they see old work as proof they’ve gotten better—while you see old work as a reason to not create new work. 

Is genius is a myth? Is being prolific the only way to be good?