How perfectionism can paralyze your work
Perfectionism is rampant in creative circles and it’s the killer of production. There’s advice floating around about making your creative passions careers, treating your blog or craft or art like a j-o-b. To me, this seems like the worst idea. Job has such bad connotation. The only good thing about a job is that you get a paycheck (which I think is where that stems from). But why, why would I want to turn the things I love so very much, into jobs? Do you get what I’m saying? Do what you love has turned into make what you love a job. What does this have to do with perfectionism, anyway? I think when you create art you have to accept that it’s messy and unfinished. A lot of artists feel their work is never finished. A lot of writers get published but that doesn’t mean it feels finished. But as creatives who are doing this for a living, we want everything to be perfect. We want to publish perfect blog posts, create perfect DIYs or perfect products to sell on Etsy (which by the way, I get, but also, it’s handmade, we should appreciate that it doesn‘t look like a machine made it), etc.
Photo diary: California summer nights
What a quiet evening spent in your favorite city looks like: pastel sky, headlights, the slight blur of twilight, as much water as concrete. Growth emerging from quiet corners. Streets surprisingly un-trafficked. Blinds being pulled across bay windows. A light sweater and sandals and denim.
Is freelancing fulltime really right for you?
Freelancing, one of the fastest growing careers, is entirely different for each person. It can mean long-term contract work that seems more corporate than freelance, on going projects, or quite literally living paycheck to paycheck. And you can basically freelance in any industry, though of course writing and blogging is where I can say with most certainty: it’s a ride. Freelance life can be very hard. But it grants us freedoms that a lot of people don’t have. Growing up in a family full of people with truly difficult, sometimes thankless jobs, I’m grateful that I’m able to spend my days either writing or editing or creating. It’s simple as that. I get to do what I’ve always wanted to do. [Read more…] about Is freelancing fulltime really right for you?
10 under the radar magazines for creative + conscious living
It’s 8:21 am, Sunday. I’ve just arrived at my favorite local coffee shop, plucked the most sugar-laden pastry from the display, and purchased my 12oz latte for here complete with a partial-latte-art-heart a la the perfectly friendly (but not pre-9am obnoxiously so) barista. I’ve had this blog post dancing around my head for weeks now, since one late afternoon work break spent scrolling through Instagram on my phone in bed with the AC on in my sweltering LA apartment led to many a new magazine discovery. [Read more…] about 10 under the radar magazines for creative + conscious living
Photo diary: The conservatory of flowers
Fear is a funny thing. It envelops you at once, holds you tight, then lets you go as quickly as it came. Anxiousness, which can come before fear or even without, has a steady hold on your wrist. Generally not enough to completely stop you from going about your day. But just enough to make it hard to pick up and put things together, to get places. Sometimes, the anxiousness is worse, or rather, more affective, than the fear because like a bandage, the fear will be ripped off and discarded. Anxiety of fear is really a double threat, because you spend all this time anxiously awaiting the fear of the experience.
