projects are not mirrors
I'm reading Nicolas Shakespeare's biography on Bruce Chatwin. Relevant observations include how he became a better writer by running out of money, abandoning his long term project, and taking up a journalism job where he had a word count and a deadline every week.
It's wonderful to take on complicated projects because we are complicated ourselves. It affirms us. We think "Only something of this magnitude is worth putting everything into." The days are more dramatic, there is a rush for taking this on. The extreme projects gene is happy.
The smaller projects seem expendable, but they are sneaky in this way. Their simplicity allows you to do your best work. And that is definitely nontrivial.