It doesn't make sense to move on to a new chapter of my creative endeavor without sending off the last, my first creative child Wabi-Sabi. Deciding to move on was inspired by a lot of things, but above all else it was to keep moving forward and this quote;
"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."
-Socrates from Way of The Peaceful Warrior.
-Socrates from Way of The Peaceful Warrior.
1. Staying Inspired
Art is not something I can spent time doing daily. Although I am a firm believer in art being a part of everything around us, when it came to me actually having time to create content out of these feelings a lot of times I fell short.
For those who have day jobs, school, or even both (me) you understand where I'm coming from. This applies to anyone doing anything creative, you can't just expect a genius idea to pop into your head and into existence out of nowhere. On top of time management and self discipline, finding ways to stay inspired is a must. Right now I am really into listening to podcasts of people who pursue passions, admiring art books and visual novels, and following a lot of people on instagram! Anything/everything helps and these are things I can fit into my day that help keep my gears turning.
2. Starting a Business/Brand Is Not What You Think It's Going To Be (And That's Perfectly Okay)
Going into Wabi Sabi, I started with the simple concept of making things and selling them online. Sounds easy...right? I already knew that there was a lot for me to learn about pursuing this simple task, and it seems as I progress it's a lot of me learning that there's a lot more to learn! On top of the legal aspects, paperwork, and finances (lets not get into it) I had to learn how to market myself. How was I going to create a business model while working with what I had at the time and how was I going to share this with people who want to see it? I just wanted to make stuff, and so I did. But that didn't mean I could ignore the 'business-ey' side of things. I wouldn't say I was side-blinded by these factors, because I knew they existed, I just didn't know how it would affect my practice overall.
I started to notice the way more successful shop owners managed their pages, I learned about smarter ways to go about displaying work and, although I was inspired by the potential growth, I felt discouraged and muddled by numbers. Having to learn about marketing and advertisement limited me time-wise and also affected my creative drive. My #1 tip when it comes to feeling stressed about these things is to be confident in your ability to figure things out. You can't get anywhere without a little bit of grit, and with the power of the internet any solution is (almost) a Google away! There are a lot of resources available for you, Dont give up.
Check out Art Inc. By Lisa Congdon, this book got my past my art-slump phase and inspired me to keep investing in my art career!
3. Uncomfortable Is Good
I wouldn't have gotten anywhere (still got a long way to go) without accepting the feeling of not being comfortable. Discomfort means motion. 'Going with your gut' is not always easy to determine, especially when you have a hard time figuring out what your next move is going to be. Try to tap into what your worst fears are going into something new, explore what it is you could be better at or things you need to let go of. Work with that. Feeling uncomfortable? Good.
4. Grow At Your Own Pace
As mentioned earlier, I am definitely not privileged to have the time and means to work on my art as much as I'd like, this doesn't mean that it's time to drop everything and sell feet pics. Going forward with the decision to start a blog was like a breath of fresh air to me. I was beginning to feel restricted by IG posts and the like, so as a response I'm giving myself a platform that is not going to be dependent on an algorithm, and also having a place to stretch my analytical limbs! A.K.A no word counts or restriction of space. It is important for us to accept these natural changes of pace. Give yourself some time off, change what doesn't feel right, or even speed things up if that's what is called for. This point goes hand in hand with feeling uncomfortable, it's the step directly after that!
P.S: Zero offense to people who have a market for selling feet pics, we all envy you.
I'm so excited to continue writing about my experience here, and hope that I have a lot to learn from it. For more instant gratification, follow the shop on Instagram! (even though I said it stressed me out).
Thanks for listening,
- Tracie
Thanks for listening,
- Tracie