Does anyone else listen to the podcast by Sara Tasker (@me_and_orla) & Jen Carrington (@jencarrington_) “Letters From a Hopeful Creative”? OMGeeeeeee it is awesome.
I just listened to Monday’s episode: ‘Building a creative business alongside a day job’ and HOLY BUCKETS! Amy, my #dearhopefulcreative, I AM YOU! All of what you said resonated so deeply with me. And Sara and Jen your advice was GOLD!
Gosh, I needed this episode. In fact, I needed it so much that I actually listened to it twice!
There were so many brilliant messages in it but the one that has really stuck with me and that felt like a big warm hug of hope was that it is ok to build slowly and at your own pace. It is ok to be a quiet builder. Do what you can and don’t compare your creative work to someone in a position to work solely on their creative business.
In the last week I’ve decided to shelve plans to launch an online pop-up for Christmas. I knew that realistically my full time work (my PhD) would suffer and the pop-up wouldn’t be what I dreamt it could be because I simply don’t have the time or recourses right now to do both.
It’s sad and frustrating but it is also completely FINE. Because at the same time that I made that decision I also did something else. I wrote down my ideas and my plans and gathered together my inspo pics and web links in a folder titled “Christmas 2019”. Because Christmas isn’t going anywhere and my dreams and goals aren’t going anywhere. It’s only that the path I have to take to get to them is a bit longer.
So, in the meantime, I’m treasuring my ideas. I’m not rubbishing them because they aren’t do-able at this very moment. And I’m working on smaller, achievable things like my monthly recipe series.
A lot of plans I have for Kelmscott won’t happen right now or all at once or even in the next year. But they’ll happen.
This path won’t get me thousands of @instagram followers and blog hits overnight or even probably over a year.
It may not be glamorous.
It won’t make a pithy social media bio or a sexy origin story.
But it will keep me sane and healthy and happy. And allow me to work and create and live all at the same time.
#DearHopefulCreative Amy and all you other full time workers with a creative business you try to squeeze into your “spare time”, I feel you. And it is so nice to know I’m not the only one who has major insecurities and doubts and worries.
Thank you Sara and Jen for building this community!