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2 years ago I moved to London, I started my job, and, importantly, I started this blog. 2 years and 330 posts later (say what?!), I thought I’d share where I’m at and some of the things I’ve learned along the way, because my relationship with this medium has definitely changed.

 

Before I get into those reflections, I first want to say that I’m so glad that I decided to start blogging. It’s been such a great creative outlet for me. It’s pushed me to make more and to improve as I make. It’s also given me the opportunity to do so many other pieces of work. So I can’t wait to be able to do another one of these posts in a year’s time.

The Content vs Community Debate

The tension between just making content and actively trying to find an audience has always been my biggest struggle. It’s something I’m still trying to work out how to balance. My natural tendency is just to make what I want and worry about finding a community later. But while everyone says “just make good content and your audience will find you” I think in this day and age of endless content you do have to reach out. I’m in the process of trying to approach that process of reaching out in a more structured way that doesn’t feel like an add-on to “the real work” because I do really enjoy having those conversations when I make the effort.

 

Constant creation is draining

Over the last 2 years, I’ve written over 200,000 words on this blog and created probably close to 400 illustrations before you take into account the work that goes into my Instagram and newsletter. That’s a lot. I don’t really ever sit down and appreciate that it’s a lot. Instead, I’ve found myself going through periods of just being exhausted by this platform because it doesn’t stop. I take perhaps 3 individual weeks off a year. Stepping down to 2 posts a week has definitely helped but I can see myself taking a few longer breaks in the coming year.

 

I don’t see the point in making content I don’t care about

I’ve done some form of Blogmas twice, and if I’m honest with you, I don’t know why. Blogmas is a lot of work. I have to force my content to fit. It has never been that boosting for my blog because everyone else is doing it. So this year I’m not going to be following the herd. I’ll still make Christmas content, but it’s not going to be the same. That’s just one example of where I’m starting to realise that there’s no point in creating content because it’s the done thing if it’s not what I want. There aren’t any rules.

 

Just tell the truth

The posts and newsletters I’ve received the best feedback on are the ones where I’ve been completely honest. They’re also the ones I’ve enjoyed writing the most. Whether that’s confessing that I might not want to make my side hustle a full-time freelance career to discussing the fact that I’m pretty much a hermit. Even when the truth isn’t very exciting I just want to be honest, and not because authenticity is “in” now.  Doing anything else feels kind of redundant now. I’m no longer concerned about feeling like I’m selling my soul when I bare it on a screen because isn’t creating a fake personality to sell even more damaging?

 

It’s an outlet, not a job

This isn’t true for everyone, but it is for me and it’s something I have to remember. I don’t owe anyone content other than myself. Workovereasy is here to be my outlet, to support my goals, not the other way around.

 

Any other bloggers out there in the same boat? Or, perhaps better, have any words of wisdom to share?

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Today is my 25th birthday. I’m officially a quarter of a century old. I’m supposedly in the prime of my life, although I’m not sure that one’s true. I’m in my mid-twenties and I’m going through all of the anxieties and confusion of “who am I?”, “is this being an adult?”, “what do I actually want to do?”, “where did my friends go?”, “how do I make new ones?”, “wait, how am I meant to save for a house?”, and everything in between. But I’m also more settled in myself than I think I have ever been, a reflection I seem to have every year.

Expect updates to the blog and my portfolio and store to match my new age and outlook.

I’ve never really had much of an issue with the idea of getting older, but maybes ask me about that when I’m turning 60. In fact, when I was a kid, I feel like I was always waiting to get older, waiting to be an adult. Now, I’m pretty content with where I’m at. 25 feels about right.

I was going to do a potted summary of what I’ve achieved this year, but as I started to work out my list I realised it wasn’t all that exciting. I haven’t done many of those big life-changing things this year. I guess that’s part and parcel of getting older. When you’re 5, you grow so quickly and hit milestones every other day. When you’re nearing 25 that doesn’t happen as frequently. But that’s not to say I’ve not achieved anything.

In the last 12 months I have…

  • pushed my illustration practice further and further forward. I’m working with exciting clients on exciting projects, and I’m starting to turn it into a real business.
  • grown in my role in my day job. I’m being trusted more and more to take on big chunks of work on my own, which is a big deal as a consultant. I’m currently working on a super important project around asylum appeals as well.
  • started taking care of myself better. I’ve made running a fully fledged part of my life. I’m eating better (and more vegan). I’ve made steps to look after my mental health.

 

But I think what’s more important than what I’ve achieved is what I’ve learned over this last year. I’ve learned how to do a lot of things. But I think the main thing I’ve come to realise is that I need to shift my mindset to focus on the process of doing things and learning. I need to enjoy the making and not worry so much about the outcome. The outcome will always appear if you do the work.

 

In response to that, before I’m 26 I want to receive 25 rejection letters. This is a light version of Tiffany Han’s 100 rejection letters project and I want to use it to challenge myself to put my work (and more importantly myself) out there more with no fear.

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“I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.” – Audrey Hepburn

I’ve never felt like Audrey Hepburn, she’s the epitome of elegance and style, two words I wouldn’t be associated with in a million years. But when read the quote at the top of this post I thought I could have written it.

I’m an introvert, a homebody, a modern hermit if you will.

I grew up as an only child, with my canine brother only joining our family when I was twelve. So I’ve always been happy in my own company. I was a child you could leave alone for hours to amuse themselves, in the garden, in front of the TV, or with my craft supplies (as long as you were prepared for mess to ensue).

Despite having been a hermit in the making for as long as I’ve been in the making, I’ve only recently started to truly own my love of solitude.

I used to be envious of people who wanted to go out all of the time, who had adventures and came back with stories of friends made, drama witnessed, love lost and found. I felt like there was something wrong with me because I was comfortable in my own company and wanted time alone as much as I wanted those adventures.

And let me be clear I still love adventure. Leave me to walk in the woods, to explore a new city, to eat anything and everything under the sun. But I want to do it myself or with, or as, a sidekick.

The hermits of the medieval period isolated themselves completely in order to practice religious contemplation. They had feld the monasteries they felt had lost touch with their ideals and sought a higher form of devotion, living self-sufficiently and only in praise of God.

When I say I’m a hermit that’s not quite what I mean.

But I love the history of the term and I think the idea of taking a step back from a society that can feel “absorbed in the ever-increasing complexity of their own rituals” in order to contemplate is where I feel like I’m at.

I love having time alone to think, to be.

It’s how I recharge as an introvert. But more than that I think that learning to be by myself has become a key part of who I am. So I’m going to own it.

There’s more to discover about my own hermitage and I’m as excited to explore being alone as much as I am to go on any other adventure. I hope any other modern hermits out there are too.

The final thought I want to leave you with is the definition of The Hermit in my tarot deck by Caitlin Keegan: “Sacrifice without regret. Self-care”

Etch that on my urn.

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In what has now become a viral commencement speech video, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin. He took “inspiration from the university’s slogan, “What starts here changes the world,” he shared the ten principles he learned during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also throughout his life”. His speech was shared widely and enthusiastically because his advice could be applied so widely.

 

The popularity of his speech led to Penguin asking him to write a short guide based on those ten lessons. It’s called Make Your Bed. This is a review of that book.

 

It’s a short read, so this is going to a fittingly short review.

My alternative cover design for Make Your Bed. I really love how classy and minimal the original cover is with its black and gold accents, so I wanted to challenge myself to do something really different.

I’m a sucker for a commencement speech. My thesis adviser found this out much to his dismay. But I am. If you ever need a 10-20 minute boost to reset your day, week or month they’re usually wonderful sources of motivation. I think McRaven’s speech was recommended to me by someone on the internet (sorry I can’t remember who), and it really resonated with me. So, when I heard about his book a little while later via Ropes of Holland’s Reset Series, I knew I had to pick up a copy.

 

I read it in one sitting, in the bath, while on a solo holiday. It managed to reset my thinking in about 45 minutes, and I’ve dipped back into it a few times since.

 

The book itself is pretty simple, and I mean that in a good way. It features ten lessons McRaven has learned in his 37 years as a decorated Navy SEAL. That might put some of you off. I definitely wouldn’t naturally grab for a book by an Admiral. What would we have in common? McRaven’s job and training have put him through some of the toughest physical and mental challenges so he has a very tangible example for every lesson he shares. But you never feel like you’re reading a military guide book. I’m never going to go through BUDS training, but I could take something away from almost all of the advice he gives.

 

His lessons cover everything from the impact of making your bed, as the title suggests, to never going it alone and standing up to bullies. There’s something in there to help you solve whatever problem you’re trying to solve, big or small. Each chapter is discrete so you can easily dip in and out, or read it in one sitting as I did as the book in its entirety is just 129 (small) pages.

 

If you want a pick me up, a kick up the bum, or just a reminder that the little things can make a big difference you could do a lot worse than giving this one a read.

 

SOME QUESTIONS TO PONDER AS YOU READ

  • What impact does McRaven’s title and 37 years as a Navy SEAL have on how you perceive his advice?
  • Did you make your bed today? What effect did that have on your day?
  • Which lesson do you think will have the most impact on your life?
  • Do you feel there’s additional value in reading McRaven’s full advice over just reading/watching his speech which is included at the back of the book?

 

IF YOU WANT SOME FURTHER READING TRY…

 

IF YOU WANT MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS HAVE A LOOK AT…

  • David Foster Wallace’s This is Water
  • Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
  • Sarah Knight’s The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck
  • Jen Sincero’s You are a Badass
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This post is a bit of a rip off of a piece I really loved from Austin Kleon, about how he puts his newsletter together. I’d highly recommend giving it a read. I mean I loved it so much I wanted to write my own version, to give you a behind the scenes look at how I put together some of my favourite weekly content – and how you can sign up right at the bottom of this page.

 

I’m a big fan of newsletters. They’ve probably overtaken blogs in my heart when it comes to reading content from creators (and even some brands) I love. Anne T. Donahue’s is a standout example amongst those, and is a big reason I started my own.

 

Pulling together my newsletter is also one of my favourite things I do associated with this blog. I think I enjoy it more than writing new posts, even though it’s probably read by fewer people. I love pulling out the best of the web, doing slightly looser illustrations and having the opportunity to be a little bit more personal.

 

I realise if you’re not subscribed to my newsletter, you’ve got no idea what I’m going on about right about now. So here’s a link to one of my past newsletters.

 

As you can see my weekly update is split into three key sections each with their own little image. Here’s how they all come together:

 

The Intro Section

This is where I like to share something of a more personal update. I like to reflect on the week and some of the things I’ve learned or give a bit of a nod to some of the things I’m working on this week. I generally sit down to write something on a Friday evening, no plan, no structure, then give it a bit of a tidy up when it comes to scheduling my email in MailChimp on the Saturday. I try to pick a fitting image from my vast stocks of instagram illustrations or things from past blog posts in part to save time and in part to tie my rambles to work people might know.

 

The Two Articles

Then I move onto sharing two of my favourite articles from the internet for the week. The internet is a big old place, and it’s full of gems but they can be hard to find so I like to share a couple of recommendations. They’re normally arts/creativity/design based but the main criteria is 1) did I enjoy reading it? 2) do I think other people will enjoy reading it? That’s it. To accompany those articles I like to put together some animated illustrations. These usually include the title of the article handwritten out plus either some images from the article or an illustration of one of the key ideas. I draw frame by frame which is why they’re usually quite simple, then animate using an online gifmaker.

 

The Social Share

The final section of my newsletter is all about sharing some of my favourite people on instagram. I like to see it as my way of fighting back against the algorithm and helping my readers find some incredible artists they might not have discovered otherwise. Because of that, I generally try to highlight smaller artists on the platform, but there’s no hard rule. I just add interesting accounts to my collection through the week and then pick out one I like on a Friday or Saturday. I also take reader suggestions, so if you have an idea of someone who should be included please do let me know! Along with a small intro to their work, I show a few examples of their recent, or my favourite, posts so you can get a flavour of their work.

 

If you like the sound of it, you can sign up to receive my newsletter below:

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