- Floating Thoughts
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- Cycle of creative struggle
Hey 680+ friends, it’s Hannah here from Quoted Visually!
Welcome to another issue of Floating Thoughts. Let’s dive right into issue 7 🥰
Hands up if you ever experience creative struggle 🙋♀️🙋♂️
I’ll let you in on a secret, I often get ‘stuck’ when creating visuals.
It’s not always an effortless process.
Sometimes the ideas are not flowing.
But when we get stuck here, it can feel overwhelming and endless!
Embrace the mess
Creativity is messy by nature. We are problem-solving and so when faced with a problem, feeling a sense of friction or struggle is inevitable.
We have to dive into the pool of uncertainty for an unknown period before resurfacing with a solution.
We have to trust that the struggle will end. It’s a cycle.
Despite our efforts to avoid the discomfort, it’s unavoidable.
But the challenge is what makes the outcome rewarding. Through the challenge, we grow and make new connections between ideas.
Nobody is immune to struggle
When we get better at our craft, one might assume that we become immune to struggle and that things just get easier.
Things do get easier.
We become faster. We are better able to cope with challenges. We put systems in place for things like generating ideas, organising files and so on.
But new challenges are always arising.
We have to give ourselves that permission to stumble, fall and fail.
Facing problems is not a sign that we are incompetent, or that we are any less of an expert. Experts struggle with their craft too.
How to cope
Create regularly. This keeps the momentum going.
When stuck, don’t give up, keep brainstorming.
Take breaks. Sleep on it. Give ideas time to incubate.
Get a fresh pair of eyes on the project. Ask someone you trust.
Above all, don’t forget to lean into your support network. You are never alone!
💡 Inspiration
This week’s topic was inspired by George Anderson. See his full post here.
George posted this 6 months ago, requesting that I work my magic on it. I have had this idea in my head for months.
Don’t give up on your ideas. The best ones need time to cook!
We recorded a podcast together back then too. You can check it out below👇🏻
🗞️ Update
This week, I had the great pleasure of connecting with two of my favourite creators on a video call to hype each other up 🤍
Michael @wisdommadeeasy
Among others, we have supported each other for nearly a year now and helped bring out the best in each other.
Our world is ever connected through technology, but it’s people that facilitate and bind those connections.
It’s these human connections that matter most. AI won’t change this.
On our last days on earth, we are not going to care about how much money we made or how many likes we got on social media. We’ll care more about the experiences we shared with the people we chose to keep around us.
Don’t neglect your need to connect with real people!
p.s. I may switch to sending these emails out every 2-weeks. I am preparing to take August off so I’m scheduling everything as we speak.
It’s always a juggling act 😂
That’s a wrap. This was brought to you via the Beehiiv. Thanks for being here!
Feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions, requests or feedback. I will respond to everything before I leave for my August trip.
Big love,
Hannah aka Quoted Visually x
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