This was great! I'm currently reading Start More Than You Can Finish A Creative Permission Slip to Unleash Your Best Ideas by Becky Blades. I can't take credit for finding it, I read about it on either a social media thing or one of the many newsletters I read! It is on my list to better track where I find these things, so that I may credit the founder when I share them!
In any case, this book talks about just doing your ideas. Not overthinking them, just start. And see what happens. It doesn't matter if you don't finish, you may finish later, it may spark another idea, that you do finish. The point is to start, to explore, to create. Which I think is how I operate. A series of trial and error, starting before I actually know what I'm doing, and figuring out along the way! This book has finally made me realize, I think, that I need to stop trying to make myself fit into the planning, goal setting, plotting, organized way of doing work. That isn't how I operate. It's never been how I operate. I just do what feels right. And hope that it comes together! So I think I'm like Paul Cezanne, I just keep trying things to see what I like, and what works. And I'm going to keep doing that!
I've also placed a hold on the audiobook you mention. Seems like something I might enjoy!
I am so great at not keeping track of where I hear about things either, but let's say you heard about Start More Than You Finish the same place I did, probably, wherever that was. I've been hearing about that book a lot and you have absolutely convinced me to get it and read it. I kept avoiding it because I was thinking, "but I want to FINISH things" as if it was going to be a book about creativity that would be encouraging everyone to never finish anything.
I'm on vacation this week, visiting family on the East Coast, and it's fair to say I'm behind on absolutely everything. BUT I still am trying to keep up with my Julie! Which is good because the wandering method is definitely my method. 🤯 I love iterational work--and letting curiosity lead.
Unrelated: you might have hit on the only TV show from the 80s that I don't think I ever saw with Love, Sidney! I looked it up and didn't recognize the photo stills at all. Somehow, that made me simultaneously sad (I missed a show!) and happy (I missed a show!)
Good luck with Upbeat Polka this year! 🪗 Also, guess who has two thumbs and tried her first Cel-Ray today?!?! That's right! "It me!" Yum!
OMgosh, yes--it was delish! We immediately got a second (because my youngest son kept wanting to "try it" and was basically draining it) and my older son got a Moxie soda (which he also very much enjoyed) and then we were cracking up because we realized that was bottled in Mukilteo, WA, which is like 30 minutes from our house. And we had never had one! We clearly need to get out more. LOL.
WAIT I DON'T BELIEVE YOU ABOUT MOXIE BEING BOTTLED IN WASHINGTON. Sorry for yelling. But...what? I mean. Oh. I don't know how soda companies work. But I want to very fervently assert that Moxie is a Maine soda. I'm glad you liked Cel-Ray!
I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it! I know it's the official Maine beverage--and it's from New Hampshire! It's probably bottled in several locations, but the one we got in a glass bottle the other day said it was licensed from the NH peeps, and bottled by Orca beverages. I'm sure there are other bottling plants!
Also, I will definitely get ahold (somehow) of a six-pack of Cel-Ray for celebrating little wins! I just have to figure out how to hide one at a time in the fridge without the kids finding it, so it will be cold when called upon. Maybe in the crisper! Or the very, very back of the cheese drawer, where I keep the stinkiest cheeses that the others tend to leave alone. 🤔
The internet is telling me it started in Massachusetts, but is "popular throughout New England" and other than the fact that it was originally called "Moxie nerve food" that's all the research I feel like doing.
I relate deeply to trying to hide the good soda/food/drink/whatever in a forgotten corner of the fridge, which is truly an impossibility. In this house, at least.
I truly thought there would be all kinds of information and web pages and think pieces about Love, Sidney. It's not like I'm the queen of obscure content or anything. And it's Tony Randall and Swoosie Kurtz! In vaguely related news, I was telling my daughter Zuzu about Davey and Goliath (did you watch THAT?) (we were talking about how I loved it and had no clue it was religious when I was little) and all 90 billion episodes are streaming, so at least some parts of my childhood viewing habits endure.
Have a great trip in my time zone! I'm so honored reading my newsletter makes the cut for vacation activities.
Laughing hard because I did see a few episodes of Davey and Goliath because my best friend's dad was a unitarian minister (in Louisiana) and everything at their house was at least tangentially related to his calling. The best part is that I got exposed to a lot of early U2 music. :) The worst part is that dinners (to me) seemed to take forever because grace was informal and family members liked to "riff" for all of the things they were grateful for and they had a very large family. 😂
I wish we were closer to Maine, so I could shake you down to go out for a coffee! Alas, we are in North Carolina and then, as of today, Virginia. We visited Nick's family at the front of the week, and our SIL happened to go into labor and have her new baby while we were there so that added a lot of excitement to everything! And now we are visiting my brother and his family (including my truly delightful SIL), so we're having fun seeing a bunch of D.C. sites today. We haven't seen most of these relatives for at least 6 years or so because we were in Australia and then COVID etc. etc. etc. so it's all been Zoom for a very long time and it feels very nice to get some big ol' hugs!
I *love* that the first time you're seeing these relatives in years, one of them has a baby. That is so special, truly! I wish you were visiting closer to Maine, too!
For a sec I thought you got exposure to U2 via Davey & Goliath, and I was like: no. Different thing. There is no rock music in D&G. But then I figured it out. My kids are off school this week and as a result I am only reading half of every sentence.
It doesn't help that I'm writing you while pretending to watch the cousins play Mario Kart. Them: "Aunt Elayne! Aunt Elayne! Watch!!" Me: "Uh, wow! That turtle shell thing! Again! Whoo-boy!" 😂 I love them dearly, but I am not much of a video gamer (outside of really old text-heavy games...like Kings Quest or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game) so I'm definitely not doing a great job of watching OR typing-while-thinking! Anyhow, YES--our kids are off school this week (hence the traveling) and it's full-on right now. I feel you, sister.
I know nothing about video games really, so I feel like your only job is to sit on the couch. You could read a book, right? How much interaction is truly required from Aunt Elayne other than existing in the space?
Oh, sweet, sweet Julie. Sweet innocent Julie, who knows nothing of cousins who elbow, knee and otherwise jump upon you if you do not respond promptly. 😂 My boys are good sitters! The others...well, they are their own people. 😂
Thanks for highlighting this concept of building a career without a plan. I love the idea that he didn’t consider anything a wasted effort. Like he made a huge effort to learn an instrument and didn’t use any of it but still considered it valuable. Such a good way to go about the creative process! I get worried about “wasting time” working on the “wrong thing” and I struggle to prioritize my ideas. So this definitely helped. It really is as simple as following your passion because it won’t be a waste no matter the result.
I mean, the hard part is really surrendering to that notion. To put in all the work to learn something or do something and then have it not turn into a marketable product but only build us into our true artistic selves. I fully support the concept, but also I need money. And I think leaning into all of this--following curiosities and building my artistic self--will ultimately lead to stronger successes, but it is an inefficient way of earning money.
Haha, yes. That’s a good point. Honestly this is why I waited to quit my job for so long. Because I know the financial pressure can impact that feeling of freedom - it can make it harder to let go and let yourself learn and explore things. Doable but tricky sometimes.
Sidenote but related to your comment about how our explorations develop us as an artist even if the result isn’t “usable.” : have you read A SWIM IN A POND IN THE RAIN? In the intro chapter, Saunders describes achieving an iconic space -- “the place from which they will write the stories only they could write, using what makes them uniquely themselves--their strengths, weaknesses, obsessions, peculiarities, the whole deal.” His goal with his students is to help them acquire “the technical means to become defiantly and joyfully” themselves. It made me realize that reading and studying stories is kinda like learning that instrument and not using it. We don’t get anything tangible from reading BUT it helps us achieve the state of being essential to creativity. I think if I could apply a reading mindset to the act of creating things, it would help me nurture my ability to explore without goals a bit more.
Ha, not only have I read A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, I pretty much completely rearranged my schedule/workday/work habits/creative life because of it! It's so good. It pushed me to play a lot more, and to really realize how much everything in my life can feed into the writing.
I should probably reread it. The other big change that it led me to was a print-revise-repeat practice. I was an occasional printer before, but I realized I really do work better when I'm sitting away from my computer with a red pen in my hand, writing all over a printout.
This was great! I'm currently reading Start More Than You Can Finish A Creative Permission Slip to Unleash Your Best Ideas by Becky Blades. I can't take credit for finding it, I read about it on either a social media thing or one of the many newsletters I read! It is on my list to better track where I find these things, so that I may credit the founder when I share them!
In any case, this book talks about just doing your ideas. Not overthinking them, just start. And see what happens. It doesn't matter if you don't finish, you may finish later, it may spark another idea, that you do finish. The point is to start, to explore, to create. Which I think is how I operate. A series of trial and error, starting before I actually know what I'm doing, and figuring out along the way! This book has finally made me realize, I think, that I need to stop trying to make myself fit into the planning, goal setting, plotting, organized way of doing work. That isn't how I operate. It's never been how I operate. I just do what feels right. And hope that it comes together! So I think I'm like Paul Cezanne, I just keep trying things to see what I like, and what works. And I'm going to keep doing that!
I've also placed a hold on the audiobook you mention. Seems like something I might enjoy!
I am so great at not keeping track of where I hear about things either, but let's say you heard about Start More Than You Finish the same place I did, probably, wherever that was. I've been hearing about that book a lot and you have absolutely convinced me to get it and read it. I kept avoiding it because I was thinking, "but I want to FINISH things" as if it was going to be a book about creativity that would be encouraging everyone to never finish anything.
I'm on vacation this week, visiting family on the East Coast, and it's fair to say I'm behind on absolutely everything. BUT I still am trying to keep up with my Julie! Which is good because the wandering method is definitely my method. 🤯 I love iterational work--and letting curiosity lead.
Unrelated: you might have hit on the only TV show from the 80s that I don't think I ever saw with Love, Sidney! I looked it up and didn't recognize the photo stills at all. Somehow, that made me simultaneously sad (I missed a show!) and happy (I missed a show!)
Good luck with Upbeat Polka this year! 🪗 Also, guess who has two thumbs and tried her first Cel-Ray today?!?! That's right! "It me!" Yum!
Wait, a day later I realized: did she tell me she had a Cel-Ray??? You did! What did you think?!
OMgosh, yes--it was delish! We immediately got a second (because my youngest son kept wanting to "try it" and was basically draining it) and my older son got a Moxie soda (which he also very much enjoyed) and then we were cracking up because we realized that was bottled in Mukilteo, WA, which is like 30 minutes from our house. And we had never had one! We clearly need to get out more. LOL.
WAIT I DON'T BELIEVE YOU ABOUT MOXIE BEING BOTTLED IN WASHINGTON. Sorry for yelling. But...what? I mean. Oh. I don't know how soda companies work. But I want to very fervently assert that Moxie is a Maine soda. I'm glad you liked Cel-Ray!
I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it! I know it's the official Maine beverage--and it's from New Hampshire! It's probably bottled in several locations, but the one we got in a glass bottle the other day said it was licensed from the NH peeps, and bottled by Orca beverages. I'm sure there are other bottling plants!
Also, I will definitely get ahold (somehow) of a six-pack of Cel-Ray for celebrating little wins! I just have to figure out how to hide one at a time in the fridge without the kids finding it, so it will be cold when called upon. Maybe in the crisper! Or the very, very back of the cheese drawer, where I keep the stinkiest cheeses that the others tend to leave alone. 🤔
The internet is telling me it started in Massachusetts, but is "popular throughout New England" and other than the fact that it was originally called "Moxie nerve food" that's all the research I feel like doing.
I relate deeply to trying to hide the good soda/food/drink/whatever in a forgotten corner of the fridge, which is truly an impossibility. In this house, at least.
I truly thought there would be all kinds of information and web pages and think pieces about Love, Sidney. It's not like I'm the queen of obscure content or anything. And it's Tony Randall and Swoosie Kurtz! In vaguely related news, I was telling my daughter Zuzu about Davey and Goliath (did you watch THAT?) (we were talking about how I loved it and had no clue it was religious when I was little) and all 90 billion episodes are streaming, so at least some parts of my childhood viewing habits endure.
Have a great trip in my time zone! I'm so honored reading my newsletter makes the cut for vacation activities.
Laughing hard because I did see a few episodes of Davey and Goliath because my best friend's dad was a unitarian minister (in Louisiana) and everything at their house was at least tangentially related to his calling. The best part is that I got exposed to a lot of early U2 music. :) The worst part is that dinners (to me) seemed to take forever because grace was informal and family members liked to "riff" for all of the things they were grateful for and they had a very large family. 😂
I wish we were closer to Maine, so I could shake you down to go out for a coffee! Alas, we are in North Carolina and then, as of today, Virginia. We visited Nick's family at the front of the week, and our SIL happened to go into labor and have her new baby while we were there so that added a lot of excitement to everything! And now we are visiting my brother and his family (including my truly delightful SIL), so we're having fun seeing a bunch of D.C. sites today. We haven't seen most of these relatives for at least 6 years or so because we were in Australia and then COVID etc. etc. etc. so it's all been Zoom for a very long time and it feels very nice to get some big ol' hugs!
Hugs to you, too, Peach!
I *love* that the first time you're seeing these relatives in years, one of them has a baby. That is so special, truly! I wish you were visiting closer to Maine, too!
For a sec I thought you got exposure to U2 via Davey & Goliath, and I was like: no. Different thing. There is no rock music in D&G. But then I figured it out. My kids are off school this week and as a result I am only reading half of every sentence.
It doesn't help that I'm writing you while pretending to watch the cousins play Mario Kart. Them: "Aunt Elayne! Aunt Elayne! Watch!!" Me: "Uh, wow! That turtle shell thing! Again! Whoo-boy!" 😂 I love them dearly, but I am not much of a video gamer (outside of really old text-heavy games...like Kings Quest or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game) so I'm definitely not doing a great job of watching OR typing-while-thinking! Anyhow, YES--our kids are off school this week (hence the traveling) and it's full-on right now. I feel you, sister.
I know nothing about video games really, so I feel like your only job is to sit on the couch. You could read a book, right? How much interaction is truly required from Aunt Elayne other than existing in the space?
Oh, sweet, sweet Julie. Sweet innocent Julie, who knows nothing of cousins who elbow, knee and otherwise jump upon you if you do not respond promptly. 😂 My boys are good sitters! The others...well, they are their own people. 😂
Thanks for highlighting this concept of building a career without a plan. I love the idea that he didn’t consider anything a wasted effort. Like he made a huge effort to learn an instrument and didn’t use any of it but still considered it valuable. Such a good way to go about the creative process! I get worried about “wasting time” working on the “wrong thing” and I struggle to prioritize my ideas. So this definitely helped. It really is as simple as following your passion because it won’t be a waste no matter the result.
I mean, the hard part is really surrendering to that notion. To put in all the work to learn something or do something and then have it not turn into a marketable product but only build us into our true artistic selves. I fully support the concept, but also I need money. And I think leaning into all of this--following curiosities and building my artistic self--will ultimately lead to stronger successes, but it is an inefficient way of earning money.
Haha, yes. That’s a good point. Honestly this is why I waited to quit my job for so long. Because I know the financial pressure can impact that feeling of freedom - it can make it harder to let go and let yourself learn and explore things. Doable but tricky sometimes.
Sidenote but related to your comment about how our explorations develop us as an artist even if the result isn’t “usable.” : have you read A SWIM IN A POND IN THE RAIN? In the intro chapter, Saunders describes achieving an iconic space -- “the place from which they will write the stories only they could write, using what makes them uniquely themselves--their strengths, weaknesses, obsessions, peculiarities, the whole deal.” His goal with his students is to help them acquire “the technical means to become defiantly and joyfully” themselves. It made me realize that reading and studying stories is kinda like learning that instrument and not using it. We don’t get anything tangible from reading BUT it helps us achieve the state of being essential to creativity. I think if I could apply a reading mindset to the act of creating things, it would help me nurture my ability to explore without goals a bit more.
Ha, not only have I read A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, I pretty much completely rearranged my schedule/workday/work habits/creative life because of it! It's so good. It pushed me to play a lot more, and to really realize how much everything in my life can feed into the writing.
Oh wow, that is amazing! I’m in the middle of it right now. It is so good. My favorite book on writing.
I should probably reread it. The other big change that it led me to was a print-revise-repeat practice. I was an occasional printer before, but I realized I really do work better when I'm sitting away from my computer with a red pen in my hand, writing all over a printout.
That’s a great idea. I’ll have to try it out!