Beyond competitions

I have made a decision not to participate in any future competition beside donation of prizes to them. Not because I couldn't win, which prove many times if I stop fooling around and get real, I can pack serious punches with my experience. But time changed. I have wisen up to learn that contests and competitions actually slow down my creativity and not adding healthy thoughts to my composition.

Here are the problems:

Competitions required exhausting stress to reach deadlines
Competitions forced your creativity in tunneled conditions, therefore no free thoughts of your own.
Competitions created selfishness, arrogance, hatred and divisive among friends.
Competitions are byproduct of capitalism self-indoctrinated false of bootstrapping.

I'm a practicioner of open learning, freethought and non-hierarchical creativity. I see competition is just another chains that limit my creativity.

Example of music created in completely free-of-competition environment:

Mutual Aid

I Fight For The Users

Walkaway

The Extraordinary Liberator

Affinity

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EMBL3M 2018-08-08 19:52:45

Then again, competition can be used as a motivator. Especially if there are themes to what you create. It's key to look at it not as a chain holding you down, but a guide pushing you forward to try new things and experiment a little. If you look at it that way, it's fun. If you don't, it's just tedious.
Also, having a little competition between friends is good sometimes ;) expecting that not to happen is a little too idealistic, my friend.

zybor 2018-08-08 19:52:45

Themes are limitations and rules imposed so you can fool yourself into doing the same thing over and over again.

Competitions caused ripple and hatred between friends. If it wasn't for NGADM drama, PeterSatera and SoundChris would not leave NG. If it wasn't for the same drama, Troisnyx would still participating in it. If it wasn't for competitions that showed our difference, I would still be friend with Samulis. I could have participated in 2016 8Dio Stand Out, but a friend of mine, Phonometrologist was a participant, and I chose to step out even I knew clearly I had great chance in the contest. And finally, Make Arma Not War, I participated into without knowingly that ForgottenDawn also participated, and this created some difficulty between us whenever we discussed about. My entry won, his did not.

My MANW project, Arma 3 Resist: http://makearmanotwar.com/entry/g0Y3lPei2x
ForgottenDawn MANW project, Green Draw: http://makearmanotwar.com/entry/0gKapy8KQ8

(I couldn't live with this guilt so I introduced ForgottenDawn to take over future projects by Scott Alsworth, Resist's director who now works for Bohemia Interactive)

There, you see, contests and competitions are bullshit that people fooled themselves into. That's what self control is about

NyanaCreation 2018-08-09 19:16:43

i think it depends on how you look at it. i understand your point of few but @AndoGDTunes has also a point. for me i did it once and it pushed me to try out some new things. even if i didn't win i was happy. i also did it once with a friend and i was supporting them and it didn't break me appart it just gave me more spirit. but i agree that it can break friendships as well what sucks. but a competition isn't created from capitalisme from what i know. (i could be wrong you can show me the facts then) but anyway competitions don't always have a price and it's about seeing how people can be creative with a theme in mind. but what people forget is that there always good and bad things about stuff so that counts for a compition as well. if something like that destroys something dear or limits you i understand why you don't do it. it isn't a reason to stop others if they enjoy it. i just hope you can see that to. anyway i hope you can find creativity in so many other things as well and i wanted to wish you luck in creating your future works ^^

zybor 2018-08-09 19:16:43

I'm indifferent when I won a contest or not. Why? Because it doesn't benefit me either way. It doesn't upgrade my knowledge, experience or skill. I have found that contests restrict my imaginative power and once I stop participating in any contest, my creativity increased tenfold. I taught myself music not from meritocratic education but actual self-aware and humble learning methods.

The problem with competitive mindset is that it creates the insecurity of your own whenever people get better than you, and you will be conditioned to mimic people's merits, thus you have no freethoughts of your own.

I am completely free of these chains.

AceMantra 2018-08-11 13:28:49

Competitions help me because they set deadlines I have to meet. Most of the time my songs never see the light of day because I almost never finish them. I struggle meeting personal deadlines because I feel like it's no big deal if I let myself down. When someone else sets a deadline however, suddenly I have to meet it because I can't let other people down. It's complicated.

zybor 2018-08-11 13:28:49

I was drunk af when written those previous replies so I had thrown some people off with my cynicism. But I should have respected their opinions. I mean, like Hans Zimmer always says: whatever works, work! Everyone have their own strategy and tactic to deal with creative's block and develop or improvise their creativity.