Hi everyone,
On Monday, I took the day off to go hiking in the mountains with my dog, Ruby. For lunch we stopped at the top of the mountain, I did sit on the grass and listened to the silence. But what we call silence in Nature is birds, small animals, or the wind in the trees. So I was there and I was thinking “Time seems so slow here. Why do we live in a so in a hurry world?”. Seems I was in a different time space. Nature is perfect for that. It does reconnect you to her/it and possibly to you. We should all reconnect to Nature.
Within the last weeks I did setup things to make some money. I did a fonts bundle for 29€ and a batch of small prints for 10€. It took me some time and did stress me a bit. So being there at the top of my mountain, I suddenly had that thought: “what’s next? What should I create now?”. But everything I wanted was a break.
We all tend to make every moment bankable, profitable. I know very few people taking some rest during the day. We are always busy and if we have a moment where we find ourselves without nothing on our todo list, we try to find something to do. Life is really like a long todo list that never ends.
So I decided I would take some days off. But my head would not let me do so: “you can’t! See everything that has to be done at home! You should also do a new print, or start working on your next t-shirt screen print! No time for a break!”.
But creative time is not necessarily something linear. I don’t think we can be productive 8 hours, 5 days a week. Creative life is not like Ford’s factories working time. We should not have to optimise or try to be more productive. But this is how our society works and this is probably why so many of us lose their love for their work/passion or are stressed/depressed. It is not enjoyable anymore.
So what should we do? Did I find a solution to escape that crazy world for a few days? The answer is no. Not yet. But I try to find out, because it is not working for me and I think this constant optimisation and search for profit is what gives me so much anxiety.
Yesterday I did something that gave me a first answer to me reflexion. I did my monthly accounting for September and realised that I did cross the line of revenues I wanted to do in 2023. In September I did reach that moment when I could say “that was a good first year without client work”. Money wise, I did not plan to make more money in 2023. And for sure I will make more only with my passive income. So is it not a good reason to take a break? Isn’t it the right moment for that? And come back in a week or two with more energy and a boost of creativity?
I don’t know if you relate to that kind of feeling, but being a freelancer does not help because there is always the possibility that tomorrow I don’t make money anymore, so cash flow is important. I don’t get my pay check at the end of each month. But as I always says, this is not a sprint run but a marathon. So I really believe it is important to take moments away to restore a kind of faith in what we do. As creatives, we are our work, we live 24h/24 with our ideas, thoughts and creativity. That is why I love going out for a hike or a run, it gives me space and a break from “me”, even if ideas will always arise.
This is a very personal post and maybe it does talk to some of you, others will probably unsubscribe haha, but I think this is important to share these feelings and talk about the fact that being a creative in this really materialist world where almost everyone has a personal branding on social medias, can be really difficult. And talking about social medias, I don’t even go into details on how it is also difficult to promote and sell your work through medias where you have to be constantly visible and manipulated by platforms who decide who is going to see your work. I mean, step back and think for a few seconds about that. This sounds crazy right? You would probably not do that kind of work if you knew it before, right? ;-)
So don’t hesitate to take a break, to slow down, to rest or do nothing. Get bored.
Study this letterpress thing
I feel a bit frustrated right now because I could not take much time practicing Letterpress at the workshop. In my search of slowing down, I want to spend more time exploring that medium. But exploring it the right way, which is without having an idea on how I could make money out of it. I mean for now. I really want to make prints and teach letterpress to schools for example. But for now, I would like to TAKE THE TIME to not put money in the balance and just learn the craft.
The Inktober thing
We are on day 13 today. I think I did miss 2 days already, but that’s ok. This is the first time I do it and it is interesting how I feel like having a client brief everyday, made of one word where I have to find my best ideas. Some days, I take it easy, some days, I have stronger ideas. This is really fun so far, no pressure at all. I am particularly proud of that work where the prompt was “map”:
I also really like the Discord community I did create around the event. I think we are around 50 right now but only a dozen participate. We all share our sketches everyday and chat about them. Some do lettering, some illustration. This is fun and I am happy it helps some people to create and post without fear of the judgment social medias can put on them. I think I will take a small break from posting on Instagram after that and will just promote my work. Slowing down is also spending more time away from the screen.
Now let’s share some great inspiration :)
The artist of the week: Brandon Campbell
Brandon is a crazy mid century modern illustrator. I love how he deals between markers and ink pens. When you feel depressed or lack motivation, just watch some of his videos and you will want to draw too :)
The book of the week: I did not do the thing today, by Madeleine Dore
If what I talked about above does also talk to you, I can only give you the advice to read that book which will take you away from the “all productive things” world. There are many good books on the subject but this one can be a good start. Madeleine Dore has also a website where she shares links to interviews and to her podcast.
This is it for today, and as usual I will tell you to step back, relax, take some rest to come back fresher next week? :) I will do it for sure!
Take care,
Francis
SMALL ADS BEFORE LETTING YOU GO :)
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Prints and fonts (starting at 10€) are also available on my website (I even did let the fonts bundle one more week :D)
Nice, and congrats on revenue without (typical) "clients"! (also: "typochonriac" is really good wordplay).