My happy medium between manifesting + reality.

I'm all for positive thinking and envisioning what you really want coming true (manifesting, if you will), but lately it seems important to do this without ANY expectation.

No attachment to the outcome.

It's a weird contradiction — to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. (Sometimes I wonder if the back-up plan inhibits the dream from coming true.)

Every night I go to bed and run through a couple of scenarios in my mind:

1. I envision my dreams coming true. All of the wins I will experience the next day. All of the things that can and will go right. All of the opportunities.
2. I prepare for NONE of it happening. I think about what I will do if tomorrow comes and it doesn't appear that any progress has been made. What will I work on? What will I do? How will I go on?

This combination feels pretty healthy for me, but I'd guess it's different for everyone. In the past I've put so much weight in my dreams/hopes/visions that when they don't come true I'm completely crushed and don't know where to go next. So being prepared to keep moving if they don't come to fruition has helped me greatly.

This whole trust thing is tricky, but I hope this practice helps you in some way.

What do you think? How do you cope with uncertainty and your goals? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Press reset: wine + whiskey under the stars.

This #atwildwoman drawing is inspired by writer + adventurer Kira Salak.

The recent Make Your Mark course false-start left me in a weird headspace. I felt directionless and confused, strung out on too much caffeine and not enough sleep, and high on the awesome feedback I received from you guys. (Thank you!!!)

So when a friend asked me to leave Wellington for a long weekend of rock climbing and camping, my gut immediately said YESSSSS!

I packed some shorts and tank tops, climbing gear, 3 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, and walked downtown early Thursday morning. We piled into their little red car and headed north for a weekend of no wifi, no Instagram, no cell phones, no Snapchat, no business chatter.

I didn’t bring a camera. I didn’t vlog. And *gasp* I didn’t hustle.

We lost track of the hours. We woke with the sun. We lived in the AIR. (I realize now how little I feel the actual wind on my skin in the Monday-Friday burn.) We fell asleep to singing locusts. Made coffee over open flames.

We drank wine and whiskey and swam under the stars and laid in the grass as we watched satellites pass through the sky, up and down, left and right.

Four days sleeping on the ground and playing in the dirt left my skin tanned, salty, and covered in dust.

We climbed on rocks all day. High in the sky, nothing keeping you from the ground but a few pieces of metal and some rope. In those moments—when my skin pulsated on a sharp piece of volcanic rock beneath my fingertips, when I could reach farther and risk falling 15 feet into the unknown—I wasn’t thinking about email open rates or Instagram captions or $100K goals.

And in the moments between we shared stories and laughed and acted like kids again. At first it felt like waking up on another planet. I almost forgot how good it feels to play for the hell of it.

It was muscle I hadn’t worked in a while, but by the end I danced around, laughed a lot and smacked high-five’s right along with the rest of 'em.

It was a weekend I'll never forget. It was summer, and we were young and free. 

That is life. Real life. People. Love. Friends. Jumping into cold water. Gathering. Laughing til your stomach aches. Feeling scared. Pushing your limits. Saying YES.

If you want to be a better entrepreneur or artist or creative, live your life. Live REAL life—whatever that may look like for you, but NOT just on a screen.

Say yes to something real. Go to a new city. Go on a date. Be uncomfortable for a hot second. Sweat. Look your lover in the eyes. Climb a tree and watch the sun set. Let yourself stop and be overwhelmed by the beauty.

LIVE.

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Looking for creative projects!

Did you know I am a graphic designer/illustrator and I am open for new projects? Well I am! I’ve got 4 mini branding package spots left this winter/spring. Or, if you're on the hunt for hand-drawn, whimsical, memorable illustrations + design, email me. Anyone can hack some graphics on Canva—let's make yours unmistakably stand out from the pack. Reply and tell me what you've got cookin'!

No projects on deck? I'd still love your support!

If you’re not looking for a designer, I’d be so grateful if you would consider contributing to my Patreon page.

By saying YES to even $1 or $5, you are investing in ME. It is my mission to delight and be real with you. To share all the battles and victories. To build a community of people who believe in the power of pure, heart-centered, honest creativity.

This isn't just for me. This is for you. This is for you if you feel like you don't fit into any one category of 'entrepreneur', 'artist', 'designer' or anything else. If you feel like everyone's telling you what to do, but nothing feels right. Like you have so many ideas and curiosities that seem to conflict. Like you don't really belong anywhere.

You belong here. By investing in me you are becoming a part of my tribe, and we're in this together.

Great things are on the way. I KNOW it.

Why I closed enrollment for my course.

Recently I launched early enrollment for my course Make Your Mark. I brewed a pot of coffee at midnight. I stayed up til 3am writing, editing, optimizing. I went over my launch checklist again and again and again. I hit 'SEND.'

I went to bed with a sinking feeling in my stomach.
I woke up with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

At noon, I closed the shop. I deleted every Instagram post and Facebook mention of the course. I spent the next day under the covers, embarrassed, crying and questioning everything I'd worked so hard for.

---

Why? Before I get into that, I need to tell you:

I am NOT launching Make Your Mark right now. I AM still making it, but I don't exactly know what IT is yet. Maybe a course. Maybe a book. Maybe a video series. Maybe something totally different, or exactly the same. All I know is, I am not ready to sell it to you right now. To those of you who were interested in the course—thank you. I truly am grateful, and I'm sorry if this change is confusing or disappointing.

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Now here’s what happened.

When I started making this course I stopped listening to my creativity. I started envisioning making a bunch of money (nothing wrong with that). I started listening to fancy online biz people talk about how they made $100K on their first course launch. I thought I should to follow their MUST-HAVE'S for it to be 'successful'.

I started ignoring that little rebellious voice inside that says “You don’t have to do it their way”.

So I followed the biz people's lead. I started offering ‘content upgrades’. I pimped out my website with opt-in forms and emotional language. I announced a pre-sale 'early enrollment' for my course.

“You can get PAID to MAKE your product”, they squealed over Periscope! Well, okay! That sounds amazing! I gave it a go.

Annnnnnd it felt like complete crap. I felt like I was lying (even though I wasn't, technically) and trapped. Giving you guys the OUTLINE of the course without having CREATED the whole thing yet put an immovable box around my creativity and vision.

Online business resources can be super helpful and motivating, but it's crucial to remember why you are making something, and at the end of EVERY day check in with your gut to see if there are any red flags.

My red flags:

1. I never wanted to make a 'course'. I've actually always cringed at that idea, even though I love taking courses from others. Go figure.
2. I started focusing on money and numbers and flashiness instead of the art or what would be most helpful to those taking the course.
3. I was more excited to market the course than actually make it.
4. I lost that buzzy feeling I get when I'm making something I truly love + believe in. (That's the only way I can describe it!)

That's where I am now. It was a rough experience, but today I stand in clarity and confidence that all of this happened to give me a great business/creative lesson that I will never forget. I hope sharing this story is helpful to you in some way.

Are you going through a similar experience? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

But do you have the RIGHT idea?

So you have an idea, you say?

An idea for… your future biz, your artwork, your life plan, your next move, your New Year’s resolutions…

But is it the RIGHT idea?

Deciding if you have the right idea is the hardest thing ever. To take you through the figuring-it-out process, I’ve created a super practical flowchart for you.

Subscribe below to access the free IDEA flowchart!

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Get the gist?

There is no RIGHT idea.

There are just different ideas. Each with its pros and cons, and every point weighted differently, which makes that whole pro/con list thing awfully complicated.

About a year ago an idea came to me. I knew I ultimately wanted to work for myself, but I had a pretty cool day job that I wasn’t ready to quit. So I decided to move forward with my idea—I wanted to cut my work hours to half-time so I could take on a few freelance clients while keeping my job. I pitched the idea to my boss. 

She said yes!

That liiiiittle idea—just one step—changed everything for me.

I stopped waiting for the RIGHT idea and moved forward my one, present, 'mini' idea. The fastest way to figure out if your idea will work? Make a small batch and taste test!

This is the point of my ebook EXPERIMENT, and has been the theme of my life.

Here’s what experimenting with mini ideas looks like for me:

• Went to school for journalism
• After graduating realized I didn’t want to do that
• Tried travel writing, didn't like it
• Moved to marketing and communications, closer, but not quite my jam..
• Morphed into graphic design, got tired of working for others
• Tried freelancing, I like it!
• Beginning to make my own products and sell my art

It’s all an experiment. Test. Pivot. Test. Pivot.

And I’m sure I will pivot at least 2840239 more times before I die.

Does it sometimes come down to a gut feeling? Yes. But I find that instead of putting so much weight and pressure on CHOOSING THE RIGHT IDEA, just say, ‘Hey, I’ll try this little thing first, and go from there.’

You don’t have to quit your job, or cover a massive floor-to-ceiling canvas in oil paint, or move to Paris TOMORROW.

You can start small TODAY. Start where you are with whatever small or big idea that’s tugging at your curiosity. Wake up tomorrow, see how you feel, and go from there.

It’s that simple. There’s no RIGHT idea.

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The Anatomy Of A Creative Self Pep Talk.

No matter what you choose to make, one thing is for sure. There will be hard times. Making stuff is hard. There will be low lows.

There will be moments where you feel like you’re losing and like no one understands. You will feel like you’re not good enough. You will want to run away and hide.

Putting your work out into the world makes you vulnerable. You won’t always have a teacher or a friend or family to reassure you that you’re amazing and can do whatever you put your mind and efforts to.

Sometimes you have to do it for yourself, even when you’d rather eat a tub of ice cream in bed in the dark while watching reruns of Real Housewives.

That’s why it’s so important to master the art of the self-pep talk.

This practice has been crucial to my creative resilience.

The Anatomy of a Creative Self Pep Talk:

1. Take a moment of self-awareness. When you want to cry (or already are crying) realize what’s happening. You’re at a low point. Recognize the sadness, the feeling of helplessness, or whatever other negative emotions you’re feeling. Feel them fully. Be gentle. Allow yourself some time to cry and breakdown. Let it all out.

2. Separate your mind from your inner artist. Take a moment, breathe, and talk to your creativity—your inner artist. (This might sound a little crazy, but trust me, it helps.) Your inner artist is hurting. Console her/him. Stroke her hair. Tell her it will be okay. Tell her what you would want your mother to tell you when you were a kid and felt sad about being bullied or not fitting in.

“Don't doubt yourself, that's what haters are for.” ―Turcois Ominek

3. Take a moment to picture yourself coming out of this valley and rising. Visualize your future victories—what it will feel like, where you will be, who will be with you. Will you pop Champagne—picture how that will taste, how the cork popping will sound. KNOW that you will come out of this funk. You will (you know that, right?). You will. Remember that, and know it will come eventually.

4. Remind yourself of all the greats who went through YEARS of low points. Vincent Van Gogh. Emily Dickinson. Henry David Thoreau. Edgar Allen Poe. John Keats. Claude Monet. 

5. Parallel yourself to these greats. Maybe it’s a little arrogant or far-fetched, but this is one way I pick myself up out of these moments of feeling worthless—by remembering that I am not alone, and there is always hope for me. Use these folks as case studies, as fuel. Relate to them and their hardships. It’s almost like it’s you against the world.*

*I say this with side note, because it really isn’t you against the world, but this mindset can be a valuable tool to get out of a funk and believe again. I don’t dwell too much in this space, though. I don’t want to become bitter or put a divide between myself and the rest of the world for any extended period of time.

When I am in a really sensitive space I can either be discouraged and saddened, or I can use this tactic to be encouraged and revved up. I think: “I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU”. This is just personally how I spin it to be able to keep going when nothing seems to be working and no one seems to be caring.

“If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” ―Vincent van Gogh

6. Remember that this is your story, here and now, and all the setbacks simply make it more interesting. Those are the best stories, aren’t they? As Liz Gilbert says, “Mastery is boring”. The journey is the fun part.

7. Get mad + let it out. Feel ANYTHING but sad. Curse. Throw things. Get angry. March around your room declaring that you are good enough and your art is perfect as it is. (YOU ARE, AND IT IS.) Stand by your art. The truth of what you love and make is NOT at the mercy of others’ reaction to it. It’s great because YOU say it is.

8. Say (out loud) what you know is true: “I can do this”. Say it once. Say it again. Keep saying it until you believe it. Until you feel a flicker of conviction beneath the words. Say it again. Get louder. Say it over and over and over until you’re so on fire that you’re ready to get back up and tackle what’s next.

9. Get to WORK. Make plans. Don’t dwell on your last creation. Be so busy that you don’t have time to be sad about how your last piece didn’t sell or wasn’t well received. Keep going. Make, make, make, and make some more.

Next time you could use a little more pep in your creative step, I hope these pointers can help you out of your funk. It's a hard place to be, but you just have to remember that this too, shall pass.

I promise!

Want a FREE printable of this post for your bedroom or studio wall? Got you covered! 

Why Owning 24 Items of Clothing Is Good For My Creativity

Personal note: I own 24 pieces of ’regular’ clothing. (This does not include underwear, socks, or workout items.)

15 tops.
1 pair of jeans.
2 dresses.
2 pair of shorts.
1 raincoat.
2 down jackets.
1 scarf. 

Every morning I go to the closet, and my choices are pretty limited. I usually grab a pair of jeans and a sweater without even thinking.

Meals each week are pretty basic as well—homemade soup, fish and veg, salads, tacos, eggs—although I occasionally like to experiment with a new recipe to change it up every couple months.
 

Simplicity stimulates me.


I know not everyone will feel this way. Every day that I go with just the basics, the more content I feel personally, and the more inspired I feel creatively.

Enter: Georgia O’Keeffe. She's been inspiring me a lot lately. I’ve been reading the massive text —Becoming O’Keeffe, The Early Years— as well as a recent spread in Vogue Australia about her monastic, simplified personal style.

Photography by Alfred Stieglitz, 1918

While Georgia (to my knowledge) never spoke to her personal style and minimalist nature, I can’t help but believe this somehow impacted her creativity.

I’ve seen a preference for personal simplicity in lots of ‘successful’ creatives. Ever notice when a designer comes out after a runway show, they’re often dressed in head-to-toe black or other simple garb?

A creative life requires dedication and a focused energy that can easily be lost to fruitless activities like scrolling through endless social media feeds, trolling celebrity gossip, shopping both online or spending a whole weekend at the mall…

Not to say there is anything wrong if you want to indulge in any of those, but every time you do (I am saying this to myself, too) that is a choice.

There’s nothing wrong with loving fashion and wanting to adorn yourself. It’s all just a choice. Do you choose to use your creativity in that way, and that feels good to you and makes you happy? If so, then good on you! Seriously.

But if you’re dressing yourself in the latest trends because you really want to create,maybe you need to be honest with yourself about that.

In every moment, you can choose to consume or create.


Of course, it’s a balance—life includes both. But there are certain types of consumption that do not allow creativity to build on it.

Lately I’ve been choosing my creative practice over things like drinking wine in the evening or watching countless hours of reality TV.

These things (probably) don’t give anything back to you. They suck your creative energy away. They are creative vampires!

There are other ‘consumption’ outlets that actually give back to you, the consumer. Reading is one for me. Eating really good food. Watching a documentary. All of these are forms of ‘consumption’ that (usually) leave me feeling better than when I started.

I can FEEL the creative energy stirring up when I choose to forgo alcohol, get dressed in my daily ‘uniform’, or turn my phone off at night for a couple hours of dedicated painting time in my ‘studio’ (which is now the bathroom. I quite like it).

I minimize the number of things that require my creative energy and instead choose to spend it on actually making the stuff I’m here to make.

What can you choose today that will sustain your creativity? What will actually give back to you instead of sucking you dry?

Maybe you need to ask yourself (I know I do)…

• Is the alcohol worth it?
• Do you really think that new outfit will make you happy?
• Count how many hours of TV you watched last week. What if you spent even just half of that time working on your craft?
• When was the last time you were in complete silence — no podcasts, no music, nobody talking to you?
• What habits do you view as ‘reward’ for a long day of hard work, that leave you feeling even more exhausted?

If you want to make stuff, you have to make hard choices sometimes. Living a creative life requires discipline and loyalty to the great inspiration living within you.

Choose creativity!

The Year of Making is NEVER over.

#theyearofmaking is over…but is it really?

Just one year ago — January 2, 2015 — I decided to start making stuff. Art. For myself. For pure fun and exploration. Up until that point, I’d learned most of my creative skills at the various jobs I held after college.

I went to school for Journalism, but realized after graduating that wasn’t what I wanted to do professionally. So I pivoted into communications + marketing.

All of my gigs started as writing roles, but shifted to mainly design by the end. I taught myself Photoshop and Illustrator by watching Youtube tutorials and free classes on Lynda.com.

After taking a job as a full-time graphic designer for Danielle LaPorte, I realized thateverything I made was for other people and brands.

I didn’t know what my real aesthetic and visual creative voice was. And that’s why I started The Year of Making.

I bought a little Wacom tablet and vowed to create one ‘web graphic’ every day for the year. I had no idea just how much would change once I began.

When you choose to start — to make — something shifts. A vacuum appears as your creativity is expressed, and it’s continually replenished by even more (different! exciting!) creative energy. 

The more you give — the more you make — the more you get back.

Within a month, my creativity began to gain traction in real life. I won a design contest for Darling Magazine, companies began to feature my work, and people sought me out for freelance design projects. The window of opportunity to go off on my own was there, so I decided to take it.

This whole year has been one big experiment. I started doing little web graphics — editing photographs and making digital collages — then shifted to typography andgraphic design, followed by taking and editing video — a short stint of vlogging — and then fine art, including painting, drawing, and even a bit of sewing.

I can honestly say this project has changed my life. I quit my job, started a business, sold a few pieces of art, and have an entirely different vision for my future.

And most importantly, I now view myself as an artist.

All this making has lead me to a life that feels more right than ever. I don’t think it’ll ever feel like, ‘Ah, yes. This is it. I’m here. I’ve accomplished it all. I’m done’,but I do truly believe I am where I really want to be.

But it isn’t over. It’s never going to be over. Some days that can feel exhausting, and other days.. exhilarating. 

It’s never over. Every year will be #theyearofmaking.

Advice For Anyone Starting The Year of Making.

It's crazy how fast life can totally change direction. In spring 2014 I had just moved to San Francisco and was working a full-time day job in writing + marketing.

I never would've thought that one day, especially so soon, I'd be a self-employed graphic designer, illustrator, and *this still feels so weird to say* artist.

But all this goodness didn't just fall into my lap. It all began with this, right here! The Year of Making. I really had no idea what I was in for when I signed that pact with myself to create every day.

Here are five pieces of advice I would give to anyone who's looking to change their path and/or start their own Year of Making.

1. Let yourself shape-shift. When things change, stay flexible and flow with it. Try not to fight what is. You may have to rise up from the ashes more than once. Keep rising. Keep changing. Keep experimenting. Stay true to you and you'll find your way.
2. Stay awake. Watch for signs. Call it naïveté, but I believe in little messages from the Universe or God or whatever you want to call it. It's all about being able to notice recurring themes, what stirs the excitement deep inside you, and following those clues with blind faith (except it isn't blind, because your intuition is boldly lighting up the path).
3. Be really honest. When it isn't working. When it feels like you're swimming upstream for something you don't fully believe in. When it's time to let whatever it is die. You can lie to lots of people throughout life, but don't lie to yourself.
4. Always come back to a calm, loving center. Remember what you're worth. Don't put up with anyone taking advantage or abusing you. Fight for your right to live a fulfilled and fruitful life. Tell your stories. One of my favorite quotes is from Anne Lamott "You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better."
5. Resiliency is key. You're going to have to try and try and try again. I know this because I've had to make a zillion turns off of old trails just to get here. I'm only 25 and in the early stages of creating and I know there will be so many more twists and turns.

It doesn't need to be January 1 to start The Year of Making. I can't say fully explain what a massive shift this project has created in my life. It hasn't been easy, but it's been absolutely, without a doubt, worth it.

Slow. Steady. Solid

I think it’s important to experience the lows of creativity + business, and I don’t agree with those who say entrepreneurs should never sleep. In order to have a sustainable business or creative life you NEED to respect your natural cycles.

As my coach says,

“You want to be the Nordstrom of your industry, not the H&M.” 

Slow, steady, solid.

Someone asked me the other day: “How do you stay motivated?”

Answer: I don’t. There are days or weeks that I go without making big moves in my business or art, but when you step back and look at the whole picture, I am still moving forward.

If I stand still for too long without even making a little movement, I stall out. And before I know it, I’m creatively paralyzed. 

It’s happened before — when I had a day job and I could go weeks or months without making anything. Just binge watching Netflix, drinking lots of wine, eating ice cream every night. (That was when my livelihood didn’t depend on it.) 

If you want to make a living being creative, or if it’s just that important to you that you don’t want to stall out, you’ve gotta get back up one day.

Consuming is easy, making is hard. It can be easy at times, but you’re wrong if you think it should always be. Don’t wait until it feels easy again.

You know when you’re recovering from a cold and you’re so exhausted that you can’t leave the house for a few days? After a while it can be hard to tell the difference between true exhaustion and laziness. If you stay in bed too long, you end up being even more tired than if you’d just get up and shake off the cobwebs.

Take care of you AND have the self awareness to recognize: Are you really tired and needing a rest? Is it time to get back up again? Could you be afraid to start again? Are you just being lazy? There’s no shame. Just do what you gotta do.

Solid. Slow. Steady. You got this.

Choosing Quiet + Trust

Business and creativity can go through weird funks just like any other aspect of life. In the past I've tried to 'fix' my way out of these lulls, but this time around I am choosing to be quiet and simply trust that everything will begin flowing again when the time is right.

It is okay to go quiet. It is okay to feel uncertain. It is okay to not be UP all the time. Honor your rhythms.

But I still wanted to pop in, say hello, and wish everyone a happy summer/winter/holiday time. (It's officially summer in the Southern Hemisphere!)

If you're going through a low-energy phase, know you're not alone. Here are a few wise words that people have shared recently, along with resources that may help:

• James Victore 'Choose Joy' Burning Questions Video: "Let everything happen to you — the beauty & the terror — but just keep going, because no feeling is final."
   
• For When You're Actually NOT Okay [A Self-Care Printable]
   
• Words from my coach/therapist, Angie Dairou: "You can trust this "winter' part of your rhythm. Instead of judging yourself for not being in summer more often, you can really trust that this is your life energy wanting to make your growth sustainable."
   
• Thoughts from an amazing woman in my mastermind group: "I don't think we should have to struggle everyday to work towards our dream, I think that sometimes it's simply a matter of time - it was for me. Shift your fear into feeling safe ... then the rest will follow."
   
• And, of course, always go back to gratitude. Even if you can just name three teeny tiny things you are grateful for — chapstik, drinkable tap water, this nice-smelling candle — it really helps to raise your vibration.

Should I quit creative entrepreneurship & join the Peace Corps? (Plus FREE ebook chapter download!)

I had a different post lined up for this week, but after the terribly tragic events that happened this past weekend, I want to shift gears and touch on a topic that has weighed on my heart for a long time...

When it comes to global tragedy and suffering, "Am I doing enough?" is a question I continue to ask, especially around my creative career.

I used to feel guilty for wanting to be an artist and make a living by sharing my creativity when there’s so much suffering. 

I sometimes feel I should be on the “front lines", helping people directly.. You know, maybe joining the Peace Corps, starting or working for a non profit, studying to one day become a politician or UN ambassador.

So I asked a few amazing, gifted, deep thinking and feeling creative women in my life about this idea of how to justify personal and professional creative pursuits in a world with so much pain and injustice.

I could go on, but I'll hand it over to them, now. Their thoughts are incredibly illuminating, wise, and truthful. You'll want to keep reading.

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Spoiler alert: Following what makes you happy is the best thing you can do for the world. Might that be entrepreneurship? Go to the bottom of this post for a free chapter download of my ebook EXPERIMENT: The less-complicated + reallyreally fun way to become self-employed.

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Dana Balicki, Transformational Coach, DanaBalicki.com

"I spent nearly all of my 20s and a good portion of my early 30s as a political activist. On the front lines. For years I knew I was doing the right thing. And [during] those years so many people exalted me for doing such important work. And the work is important. [But] it's not the only work. 

Who the fuck says that loving yourself and your form of expression and having the courage to share it is any less important than me trying to arrest a war criminal? It's not. We only grow when we dare to stretch. I became a coach (I serve artists and activists) because I saw how stuck we were. How willing we were to put those (important) causes above our own (petty) needs. I saw brilliant, vibrant change makers flame out.

If we believe our dreams and desires are petty then we are just internalizing the broken, poisonous paradigm that keeps us all small and afraid to be our boldest, brilliant selves.

Creativity is essential to change."

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Laura Silverman, Writer, GluttonForLife.com

"Do your best. If you set an intention to bring grace and peace and transformation to the world, and meditate on this daily, you will begin to find ways to effect change. 

As an artist, all your hopes and fears and desires eventually come out in your work and your work communicates to others. 

We cannot stop falling in love, eating, dreaming—all the big little things of which life is made—in order to put the world to right. 

Some of us will make tiny gestures; others are capable of more epic acts. But together, doing our best and being mindful of what want to accomplish, we shall overcome."

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Annika Martins, Writer, AnnikaMartins.com

"When your work creates a feeling of alignment and flow for you, you're making a contribution to the planet. 

Sometimes it’s so blatant — you walk into an orphanage, you feed a child. Blatant, obvious contribution. I can see that. I can’t always see the immediate impact made by my friend who’s an actor. Is she really making a difference in the world because she goes on TV every week and plays a character? I don’t know.

But what I do know is that if I encouraged her (or anybody) to move into a job that does "good, social justice work" but does not light her heart up, then I am priming her for the opposite of joy and fulfillment. I'm basically encouraging her to sign up for a life of disappointment and sadness, which is the same dark place that someone has to be in, in order for them to strap a bomb to their chest.

Every contribution that is made from a heart that is leaning towards joy and enthusiasm, a heart that wants to support, uplift and add to the love and light and wellness in the world, every one of those contributions matter."

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Lindsey Witmer Collins, Entrepreneur, LindseyWCollins.com

"What we desire is that everyone has the freedom you do, so if you have it, it behooves you to use it. And anyone who doesn't have it would encourage you to do the same. This I know.

Bring brightness and joy and spread beauty. It matters. You matter. 

If you did nothing but pursue your joy and spread it, and that would be all... that would be good."

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Be sure to check out these amazing women and see what they're up to. They're each doing totally different, incredible work. [[Thank you Annika, Dana, Laura, and Lindsey, for contributing and sharing your wisdom!]]

Think on this: Does accessibility lend to lazy creatives?

"Everything is so easily accessible, and because of that you don’t make a lot of effort anymore. When we were young, you had to make up your mind to investigate something ... You really had to search and dig deep. Now if something interests you, one second later, you can have it. And also one second later you also drop it."

- Raf Simons, fashion designer + former creative director, Christian Dior

This is a quote from an interview with Raf Simons, who I discovered while watching the recent documentary, Dior and I (SO fascinating!). I see so many parallels between fashion and art.

Photo courtesy of Style.com

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