GABBERISSUE #23: GUILT
Words by Rhiannon Crane
GIF by Mike Jones, concept by Rhiannon
After putting together this issue of Gabberish I’ve become acutely aware of how the sting of guilt can manifest in very unique and difficult ways for everyone. And when it comes to our industry, our collective reasons behind being guilt-prone are extensive. We feel guilty about not doing enough and guilty about doing too much. Guilty for not winning awards. Or for winning awards for the wrong reasons. Guilty for working on brands we don’t believe in. And guilty for not trying hard enough on the boring briefs. We feel friend guilt. Parental guilt. Political guilt. Environmental guilt. We all feel guilt in our own personal way yet somehow it’s that knowledge that brings us together and makes this yucky human feeling easier to deal with.
For me, when it comes to work, I feel the guiltiest when I'm working for brands that I don’t believe in, or that I don’t think are ‘good’ brands to work for. It’s an overwhelming guilt I feel for having both knowledge and tools at my fingertips and not doing enough good with them.
This is guilt that stems from a core belief that as creative thinkers, our value and our values are intrinsically linked.
I believe we must consider how we personally align with the brands we create content for and think about the things we want to impact and the world we’re contributing to. We are only cogs in a machine if we choose to be.
The contributors to this issue have explored some of the triggers and management methods to what keeps them up at night with niggling (or persistent) guilt. You may relate to all or none of these (that’d be nice), but we all know in our own way what guilt is and where it comes from in our lives and industry. Suffice to say, feeling guilty while working in advertising is pretty damn normal and I hope that this issue can help in some way towards silencing those guilty thoughts when they do arise.
This month's Gift of the Gabberer is Jim Ritchie, founder of creative company US+US. We discuss the guilt involved with winning and not winning awards, and how if guilt’s a motivator then it’s the wrong kind of motivation.
Rob Beamish, founder of activist organisation Rouser, speaks about life sort-of-on-the-other-side of advertising. We discuss the ethics of our industry and the impending doom of the planet.
Reformed spendaholic Emma Edwards, creator of blog and social community The Broke Generation, speaks about the guilt associated with earning money by educating people on how to be better with money.
Creative team Ben and Michelle have written apology letters to each other to alleviate some of their guilt.
Multiple hat wearing creative/writer/activist/mama Mareka Stake reflects on the guilt associated with her greatest ever creative products – her children.
Alyana Kunitake reminds us of the importance of easing guilt by embracing our guilty pleasures – whatever they may be.
Max Bengtsson talks about where guilt comes from and why it exists in all of us.
Lydia Burrows writes about creative guilt, advice she's received in the past and how she’s learnt to be kinder to herself when dealing with this aversive emotion.
Motion designer, Jerry Scott, shows us how the guilt of one job can become a moment of creative reflection in another.
Thinkerbell’s creative Elsa Caruso shares her thoughts on taking time off when you need it and learning to be selfish.
For a myriad of personal and unpredictable reasons this issue is late. So it is with a great deal of you know what, that I present you with the Gabber of guilt.
A huge thanks to all contributors for discussing something that we all generally try to avoid and thanks to the fantastic Siobhan, enjoy.
