Creating What Feels Right For You
Last week I was listening to Tara Gentile’s excellent podcast with Design Sponge founder Grace Bonney (episode 18). They discussed two topics that have become particularly powerful reminders for me about creating what’s right—what’s right and relevant and paramount for each of us.
Several years ago Bonney was contracted to write a book about crafts or DIY. But after an entire year, she was still putting off the project. As she writes on Design Sponge:
“The concept wasn’t clicking and it wasn’t triggering that part of me that can work nonstop if I feel passionate about something. The internet is flooded with craft ideas (we have a lot of them here already) and I felt like what I really wanted to do was devote myself to creating a book that would make a difference. Something that would inspire creative people to start their own businesses, get through tough times, and show readers examples of people who reminded them of themselves, no matter their age or stage of their career.”
At the last minute, Bonney proposed a different idea to her editor. An entirely new book. Which her editor loved. Bonney still had to adhere to the original deadline, which meant that she had just a few months to find, interview and photograph 100 women about their creative careers. Nonetheless she did it and the book In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs will be out this October. (I can’t wait.)
The second thing Bonney talked about on the podcast was changing the direction of Design Sponge—to stop doing product and list posts and focus more on the conversations that people are having inside their homes, along with how they personalize their spaces and create a home for them. Because the other topics stopped feeling genuine and interesting and, again, right.
This speaks to the importance of focusing away from what’s trendy or popular and refocusing on what’s true for you. To create what’s essential and important and necessary to you. What’s deeply vital for you. To follow the crumbs of your own curiosity, wherever it leads. And never to silence yourself, especially when you realize that the path you’re going down isn’t the right path (for you).
(I mention this often, but isn’t it interesting how the creative process mirrors our lives? How not silencing yourself with your creativity can mean standing up for yourself somewhere else. Creativity is life. I believe that.)
Creating what’s right for us requires checking in with ourselves on a regular basis, so we actually know what we’re thinking and feeling. So we actually know when something is off and we can explore and reflect on this further. What am I feeling about this project? Really feeling about it? Why doesn’t this feel right? What do I really want? What would feel right? What would I want to read, see, feel, taste and touch? What is important to me? What do I need to say? To share? To better understand? What is fascinating to me?
And of course it requires taking action. Which might be tough. Or maybe it isn’t. Maybe once we take the first step to switch directions, we realize it wasn’t as difficult as we’d feared. Either way, it is important. Because our creations, after all, are reflections and extensions of us. Our values. Our thoughts and feelings. Our questions. Our concerns. Our vast imaginations.
Keep checking in with yourself. Often. Pursue what feels right and true for you. Whatever that turns out to be. Stand up for your art. Don’t pretend something is working for you when it isn’t. Don’t ignore the voice that says, I’m not sure. Changing directions is part of the process. Don’t silence yourself.