You know Patton Oswalt, even if you don’t know you know him. From ‘King of Queens’ to the voice of Remy in ‘Ratatouille’ to the exec producer of ‘I’ll be Gone in the Dark,’ Oswalt has enjoyed a robust, fulfilling creative career spanning four decades.
And yet, for all his success Oswalt is very open about his vulnerabilities and that’s why I’ve always enjoyed listening to him talk. Here in this OffCameraShow clip, he discusses what amounts to Patton Oswalt’s Masterclass on Positivity and Creativity. He steps you through the internal pain that creative people face and some of the roadblocks you must overcome to achieve positivity and creativity:
I transcribed some of what he said for your convenience. I love this particular piece of insight: “You get that voice, and then they’ve won. So all the times that you keep doubting yourself what you’re doing is you’re letting some dull, uncreative, uncourageous person in your past win … there are people that will inspire you and help you along, but for as many of those people that you meet, you’ll also meet people going ‘No, it doesn’t work that way.’ You can choose to internalize either voice, and sometimes you don’t get to control what voice wins on which day.”
I felt this so hard. All my life, I’ve wrestled with those same internal voices, sometimes external, that attempt to spare you from that same pain or embarrassment. It’s never worked out for me, and I’ve never been more depressed when I let them win. It’s not just about saying “Get lost” to those voices, though. Oswalt makes another point that I want to share with you:
“You’ve got to find ways to keep yourself healthy, mentally and physically, to give a better playing field to the positive voices rather than the negative voices.” Self care, people – it’s the foundation you pour before you start laying the bricks of personal expression. A better playing field by no means guarantees success, of course, but what he’s saying here is ‘give yourself a fighting chance.’
Hope you enjoyed Patton Oswalt’s Masterclass on Positivity and Creativity as much as I did. I really appreciate how honest and open Patton Oswalt’s been about this part of his life. His struggles and victories make me feel like I can struggle and win, too. That’s something I’m very grateful for.
