Other People's Words
Hello blog friends! Welp, I only missed three days out of my alleged "back to back" blogging week, so I'd say it went flawlessly. Now let's return to our regular blog schedule of one post every week, give or take six months.
Most of the advice I give other people comes from sources I've absorbed from deep within the internet, like some kind of horrifying deep sea fish. Today I'm sharing a few of my favourite bits, so they can help you like they've helped me. You might recognize some common themes from my other posts, namely: keep on truckin' and stop being so hard on yourself all the time.
The Non Zero Day
This little piece of advice from ryans01 on reddit has spawned a whole community of its own. It's pretty simple - let yourself have the occsaional off day, because you're human. But never go to bed having done absolutely nothing. One drawing, one push up, one sentence written can turn a nothing day into an "eh, okay" day. And that's not nothing. Read more about it here:
Monstrous Discrepancies
I used to read a TON of webcomics, but this installment of Winston Rowntree's VIruscomix has stuck with me longer than any of them. Except maybe the best xkcd ever. I go back to this strip often when I'm feeling anxious and overwhelmed. The concepts it explores are nothing new, but it's a nice little hug from the internet and it always makes me feel better. See the comic here:
A Lesson in Perspective
When I started freelancing, I spammed EVERYONE with this. In short, it's an essay by longtime ad industry heavyweight Linds Redding, who developed cancer later in life. His illness forced him to take a closer look at his priorities. I don't always recommend this one, because there are some problems with it - for one, Redding is fairly heavy-handed with his nostalgia for the glory days, which had their own problems. But it's a piece of writing that everyone in the creative industry should read, if only because it reminds us of the enormous, unwarranted sway our work can hold over our lives. Read it here:
Being the Worst Freelancer
Okay, so I haven't been going back to this one for years. But that's because I only just discovered it! Lovely Tamara from The Word Chef shared this post with me after my failure rantings a couple of weeks ago, and it really resonated. Like I've said, and will continue to say - it's so important for freelancers (and, you know, everyone) to share what scares and challenges us. Talk it out, you know? Read more here:
That's all for now. Have a nice week, and try not to do anything dumb. But if you do, don't get all sad about it.