You shouldn't compare yourself to anyone you see on Instagram.....
Yak
As months go, January is pretty loaded. Expectations are high, motivation is at its most powerful new me; new you, new everything. I don't buy into this much (I did for many years, but honestly, you're good as you are) but I do love a list and a plan.
As months go, January is pretty loaded. Expectations are high, motivation is at its most powerful new me; new you, new everything. I don't buy into this much (I did for many years, but honestly, you're good as you are) but I do love a list and a plan.
Social media has a lot of positives, and my personal favourite is Instagram, but it also has a fair amount of negatives. With January and creatives there is a mass of new planners, success sharing from 2019, goal planning for 2020, exciting opportunities and that is all great, I am genuinely happy for those successes, art gets a rough deal and its great that people are making progress. For me though, its one big comparison of what I haven't achieved, to goals I haven't met, to work I am just not capable of making.
For me, comparisons have always been around. At school, constant comparing with others on where their life was going, boys, body's and grades. As I have got older its just continued, sitting on trams or buses, comparing clothes, how they look, even what books people are reading-(over) thinking am I enough?
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| new wall planner, Ian Beale calendar Christmas gift, and inspiration board E.Pinnock |
Can creativity really be a competition? Perhaps its a cliche but maybe, but only ever with yourself. Does this translate to everyday life? Can you be or should you be better at life than the person in front of you? I don't think you should want to be. You can only be a better person for yourself and for your life, you are doing the best you can. For every positive post on Instagram, there are hundreds more that don't make it, of bad days, when you can't make ends meet, shows that cost you more than you'd ever get back in time or money, pieces of work that leave you frustrated and dissatisfied with what you're doing. Take heart that this is every makers life. Its everyone's life. Instagram is an edited filtered version of what people want you to see.
For me I'm hoping 2020 is more reading books, taking a step back from social media, drawing more, having my own plans and sticking to them. Not being swayed and taking some positives about what I do,why I do it and who I am-no biggies there then....
A friend recommended a podcast from Emma Gannon featuring Lucy Sheridan, worth a listen if you to struggle with comparisons.
Babble
On the topic of Instagram, I did a rare video last week after dropping off a piece of work for an exhibition. Call it a "brain dump" if you will. I sort of waffled on about some of the points Emma touches on above: About how, for every polished post you see on the grid, there can be a whole lot of niggles, anxieties or self doubts that are churning away in the background. It ended up sparking a few conversations with other creative folk who felt or have felt the same way. There was a lot of virtual cheer-leading too. When we are really honest about how things are, I think the really good side of social media emerges.
I often think we are too hard on ourselves as makers, in terms of putting pressure on ourselves to get through the to-do list or make make make! I've been working through a great planner by Nicola Taylor of The Makers Business Toolkit and there's some really useful stuff in there about mindset. So as February is now upon us (and I still haven't done aaaalllll the new sketchbook work I promised myself I would do in January) I am learning not to give myself a hard time. I'm scheduling things (and amounts of things) that are doable in a day. I'm avoiding huge long lists that I can't get to the bottom of. January has been steady and bizarrely hasn't felt like it dragged. I didn't accomplish everything I set out to but I made the best use of my time and did the right things for me.
I still have things that I will roll on into February but I do allow for plans to change, especially on the days when new tasks are thrown my way and need to take precedence over other tasks I may have planned. So this month I really hope I do get into the sketchbook again (I'm counting on this for new workshop dates!!) and we will hopefully bring you a blog next month about inspiration and starting points!
Happy New Year
Babble and Yak
Babble
On the topic of Instagram, I did a rare video last week after dropping off a piece of work for an exhibition. Call it a "brain dump" if you will. I sort of waffled on about some of the points Emma touches on above: About how, for every polished post you see on the grid, there can be a whole lot of niggles, anxieties or self doubts that are churning away in the background. It ended up sparking a few conversations with other creative folk who felt or have felt the same way. There was a lot of virtual cheer-leading too. When we are really honest about how things are, I think the really good side of social media emerges.
I often think we are too hard on ourselves as makers, in terms of putting pressure on ourselves to get through the to-do list or make make make! I've been working through a great planner by Nicola Taylor of The Makers Business Toolkit and there's some really useful stuff in there about mindset. So as February is now upon us (and I still haven't done aaaalllll the new sketchbook work I promised myself I would do in January) I am learning not to give myself a hard time. I'm scheduling things (and amounts of things) that are doable in a day. I'm avoiding huge long lists that I can't get to the bottom of. January has been steady and bizarrely hasn't felt like it dragged. I didn't accomplish everything I set out to but I made the best use of my time and did the right things for me.
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| Detail of exhibition entry for Woodhorn's Northumberland: Myth and Magic |
I still have things that I will roll on into February but I do allow for plans to change, especially on the days when new tasks are thrown my way and need to take precedence over other tasks I may have planned. So this month I really hope I do get into the sketchbook again (I'm counting on this for new workshop dates!!) and we will hopefully bring you a blog next month about inspiration and starting points!
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| Jess-Babble and Emma-Yak New Years Eve 2019 |
Happy New Year
Babble and Yak
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