When Chase Jarvis appeared as a guest on Lewis Howes’, “School of Greatness” podcast, Chase referenced the work of Ira Glass and the concept of closing our “Creative gap.” Who is Ira Glass I immediately asked? Because I am constantly curious, I decided to look into his work. Ira Glass happens to be a radio personality as well as the host and producer of, “This American Life.” One of the first videos that I decided to check out is a video that I came across on Vimeo entitled, “The Gap.”

The Gap is shot by visual storyteller, Daniel Sax and was inspired by David Shiyang Liu who created his own version back in June of 2011. Both of these videos were created using the audio from Ira’s interview with Current TV. In his interview, Ira discusses the creative process behind the art of storytelling.

What interests me the most about Ira’s piece on storytelling is that it addresses the creative process throughout all of it’s stages. For example, when we initially begin to create, what we actually create rarely yields a good product in the beginning. However, as a beginner at anything in life, we usually have a particular taste or vision that we’re looking to fulfill. The space between our ideal taste and the fulfillment of that taste is what Ira calls, “The Gap.”

When it comes to closing our creative gap, it requires a few key components. The one major and most important component entails not quitting. Our creative process can certainly take a while. It may take 5 years, 10 years, or possibly even 20 years before we begin to see the fruits of our labor. Despite this, we must get over the phase and possibility of creative disappointment. It will happen. The good news is however, it will not last forever.

Creative disappointment is totally normal. The most important thing that we can do is produce a large volume of work. “It’s only by going through a large volume of work that we’re actually able to catch up and close the gap” says Ira. “When this happens, the work that we create will be as good as our ambitions.” Until we achieve our ambitions, and even when we achieve our ambitions, we must keep fighting!

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(Uh • Kway • Us) Aquaus Kelley is a forward-thinking Brand Strategist, Cultural Curator, and Educator. As the Founder of A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group, he specializes in identifying talent and creating opportunities for brand development, exposure, and growth. Aquaus has worked with companies and organizations such as Behind The Hustle, Cornerstone Agency, City Year Miami, and W Hotels. He is extremely passionate about bridging the gap and building value between brands, communities, and culture. His ultimate mission is to use his influence to project positivity across the globe and invest in the collective future of society through the arts, education, entertainment, and leadership.