By Donald Dodson of Dodson Designs

I had been living the apocalypse for the last three days or so. Don’t worry, it’s not what you think.

On a Friday afternoon, I was working a costume build for a Post-Apocalyptic-themed photo shoot. It was a period filled with long hours and frantic creation under a time crunch. Half-formed ideas were brought to reality sometimes by sheer force of will and stubbornness. We literally created items out of stuff laying on the floor and in scrap bins. It should have been grueling and stressful, but ya know, it wasn’t!

It was a creative free-for-all. In part, it was the genre, and in part, I had fewer constraints. The best part was my imagination was allowed to wander and cobble together anything I wanted.

The Post-Apocalyptic genre is like the Mad Max movies or the game Fallout, you are scavenging. It was creative problem-solving for a purpose.

Consider it, practical arts, if you will. I got to repurpose items into new and not-so-new uses. Fabricate new things and make them look old and beaten (like me, LOL).

Then I had the added privilege of wearing my gear on the shoot in addition to getting a lot of positive affirmation for my efforts the next day and in follow-up posts from the photographers. For an artist, that is immensely gratifying.

This isn’t about a newfound creative love affair with a genre. Nope (okay, maybe a little).

Photo Notes: Note, I created my costume from old clothes repurposed, dyed, and distressed as well as the gear I am wearing. The license plate is from my first car. The other models who are all creatives in their own right made much of their own stuff, too.

It’s about doing the right thing for you, your creative business, and your overall vision. In my case, it’s a reminder of my passion to create! THIS is what I am damned good at and THIS is what I was meant to do! That my friend is an incredible feeling. It goes beyond a mere positive mindset. It’s that feeling deep in your gut that screams, “This is my purpose!”

When your purpose, business, and vision are aligned then you can be unstoppable! Everything just makes more sense.

Now, if you DON’T feel that way about your business, then you need to reassess what you are doing. I mean it! Too often, people are in business for what seems like the right reasons, but realistically in the long term, they aren’t sustainable and are likely to cause resentment.

So, get out there and find your purpose.

Photo credits: Chad Harnish Christian Levens. Badass energy blade weapon builds Will Fernekees.