I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've dreamt of starting a creative side hustle. I've had countless conversations with friends and an embarrassingly large pile of post-it notes and journal entries full of ideas and dreams. And yet, I sat on most of them and tucked them into an office drawer instead of sharing them with the world. Paralyzed to take steps forward and scared to be vulnerable. Fearful that I would fail.
It wasn't until I read “Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert that I started to understand the responsibility we have in bringing our ideas to life. There's something so beautifully personal in the ideas we have, and I've come to believe that these tugs and pulls on our hearts and brains aren't there by accident. They're begging to be shared - by us. With our voices.
As I excitedly and nervously take a step forward, here are the guiding principles I plan to follow along the way:
🎨 Do it Messy
I like to joke that I’m a recovering perfectionist. Allowing myself to be messy has been so healing for me - whether it’s messily writing out my feelings or mashing bananas by hand for banana bread. Giving myself the freedom to “do it messy” has opened up so much freedom to take action. Starting wherever you are is exactly where you need to be - you can always come back and refine things later. For example, this blog post! I wrote half of this in my car on my phone in my car after a facial. It was messy, riddled with typos and unfinished sentences, but it was movement in the right direction.
✨ Constraint = Creativity
I had a dream of hosting dinner parties for years and was constantly getting in my own way - my house isn’t big enough, I don’t have enough places for people to sit, parking isn’t easy where I live. I got to a point where my desire to gather people was larger than my need for things to be perfect. And you know what? I figured it out! I found so many creative ways to gather my friends (including a dinner party on a boat).
Don't let future obstacles stop you from beginning. Constraint can often lead to immense creativity and innovation - don't be scared to lean in. It might be the thing that makes your idea come to life.
🚲 First Attempt In Learning
A previous manager of mine and I were catching up one day, and he shared a story about how his kids were taught about failure in school. They were told that FAIL stands for your “first attempt in learning.” This reframing has helped me immensely. It encourages curiosity, how to be gentle with yourself while you're trying something new, and it helps take off the pressure to get it perfect the first time. It's okay to be a beginner at something - you're learning!
🍽 Get a Bigger Table
After a year of finding creative ways to gather my community, I got a bigger table :) Needing more places for people to sit is such a great problem to have and one I'm excited to keep solving for. I can't wait to outgrow all of the tables to come!
So here I am. Doing it messy, embracing constraints, learning as I go, with hopes of needing a bigger table when I get there. Thanks for being here 🤍