out of the loop

I don't use Pinterest

...but I really should.

I was recently lamenting over the fact that I'm no interior designer, I know nothing about wall space or decor, and I'm lousy at color complements. These things are all true. Today, at least.

In Austin Kleon's book Steal Like An Artist, he insists that one of the best practices for developing your personal style is to imitate your role models.

Duh, Lucy. Why else would they be called role models.

Let me finish.

It's not just a matter of imitating their output but also imitating how they go about finding their input. In other words, don't just make what they make. Do what they're doing BEFORE they make it. Which is an age-old philosophy of design as well. "You can't copy a design until you know where it came from."

Well, you can't imitate an artist until you know what they do when they're not doing art.

I took an inventory of all my favorite photographers, designers, writers, bloggers. And they all have a similar system for collecting ideas.

Inspiration journals. Morgue files. Idea boards.

Aaaaand pinterest pages. Ahem.

It is so naive to believe that I can rely on my very limited mental capacity as source material for all my projects. And yet I still do it. I still dive into my headspace and shuffle around the dust exclaiming, "Is this all that's left? Seriously??"

Enter self-doubt. Enter discouragement. Enter a crushing lack of self-motivation.

When all it would have taken to avoid this is a few clicks around the interwebs to collect images of what I'm naturally inclined towards.

In a way, it clears out the dust and sets my thoughts nicely on a screen page like it's a shelf. And I'm free to take them down and use them at any time.

Dope.

My First Fiverr Gig!

About a month ago, I finally signed up for Fiverr.

 

How it works: You offer a $5 service. Someone needs your service. They pay you. You deliver. Fiverr keeps a dollar. You keep four dollars. Next gig.

There's a bunch of artists and entrepreneurs using it to expand their audience and build a portfolio. My life coach has been encouraging me to start something. Just for fun and for practice.

So I signed up, uploaded a photo... 

*procrastination*

*time passes*

... then I created a "for $5 I will create eye-catching event flyers" gig and hit the publish button. A few days later, I got my first order.

I screamed. And danced around. And told my parents.

And I was totally not expecting a countdown.

I read through the graphics request as fast as I could, did the necessary research, wrote out the details and ideas...

I was able to press the DELIVER button after an hour.

Fiverr recommends creating a promotional video for your gig. That may be my next project.

So hey. 20-somethings looking to make extra money. Go sign up and offer something you're good at. You'd be surprised at what people are willing to pay for. No matter what you do, it's a good portfolio addition and the responsibility of producing something of quality on time is a really awesome skill to have.

And yeah, it's only $5 bucks...

But that's like a full meal at Del Taco, yo.

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The Defining Decade | Dr. Meg Jay

A clinical psychologist issues a four-alarm call for the 50 million 20-somethings in America, “most of whom are living with a staggering, unprecedented amount of uncertainty.”

via www.drmegjay.com

Maybe posting resources for my fellow 20-somethings wouldn't be such a bad idea...

I starting reading her book The Defining Decade on my lunch break during the summer intensive in LA. I finished it in San Diego lying on a beach during my much needed vacation.

It's always a weird relief to know that you are not alone in your loneliness or "lostness." I found this book to be mostly educational, inspiring and encouraging. Everything from career choices, relationship advice, and personal well-being to brain development and sociology were conversation starters, both negative and positive.

Her TED talk is basically a summary of the book...

But it's a darn good book for the floundering 20 year-old. Go get.

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Make the most of your 20s: Meg Jay at TED2013