The Gist 24: ...and we're back.
Creation for creation's sake.
There is a tendency among creative professionals to get trapped in the cycle of monetization and burnout. In profit-driven societies, any skill or asset must present an opportunity for income, or it lacks ‘value’.
“We have been sold the lie that if we are good at something, we must sell it. But to create for the sake of creation is the only way to remain human in a world of machines.” — Anonymous
In this race to find the right combination of artistic satisfaction and marketability, we lose ourselves. We lose the spark, and we forget to have fun. Joy lies at the center of many of our best creations. I work in horror, so sometimes it’s fear, mortality, paranoia…a limitless exploration of what makes us deeply uncomfortable, but those emotions are authentic, unaltered by the expectations of return on investment.
At the beginning of this month, we acquired new equipment for Gestalt Media and began the first arc of this year. We’re pushing to create visual stories told in ways never seen before. We’re innovating and developing technology that will move beyond our studio to new creators making things we never could have imagined with our designs. I’m excited for this; it brings joy…and for that reason, it has real value.
“Man will begin to recover the moment he takes art as seriously as physics, chemistry, or money.” — Ernst Levy
As 2025 closed, I took the time to really consider what the future should look like and what was sustainable. Most importantly, what do we want to create in this world? Not for profit margins, but what do we need right now? And those answers will drive our decisions in 2026 and beyond. But I also found the opportunity to play.
As a 41-year-old, the idea of play frequently escapes me. I feel guilty. I should be working. I should be meeting deadlines. I should be delivering finished products to people who are waiting to take them on to their next stages…and those things are true, but we work in art. We make our living in a field that defines what it is to be uniquely human, and if we can’t remember what that is, if we can’t embrace the beauty of being these odd little upright apes that make funny noises and smear color on the walls…why are we doing it? I think when we stop being spiritually free and exploring creation and curiosity for the sake of it, without letting our minds roam free, it becomes a selfish endeavor.
All of us need to survive, and we make that deal with society to create things that can be traded for food and shelter but if we forget to nurture our inner light and step away now and then to rekindle that flame, our work risks being soulless, uninformed, and hollow. Even worse, we risk losing ourselves somewhere inside a system that wasn’t designed for us. One that shouldn’t exist in a civilized world. And we are there, so Gestalt Media will continue creating new stories and experiences that we think appeal to our audience and will keep us in business for years to come. Many of these stories I am so excited to share, I can barely stand it. But…I hope we all will remember to turn off those screens, put down those brushes, set aside the notebooks, and step outside, now and then. Walk barefoot in the grass (once it thaws), sit with a cup of coffee, and contemplate. If you’re like me, maybe watch some horror movies while doing puzzles of the posters from horror movies…whatever gets you going, really. We work because we have to. It’s the world we live in. But we can’t forget to actually live. Whatever that looks like for you, I hope you find it today.
All my best,
Jason
The Gist:
"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." — John Keating (Robin Williams)