Lens | Are You Waiting or Creating?

I have spent a collective eight years, three months, seven days, and thirteen minutes waiting for someone else to give me and my projects the green light. Don't quote me on that number, it's a rough estimate. But it's a well-educated guess. As creators, we are often waiting for someone else to say "yes" to our ideas. We wait for editors to respond to pitches, residencies to send us an invitation, collaborators to move a project forward, and the shadowy powers that be to declare when we are finally worthy. Instead of creating, we wait. Instead of declaring, we wait. Instead of adapting, we wait. Because of some small, far-away chance that we might be chosen—maybe that client calls or that assignment is approved or that HR manager remembers you exist—we keep a wide-open calendar. Hey everyone, we say. Can't you see I'm completely available? But there's another way to work. You must create, and focus on what you can control. Regardless of your industry, regardless of the gatekeepers, rega

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• Isamar Vega