Art by Bethany
I’ve reached a fork in the road as I consider what I am doing here and the value I am adding to you.
In the past instead of tightening the focus, I’ve willing to allow myself and the blog to freely roam where it wanted to, staying within the confines of my main goal: adding value to women and helping them use their creative gifts to create vocations (that actually make money), live lives of adventure instead of settling for traditional mediocrity and create a life doing work and activities that matter.
The short version: I think those of us with creative skills can use them to make a living and create beautiful lives.
Like all good things worth pursuing this is easier said than done.
And I’ve been sensing the need to focus more specifically on a single goal than on a cover-all blog.
I haven’t been able to do what I’ve wanted to encourage others in their journey to do. This has bothered me a lot as I’ve wondered if what I want to do is even worth following.
I won’t take you down the entire rabbit trail of my thoughts but my conclusion ultimately came to 2 main points:
1. Yes, it is possible to live an untraditional creative life.
2. However (and it’s a big however) there is a strong current to swim up against when it comes to creating a self-sustaining creative life and achieving it will take discipline and focus to overcome.
I’ve thought quite a bit about the Launch Your Creative Life blog and website, how I can add value to women and what I need to change to be more useful to others.
Mostly, I’ve been bothered by my own lack of clarity. If I don’t know where I’m going, it’s pretty hard for others to know (and whether they want to go along for the ride).
This was emphasized by a coworker at the day job whom I had sent an email to earlier this week. I had both of my websites in my signature and she had clicked on them and commented about them to me yesterday at work.
“The baking site is very colorful and the recipes are interesting and other site is, well, I don’t know what it’s about exactly, but you are a very interesting woman,” Nishia told me as she gave me a hug and said hello.
"Thanks Nishia, I needed to hear that." I smiled- Nishia clarified what was bothering me about my site.
The baking cookies website is very easy to get. Basically, it’s about baking cookies and finding joy in the kitchen.
But Launch Your Creative Life lacks that focus.
In one way the lack of focus has been o.k. in the past.
But not anymore.
Now, I find myself wanting to be helpful, encouraging and inspirational to women who are trying to find their own creative paths. It’s hard to be helpful when clarity is lacking.
All of this to say….change is coming.
If you are on the mailing list for the e-newsletter, you’ll be getting more information.
And if you find Launch Your Creative Life is not for you anymore, please don’t hesitate to unsubscribe. None of us need any more irrelevant email in our inboxes!
One Helpful Resource for Your Journey
Even though I’m not feeling terribly helpful these past few months, I know a few people who are doing some incredibly helpful things online.
I want to direct you to a podcast by Pat Flynn who talks about the power of focus. I’ve heard many people talk about the subject but Pat chews on it with a clarity that few others have. It’s about a 25 minute podcast and is worth the time to listen to it.
Focus is an area I am working on with more intensity than ever before as I really do want to see some of the seeds I’ve planted and nurtured come to harvest. I think some of you have the same desire.
Take a break, grab an iced tea and take a listen. When you are done, leave Pat a comment about what you think.
p.s. The artwork on this post was done by beautiful sister Bethany AuClair. She painted this for me when she was 9 years old. It is one of my favorite paintings in my collection.
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