April 19, 2012

Why you need to embrace all of your passions

Everyone knows someone who can slam dunk a basketball, kick a field goal, and serve an ace all with relative ease. It’s the same for the creative arts. Most creatives fall into the category of multi-talented individuals. We can play three or four different instruments and we can knit, crochet, and embroider with skill. A painter enjoys gardening, an actor masters arias, and a dancer can sculpt a mean tea cup.

So why don’t more people embrace their multiple talents? Why don’t we see dancers sculpting tea cups after their performances?

The problem lies in the fact that everyone constantly tells us we can only focus on one thing. We need to find our strength and stick with it. We need to find our niche and dig in. We can be a master of one trade or a jack of none (or however that silly phrase goes).

But is that how you were as a child?

My mother can tell you that I split my days between the important tasks of tooting on the recorder, drawing masterpieces in crayon, building terrariums for caterpillars that never made it into butterflies, and doing impersonations of Tom Brokaw (please don’t ask).

So if we are multi-talented as young children (or at the very least multi-passionate – because believe me, I had no talent at the recorder or at butterflies), why are we afraid to embrace that in our work? Why do colleges dislike people (like me) who pursue more than one degree?

Why are we told we can’t be amazing at two things – only one?

A few months back I had this itch to embroider. It was such a silly desire because the last time I had sewn, I was 12 and my grandma was teaching me how to make day-of-the-week tea towels. Besides, I was an illustrator! I didn’t have time to sew! And if I did have time, there was no point because it wouldn’t bring in money and wouldn’t I be better off bringing in food money?

Well, the itch turned into a nag and finally I caved. I stitched one of my illustrations onto a piece of fabric and posted a picture on my blog, feeling entirely stupid about sharing it. Within hours, my blog lit up! Everyone wanted to know how they could sew their own!

I had inadvertently created a new product line by following a whim. That itch, founded on one of my other passions, now brings in a whole field of new customers to my shop. I’ve added a new medium to my work, going from paper to cloth. Plus, they allow me to take routine breaks from my drawing and entertain my other love. But the best part is that these patterns and kits allow people to interact with my drawings on a much deeper level.

Pretty good for a whim, right?

If I had listened to that fear of wasting time and potentially losing money, I never would have created my embroidery line. (And I wouldn’t have given my grandmother something to share with her quilting circle.)

So if you love more than one thing, embrace it!

If you hear a little voice telling you to coach, to sing, to dance, to paint, to make tea cups, LISTEN! You never know where it could lead you.

Just please, for your family’s sake, leave the recorder to the kids. My brother investigated and there is no such thing as a professional recordist.

Filed Under: creativity, Plot Notes Tagged With: , , , , , , , 13 Comments
March 6, 2012

No Maybe About It: The Truth About Making Things Happen

This is a guest post by Kelly Diels.

jane austen card by yardia - click for info

Maybe you’re an artist. Maybe you’re an artisan. Maybe you’re a writer (or you want to be).

Yes, let’s say you’re a writer.

(Because even if you’re an artist, entrepeneur, and crafter, you also need to be a writer. Your online world demands it. It demands About Pages and bios and blog posts. And it demands good ones.)

So maybe you’re a writer. (No maybe about it.) Maybe you share space with your family. Maybe space is tight. Maybe the only place with space to write is the teeny-tiny desk at the centre of an itsy-bitsy living room.

(Maybe this sounds like your place? I know it sounds like mine.)

And maybe people – your family, their friends, your friends – are coming and going, coming and going, coming and going.

Maybe it’s hard to concentrate.

No maybe about it.

So maybe you’d be forgiven for thinking that finishing your magnum opus – or starting it! – is impossible in these conditions.

Maybe you need your own space…preferably a well-appointed, well-lit, well-equipped workspace NOT populated by other creatures who share strands of your DNA. A quiet space. A space without a phone to ring when your boss wants you to work an extra shift. Because of course in this fantasy space, you don’t have a job. Or a boss. Or distractions. Or bills to pay, kids and cats to feed, and a spouse and laundry to do.

(Strike the second-to-last item from that list. Maybe doing that will help with your creative life.)

(And your relationship.)

(And…everything.)

(No maybe about it.)

And maybe then, maybe when conditions – space, quiet, equipment, money, time, full-body bliss – are ideal, you’ll create. You’ll produce. You’ll make. You’ll make a living.

And maybe angels are singing and the sun is shining and a kitten just slid down a rainbow and handed you a cupcake with a cheque for a million dollars signed by a team of unicorns.

Because they exist. Just like those fantastic conditions for creativity.

But nobody can be expected to create under these circumstances. Your circumstances. The worry about money. What other people will think. The lack of time. The cramped conditions. The crappy tools. The absolute absence of privacy. The demands of family and friends. A society largely hostile to your artistic aspirations.

No, nobody could make masterpieces under those circumstances.

Except maybe Jane Austen.

She did it because she kept doing it. She kept writing and write she did: she wrote Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park and Emma and Northanger Abbey and Persuasion at a small desk in a small living room in a small house on a small budget with an even smaller amount of social support. Like, no social support at all…other than perhaps some paternalistic pats on the head. Because she was a lady-writer, y’all! And ladies weren’t writers and writers weren’t ladies!

But genteel Jane Austen was a fighter.

Every artist needs to be a fighter.

And in every fight, your first adversary is not your circumstances. Your enemy is the fantasy that you need any special tool, course, or course of action other than your talent, practice, and perseverance. Your enemy is the fantasy that you need to make a dramatic change – quit your job, get a studio, get rich – to make anything at all.

Your enemy is the fantasy that maybe one day the conditions for creativity will be ideal. And maybe then you’ll get started.

But maybe the conditions for creativity will never be ideal.

And maybe you can do it anyway.

No maybe about it.

—————

Kelly DielsKelly Diels likes to do it. She’s a wildly hire-able copywriter (bios, About Pages, blog posts, oh my!) and the literary incarnation of Mae West…if Mae West moved to the suburbs, gained baby weight that is now school-age, wrote a feisty blog (Cleavage, it’s a sexy word that means more than you might think), and taught online artists, entrepreneurs and provocateurs how to write. Well.

Filed Under: creating action, guest posts, Plot Notes Tagged With: , , , , , , 35 Comments
March 5, 2012

art to inspire: on feeling out of focus

Focus (photograph by Laura Evans)

Do you ever feel like things are out of focus? Like you just can’t see the bigger picture or know where to go from here?

Don’t panic! This happens to loads of other people too. In fact, it is a topic that has been popping up a lot lately in my own group of friends (bloggers and creatives in the community), which is why I wanted to talk about it today.

The truth is, you don’t have to have it all figured out.

There is bound to be a moment of struggle, confusion, or lack of clarity here and there. That is okay.

You just need to know how to get back on track once those “out of focus” feelings start to hit. Here are my tips for getting back on track + into focus…

I Write ACEO print by Flourish Cafe

Organize your thoughts: You’d be surprised how much clarity will come from simply writing things down. Use your paper and pencil as a dumping ground for everything that’s been stuck in your head lately. Once you have it on the page, it will be much easier to examine with an open mind.

Rain Simplicity by Shabby Studios

Don’t forget that every day is a new start: Often times, uncertainty is sparked by a setback – something that recently happened that had a negative result. So try to remember that each day is a fresh start, a new opportunity to “get it right.” Leave yesterday’s pitfalls in the past and start anew.

Old Desk Phone original painting by Alice Flynn

Phone a friend: Remember when you were in high school and you had a problem? What did you do? You either walked downstairs and dished with your mom over a bowl of ice cream OR you called up your best friend and chatted for an hour and a half about what was bothering you. No matter what route you choose, you’ll always feel a little better after talking things out with someone with a listening ear.

Never Stop Creating print by Wonder Forest

Never stop creating: And finally, never stop creating. Don’t ever let a lack of certainty stop you from doing the things that you hold most dear. Sometimes the best medicine for feeling out of focus is to just keep on. You’ll get where you are meant to be one of these days. But you can’t get to the other side of the road without putting one foot in front of the other.

Have your own thoughts on focus to share?

Leave your response in the comments below.

Filed Under: art to inspire, brittni {paper n stitch}, Buy You, For You Tagged With: , , , , , , 8 Comments
February 22, 2012

The Balance: Flexibility vs. Routine

image from Heidi Stock Digi Design

Working from home is awesome.

You can hop out of bed (or not!) and be at work in seconds. No long commute for you!

You’re close to your kettle, your fridge, your TV, your bed, your couch, possibly your significant other and children, your pets…

In short, you’re close to all the things that make life relaxing and sweet, but that can also distract the heck out of you!

Those of you who have a ‘regular’ job (or those of us who remember what it’s like) will know that having a J-O-B brings with it a certain routine. You have to get up at the same time, get showered/dressed/fed. You have an external force that drives the shape of your day.

There’s a certain rigidity to this, sure – but there’s also a certain sense of peace that comes with routine. You don’t have to make the decision to get up, dressed, and out the door anew each day – it’s just something you do. A habit.

For those of us who work at home (and especially those of us without kids to organise), it can be a real struggle to create this same sense of routine in our lives.

Part of the joy of working from home is that we don’t have to adhere to routine. We have a sweet, endless sense of flexibility to our day. If we want to brush off work and go for a bike ride, we can. If we want to sleep in, we can. If we want to have an impromptu 3-hour lunch with a friend, there’s nothing stopping us.

However, within this flexibility lurks the danger of laziness. No one but us is making us work/get up/exercise/answer those emails.

Spending every day in this flexible state can end up resulting in feelings of stress and overwhelm, where we just jump from one task to the other without any sense of calming daily structure.

I know I’ve struggled with this a lot in my own life; when I don’t impose some sort of routine on myself, it all just turns into a bit of a hot mess.

I asked my fellow creatives how they cope with this – to share one core routine or ‘keystone moment’ in their day that helps them to stay focussed and feel in control.

The existence of this constant balancing act between flexibility and routine came out loud and clear in their responses.

Ensuring I have a lunch break is really important. Also acknowledging that sometimes I can be flexible and work in the evening rather than only 9am-5pm ~ Cate Lawrence

* * *

Dedicating/ scheduling a day for certain activities such as bookkeeping activities. That way there is more or less a dead line to be met to have all information to be gathered by and provides a routine. ~ Megan Beverley

* * *

I generally write off my mornings! I’m a night owl and am not very effective in the morning, so instead of trying to fight it I see that time as being for catching up on the news, socialising online and having a good, leisurely breakfast. At lunch time-ish is when I get started with work and I generally do some sort of work until bed time. ~ Simone Walsh

* * *

I found getting up in the morning, eating a good breakfast and having a shower as if I was going to work helps. ~ Elle Roberts

* * *

I start with a morning walk with my dogs and a friend and we chat about our day to come, then breakfast and all the ‘get ready for the day’ stuff then go to the studio. I have different admin tasks each morning, I love creating my daily ‘to do’ list. Afternoon is for making and creating. I always have a lunch break and plan meetings at the local cafe so I can see people and not go stir crazy. ~ Lorna McKenzie

* * *

I work on the 45/15 rule: Each hour I’ll do 45mins focused work, 15mins check emails, twitter, or put a load of washing on, etc. I tried to be a good little worker but can’t focus for 8 hours straight so this works a treat for me. ~ Poppy & Bliss

* * *

Flexibility is the key, if I’m not in the right headspace for book work, then I’ll sew or do some social networking. I would probably put at least 8-10 hours into my business 5 days a week, often more. That’s with 4 children, it’s amazing what you can achieve if you’re passionate about what you’re doing. ~ Middlemost Clothing

Everyone seems to have a slightly different mix of routine and flexibility. Some work on an hourly basis, some daily or even longer.

I think the key is finding your own balance.

Find the point where you feel calm and in control of your work/life while still feeling the freedom that working from home can bring.

So, if you work from home – how do you walk the tightrope between flexibility and balance in your life?

Filed Under: Dialogue Tagged With: , , , , , , , 8 Comments
February 14, 2012

Testify: running a biz vs. running around

image by ArtPhotosDiana - click for image for more info

I recently sent the following email to a fellow creative entrepreneur:

Hi Lorna,

I’m in an entrepreneur mastermind group, and someone has asked for a referral for a VA. I’m going to post your site on the public forum, so hopefully some people will check you out.

I know this savvy group of folks will be looking for testimonials. Don’t mean to stick my nose in, but I thought they would make great supporting material for the info you already have up there. Just a couple cents from me.

Lorna wrote a note thanking me for the referral and the encouragement to get testimonials on her page. She had some lying around, but just hadn’t gotten around to getting them on her site. The referral was just the nudge she needed to get it posted and she was thrilled to cross this off her list.

I’ve had a similar conversation with two clients in the last month. Testimonials are a big deal! Simply adding them to your site could be an all important income generating activity. No testimonials = leaving money on the table = boohoo. So why are they getting forgotten?

Because there’s so much schnit to do!

As you know, there is an endless stream of stuff to do when you run your own biz, regardless of its size. And the important stuff, the stuff that actually moves you forward and shakes the money off the tree, can get buried or abandoned.

Horse: please take your place in front of the cart.

Lemme fess up: I have transgressed as well. I have wandered and floated and ignored the important stuff. And I’ve gotten fed up with that way of working and found what works for me.

One of my “I-solemnly-swear-by” tactics is to give myself one focus each month. One.

I start where I know there is a weakness in my biz. I might choose SEO, my website, or creating a product. Then I structure my time that month around improving that one area. This ensures that the income generating stuff gets attention and I plug the holes in my biz.

Wanna try out my one month/one focus strategy? Start by downloading the free planner below.

If you have trouble downloading, please check your settings or try another browser–sometimes Dropbox is fussy.

What will you focus on first? What’s the biggest hole you can plug this month?

Gathering light,

 

 

 

PS -Want more ideas and planners like this? Laura’s e-guide Roadmap to Action is now available for creative entrepreneurs who are ready to plan their success and find their own way of working. Learn more here and pay what it’s worth to you.

Filed Under: Buy You, For You, creating action Tagged With: , , , , , , , 4 Comments