Not every painting I’ve ever painted is remarkable. Not even a mother has patience for the thousandth thoughtless thing. What’s remarkable is something someone shares. Why do people share things? For their own reasons.

It makes them look smart. They think others will laugh too. It makes their point better than they could.

On their own, these images are not remarkable, even though it’s kind of brilliant. A bush can find sun where a redwood fell because a giant cleared the space for it. It is left alone because most creatures won’t climb ten feet to molest it. It has moisture in the trunk because the trunk preserves it. That’s not good enough. It would have to do something for the audience that makes the audience laugh, feel good about themselves, or feel smarter.

If I were to just talk about my work, that’s not very remarkable. If I were to share problems I solved, that’s a little bit remarkable if others have the same problems. If I were to share how other people are succeeding or directly find and solve most-critical issues, that would do it, but only because others want to share something valuable.

I’ll admit it, I seldom think that way. I share because, “oh, that’s cool, I want to be associated with that.” Well, yeah, but that’s like talking to myself in the mirror. I see how cool I look, so here we go. That’s great if all I want to do is reshare what’s already remarkable. But what’s remarkable in my life? What’s going on that could be something people want to talk about or use?

I like how Lisa Ko figured this out in a natural way:

She obsessively made mixtapes that others could listen to. She knew how they would feel listening to those songs. She knew what they meant to her, but also how others might feel. Making something remarkable means making mix tapes for people like me, giving them something they can celebrate about themselves. (She also made an incredible Skillshare that teaches this point better than I am if you want to write remarkable stories.)

My point: what is it going to take to make remarkable work? I’ll have to look at more than just a mirror to figure that out.