"Would the world be better off without this?"

As a society, we are overindulged yet malnourished.

We can eat at hundreds of restaurants, but only have a few healthy options.

457 books are published every hour, yet I'd be surprised if more than a few dozen good ones are published in an entire year.

Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki(Studio Ghibli) has an analogy for this phenomenon that I’ve coined the “Flood Paradox”. Here is how he explains it:

“I question, for example, whether it’s necessary for someone to add a bucket of water to a flood, just because it’s particularly good water. However, I can justify doing so by saying that even in the midst of a flood we still need to drink good water once in a while.”

In other words, it’s a problem of perspective and intention. To borrow Miyazaki’s words once more, he explained the power of perspective once by saying that most animators think of films as “just for children” instead of creating great films “for the sake of children”.

Same job, different perspective.

What’s the solution then? Stop creating altogether? Well, if you have something you want to create and you can resist the urge to make it, then it isn’t that important to you. Instead, the Flood Paradox should be an idea you keep in mind whenever you want to create something.

Ask yourself: Would the world be better off without this? Is this “clean drinking water”, or will this simply add to the flood of bad work? 

Let the reality that there is an endless sea of bad work create the focus and intensity necessary to create meaningful and lasting work.