Hi friends! All 10 of you! Actually, I think there are 12 now, but either way. I’m so thrilled you are here and grateful for y’all.
I spent the last week run down by a lingering head cold and didn’t ride my bike once until Sunday. My TrainingPeaks was a sea of red and at first, I thought I’d just delete all the programmed workouts to avoid the zero compliance score. But then I thought, well is that necessary? Does every week need to be perfect? The answer is of course no. So as an exercise in accepting imperfection, I left all the incomplete workouts in there and embraced the poor compliance score.
This brings me to a theme, or phrase, that has been guiding me as I’ve been trying to build out my creative practice — embracing imperfection.
Embrace the honesty of imperfection and you will be unstoppable.
— Alice Bag
I’ve held myself back from sharing lots of my work because it isn’t “perfect”. But here’s the thing about perfection. It’s a roadblock. It stops us dead in our tracks. It’s a trap that so many of us fall into; a safety net protecting us from critique or people who might not love what we’re up to. Sharing your work is terrifying, and it feels easier to continue to work on a piece and strive for that elusive perfection than to put it out into the world. So, I’ve been trying to think less and curate less, and when I feel the slightest bit giddy about a piece, I run with the impulse and hit publish as soon as possible. And you know what? Every time I’ve put something out into the world, it’s been net positive. Of course, my work won’t be for everyone, and that is okay! But the people who love it, they share it, they praise it, and if I carry on this path I wholeheartedly believe that I’ll have a thriving roster of illustration and design clients. Like last week, I shared an illustration on Instagram and I got three (!!!) DMs inquiring about working together. They might never go anywhere, but I’m no longer allowing perfection to hold me back from going for it. It still nags in the back of my mind, but it’s not the voice I’m allowing to dictate my every move.
Connection
Freelancing has been both freeing and incredibly lonely. I’m no longer part of a bigger team, which means some weeks, I don’t talk to anyone other than my partner or service workers when I’m out running errands. Without connection, my world has felt small and insular, and the best days of the week have been those when I’ve been able to connect with the librarian, or the barista when I go and buy my silly little treat.
That lingering loneliness coupled with a slow season of freelancing led me to get a part-time job, and while I’m sure I’ll grow tired of leaving the house, since starting last week, I’ve felt so much lighter. I’m working the front desk at a physio clinic, and while I’m sure a negative interaction with a client will come, it has been a breath of fresh air to play a small part in a team again and to try and elevate clients’ days so they leave a little bit lighter than when they came in.
Some links!
A funny piece of writing: Read “Hmmmm Something Is Not Right Here”
If you follow me on Instagram, listen to my podcast Detours, or are a friend, you will know my deep obsession for the podcast Normal Gossip. Host Kelsey McKinney wrote this blog about some utterly Normal Gossip in her life and it made me howl. It’s about some construction and a wire. It doesn’t sound captivating, I know. But trust me. You want to read this. And if you haven’t listened to Normal Gossip… run don’t walk and slam some headphones in your ears. You need this in your life.
A song: Colours has been on repeat for the last 2 weeks and I’m not sick of it yet. The rest of the EP is good too.
A recipe: Whenever I’m sick, or feel illness coming on, my body immediately craves the Molly Baz Get Well Soup. It’s kind of more like porridge than soup but it is divine. Over time, we’ve revised the recipe to our liking ever so slightly — I prefer boneless, skinless chicken thighs (they’re just a little bit less fussy) and I like to chop up a lot of spinach and add it before we add the shredded chicken back in for more nutrients and colour. We also rarely add the cilantro because the bunches at the grocery store are just too darn big and the leftovers end up getting wasted.
Normal Gossip sounds right up my alley! Thanks for the share.