this is week #2 of my creative life mini-series.
for week #1, the focus was on five guest bloggers + their tips on living a creative life: kyla roma, just lovely things, lisa leonard, tiny twig + sarah jane studios ~ and this week the focus is on sharing five different applications i currently use to live a creative life and how they’ve transformed my mindset into something incredibly inspiring and freeing.
for week #2, i’m sharing my personal tips on how i live a creative life: 1, 2, 3, 4.
this is the last post in the mini-series!
* * *
tip #5: share your passions with others
as we wrap up this mini-series on living a creative life, think about the people you have around you. what kind of role do they play in your life? how about in your create life? i’m going to go out on a limb here and say it’s near impossible to live a satisfyingly creative life if you never share your passions with others. why? because the people that care about you also care about your passions. did you hear me? i’ll say it again :) the people that care about you also care about your passions. you may think your creativity is stifled from not not having a defined “end of work” day or from not taking the time to create an oasis where you work, but what if it’s stifled only because you’ve kept your passions to yourself? what if you were brave for a few minutes and shared your passions with others? how do you think they would respond?
what if they supported you?
what if that, but they also encouraged you?
what if they supported, encouraged + challenged you to turns your dreams into plans?
yeow!
unspoken passions are unnoticed passions. if you don’t tell the people you care about about your passions then they never have the opportunity to support them ~ with you, for you, alongside you.
i think many of my best ideas were ignited only after sharing them aloud with someone. my ideas may be great in my mind and on paper, but they become GRAND after sharing them aloud with someone else. zack + our families have been fantastic support systems for gussy sews. i remember sharing with my mom my dreams for the business and i’m pretty sure before i even finished sharing them she was supporting me. i think she could SEE it was a passion… a leap worth taking… i think the same for our family, they were 100% ready to support me with this business — and i’m sew thankful they did!
the same goes for my man. oh zack, to think where i wouldn’t be if it weren’t for your support.
so go on now… IT’S TIME TO SHARE YOUR PASSIONS! :)
HOW ABOUT YOU? do you have people in your life that you can share your passions with? who are they, and what about them makes you comfortable? do you wish you had more or less people to share your passions? xo
This was one of the hardest hurdles for me to jump! I’m not quite over it yet but I have come along way since I started blogging and creating. I am more proud of what I do and more confident in the things I make so therefore, I am more willing to share my passions!
My hubby knows that I must be creative in order to be happy – whether that be painting a bedroom, painting a sign, writing a sweet blog post, or taking 200 pictures of the same thing. His patience and support in me has been BRILLIANT and I would not be where I am today without him by my side. :)
Gussy this whole list has been in my head for a long time but hearing someone else, who I find to be incredibly encouraging and business savvy, say it and confirm it for me this week has been life changing! Thank you for all that you do and who you are to those of us dreaming to fly like you have! :) You are such a great inspiration! :) xoxo
I’ve been doing a lot of creative work for myself for a while, but I recently started thinking about opening an etsy shop to share some specific things that I really enjoy creating. I’ve been planning & reading up on starting a business for a while. I currently work a full time job & a part time job. My part time job money has been going fully & directly toward paying off my student loan. But after this month, it will be paid off! Thus, my hope is that I’ll start putting that money towards the new business starting next month, and hopefully open sometime in June.
When I originally told my husband I wanted to start a creative business, he flipped out. He thought I was going to spend all of our money & quit my jobs & it would never work. But when I told him my plan of using my part time job money to start it up, so we’d never really miss it, he started to come around. I still wouldn’t say he’s exactly supportive… but maybe he’ll eventually come around. It’s going to be rough for a while though working full time & part time & starting this up & doing everything around the house. Yikes! :) I’m so excited though!
I love that you are saving up by working a part time job and making sure your business will be debt free! I also love that you are doing your research beforehand on running a business. I wish I had done more of that before just jumping in but I will say this. I have learned more about myself and running a business by experience than I ever thought I could. I hope your hubby jumps on board and supports you – you seem to have it all headed in the right direction! :)
Let me first just say I have completely loved this series! You are so wonderful and amazing. I very much look up to you! :)) I think all of my family and friends know about my shop but few know about my book. But in both cases there is only a few that support me. I think this has made me a little stronger because I have learned to support and believe in myself. But having my husband, my two best friends and my sister fully support both things that I do – helps a ton. These people in my life that do fully support me is such a blessing and I can’t thank them enough!!
I would definitely say I would like more support, mainly from family. But when I tell or show them about shop products I don’t get much of a rise besides “oh that’s cute.” or “good luck with your shop.” and that’s about as far as it goes. So, I haven’t told many of them about the book simple because how they act with my shop leads me to believe that’s how they would act with my book too.
one thing i noticed about myself is when someone would ask, “what do you do for a living?” – if i responded with something close-ended like, “i write a lifestyle blog and own a handmade online boutique” they are more likely to say, “oh neat!” and move on. that’s the end of our conversation.
but when i responded with “i write a lifestyle blog and own a handmade online boutique, making ruffled accessories and bags for women. yeah, and i’ve been working hard at this for about 2 years now. i’m constantly learning more about Indie Biz and…” do you see how that’s different? it opens the doors for more communication i’ve found — people are more likely to have a conversation with me when i lead to that.
i know it’s hard and a little awkward at times, BUT — try this method :) maybe your family responds with “oh that’s cute” because they aren’t sure HOW to respond. maybe they aren’t sure what your goals are or they feel uneducated with the world of Indie Biz so they don’t know what to say? :)
This response has been oh so helpful to me! I just started really telling my family about my goals for my shop (I’m still afraid they’ll t hink I’m self-indulgent and irresponsible) and this is a great way for me to open up the conversation.Thank you.
Ah such great advice Gussy thank you! I will definitly try that approach. I never really thought about it that I just assumed that they didn’t care when they didn’t ask about it anymore. You rock! :) Thanks so much for the advice!
I definitely wish I had more people to share my passion with but I’m thankful for my sister who’s a constant encouragement and confidant. My secret passion is to continue growing my blog into one that inspires and connects people; to continue making art pieces that encourage others to live their dreams; and to eventually write a book.
Catherine Denton
how special that you have a sister!!!!! there are times when i wish i had one, but i suppose that’s what girlfriends are for, right?! :)
Two people have been WILDLY supportive of my goals for my business. HB {my other half} and my girlfriend Victoria. HB is completely supportive and convinced I’ll be a success and Victoria gets excited by all my grand plas with me.
My family tends to be afraid for me. Afraid I’ll get hurt or that I’ll take too much of a risk. But at least part of that MUST be that those are my fears and I’m somehow communicating them. So it’s time to change the conversation, no?
i’m going to copy + paste what i shared with cassie above, because i think the overall message can be modified a teensy bit for you and the fears you are subconsciously communicating…
“one thing i noticed about myself is when someone would ask, “what do you do for a living?” – if i responded with something close-ended like, “i write a lifestyle blog and own a handmade online boutique” they are more likely to say, “oh neat!” and move on. that’s the end of our conversation.
but when i responded with “i write a lifestyle blog and own a handmade online boutique, making ruffled accessories and bags for women. yeah, and i’ve been working hard at this for about 2 years now. i’m constantly learning more about Indie Biz and…” do you see how that’s different? it opens the doors for more communication i’ve found — people are more likely to have a conversation with me when i lead to that.
i know it’s hard and a little awkward at times, BUT — try this method :) maybe your family responds with “oh that’s cute” because they aren’t sure HOW to respond. maybe they aren’t sure what your goals are or they feel uneducated with the world of Indie Biz so they don’t know what to say? :)”
Ah such great advice Gussy thank you! I will definitly try that approach. I never really thought about it that I just assumed that they didn’t care when they didn’t ask about it anymore. You rock! :) Thanks so much for the advice!
seriously — happy to help! xo
I have to say I have LOVED loved LOVED this series it’s been fun, educational and thought provoking, thank you so much. I hope to see more of these series in the future :-)
I have been thinking and talking about starting a creative business for years. I have always had great support from my husband he has always told me to follow my dreams and we can make it happen but I am always the one putting on the breaks. It was only recently that I realized it’s ME stopping myself from pursuing my dreams partly because of my fearful of the unknown (I know fear shouldn’t stop me but it has) but mostly because I don’t feel I have the support from my parents which is probably the hardest thing to grasp. It’s not that my parents don’t think I’m talented, it’s not because they don’t want to see me succeed, it’s not because they think I can’t do it….It’s because they are fearful of the struggles that I may face running my own creative business and the possibility for instability. They would rather see me in a ‘steady’ job knowing that I wouldn’t have to struggle. This is discouraging and not totally true because I seem to be struggling every day to do the ‘steady’ job I am doing now because I lack the passion you talk about. I am trying to work through it and I think I’m getting to a point where I will soon take the leap of faith regardless. I’m so grateful for the people in life who do support me but at the same time I want to make my parents proud, I hope and pray that they will come around one day.
there’s going to be instability everywhere… it will show up with work, with buying a home, with kids, with choosing where to bank, it’s everywhere. decisions we make now will be prove to be good or bad decisions later. it’s a risk we take in believing it’s the best decision at the time to make.
however, nothing scares me more than feeling dissatisfied with a choice i didn’t make because i was afraid of what the outcome would/could/should be. if it’s not going royally mess things up — or have the potential to — then i am more apt to test it. i’d rather be proven wrong than not know if i was wrong.
love this quote :: “If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost.” Zig Ziglar