It’s my birthday week! As usual, I spend more time than usual reflecting on a number of things. Sharing some recent thoughts here.
Extrovert and Connection
It was amusing to me recently when my intern at my day-dietitian job said I was very extroverted. I always stayed away from calling myself an introvert/extrovert, partly because I just don’t like labeling myself (still struggling with the artist/design label) and because I don’t feel like I’m either. For most of my life, I was more or less known to be quiet, but as I got older, I definitely find myself enjoying talking to people (I spend most of my day talking to people afterall) - and it is with that that I do feel like I am more extroverted than not. I feel like I thrive off of chatting with and connecting with people, and I don’t feel like it’s draining at all. Lately in my daydreams, I’ve also been thinking about how I want to eventually have a space where people of all different backgrounds can connect and like, learn some letterpress…? I don’t know how any of that could come to fruition, but one can dream right?
The many beautiful conversations
Speaking of connecting, one thing I’ve been so grateful for this year are the many conversations I’ve had with people because of this little creative side gig and putting myself out there. Special, special shoutout to my little group of creative makers who I always check in with, including Alison - Love Through Letterpress; Mary Anne - Yours Truly, Mary Anne; Kirstie - A Jar of Pickles; Jean - Jean Choe Art & Design; Amy - Batch 22 Bakery; Betty - Betty Boba; Katrina - Mina Learns Chinese…just to name a few! But even a little email exchange with a 9-yo who asked me for tips on becoming an artist (I’ve written a whole separate post on this!) and a long facetime chat with Vivian at Paper & Rice Co all the way in Montreal were meaningful conversations. This month, I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed chatting about business wins and challenges with Ricky from Pie Dreams and then received tips on growing as an artist with an illustrator whose work I’ve long admired - Luis Mendo from Tokyo! Chatting about what’s going on in my little creative world is usually just the starting point of a conversation…it then travels through being parents, commiserating on the state of the world, encouragements to keep on going and just, life.
Forever an aspiring artist
I also recently joined Studioworks, a brand new platform focusing on business management for creative studios started by the one and only Jessica Hische. As one of the early members, we’re also now part of a little community, a “slack” group if you will, to share ideas with other creatives. I’ll admit it was hard for me to not have some imposter syndrome here since I don’t design and create full time, unlike most everyone else here who are - graphic designers, illustrators, etc. As such, I just put my title as a “forever aspiring artist.” I feel simultaneously like I don’t quite belong, but, maybe with the confidence of being 38, also feel like it’s fine! I’ve been teaching myself so much of the designy things since I was 20(!) that I’m going to continue to learn and keep going. Since starting my business, there’s a large part of me that feels like I have to nail down a “look,” a branding, but since joining this group as of a week ago, I’m already feeling more inspired to think outside of the box and to continue improving my art and design.