Lately it’s been raining off and on in Paris and sometimes snowing. Today it’s overcast but I notice bits of white light find their way onto my path as I make my way to the 7th arrondissement. I pass rue de bac, the eric bompard cachemire store, a cafe/restaurant that hasn’t been open since last October called Les Antiquaires. The deep brown and cream early 1900s decor reflects the name but somehow feels older, dustier than even the vintage bike parked out in front of it. I cross the street and step into the Le Pave D’Orsay gallery. The echoing of my boots on slats makes it feel vacant but the color palette in the paintings brings a warmth, an intimacy. Clare Thackey is waiting for me, snuggled to one side having coffee in a mustard cup. She harmonizes with the color palette of her latest paintings in a heather grey v neck wearing a short strawberry bob with bangs and calm with eucalyptus green eyes.
ENERGY “The idea of ‘start’ feels like... “do I have the energy to force it? What if I fail - that I’d have to start something new? What hasn’t worked - that that means beginning again?” “When you think of the word exhausting, what do you think of?” I eye the little brown biscuits she’s offered on the table while she thinks. “Hummm...like you’ve worked really hard…” “...or maybe like your pushing something up a hill…” “...its like - not flowing… “So I guess that idea of start...it’s the beginning of something. You’re about to push something up a hill. It’s not like you’re in the middle of flow. You’ve got all these things ahead of you. Which can be exciting...it can be new...and…” She adds, “refreshing…” “When you push something up a hill, what do you imagine that to be?” I wonder aloud. “Ahhhh you mean like a physical object?” Uh huh, I say. “I think it’s more like a heavy…body...an unfit... heavy load - that you need to build.” She’s imagining this heaviness as she stares up and to the right. “I think also ‘start’ for me also means about a building of a fitness, you know? She looks me in the eye. “As you go on with the project, you build that fitness and you end up in that flow state or whatever that is…” I'm intrigued, “Is that eventually or you do that….in building that…?” “I think a start isn’t that flow state. I think the start is setting the parameters - pushing that thing forward and then you… “...I guess I’m kinda thinking of it in terms of running. You start running...your body aches. You feel all the muscles in your body, you might feel your bones, feel the clicks and what’s not working...and then suddenly you warm up, you get in this flow state.” I let her continue.
I took a swig of coffee as a break to review my notes. I wanted to see if we could go back to expound on that notion of “pushing a physical object” up a hill. She responds, “I guess I was thinking about that metaphor of ‘pushing a rock up a hill’. But then I think the reason why that's hard is because it's your own physical body...your own physical fitness… or..building that conditioning for yourself...to then make that load easier. So whatever that is, the effort is your own limitations and your own body.” "Clare, You mentioned that as you build fitness, it feels clunky. Then it sounds like you’re saying that after a while you get the wheels turning and you finally hit a state of flow. What does ‘flow’ mean to you?” We are no longer alone in our analysis of the painting called ‘start’. A man hears us speaking english. It looks like he’s confused by my California accent and Clare’s australian sound.
“Hummmmm...flow….I’m thinking flow in terms of a psychological idea. It’s that state where you’re in extreme focus, but it's not effort-full. But it sort of feels as though you’re not looking at the clock. Eight hours could pass and you're in this sort of state of focus - you're not lost in it. It's almost like meditation. You’re completely lost in the process. So it's like, you’ve gotten to this peak of this hill of this effort….and then you’re rolling down. Your gaining momentum...you're gaining speed. It's almost like you're riding a bike, riding down a hill...things feel like they're flowing. Which isn't about-I don’t think that’s related to ‘start’. You get all these things together and then you know, you push and push and push and then you’re goooooing you know?” I'm enjoying the enactment of her pushing something - maybe a cart with her daughter inside. “Why do you think you said that? Is that coming from a logical point of view?” “No no...it’s coming from an experiential point of view. I don’t know about you, but like when I start creative processes, I ask myself what are the parameters...what are the rules for this? “At what point do you do this?” “At the start… ...I’m gonna work with these people, limit to these 5 elements or this is the timeframe, the scale, the tools I'm gonna use. That’s the initial effort stage. And then on, it's a matter of executing. You might have influences, different voices, different things coming into it but those parameters are already set. So the flow state is when you’ve got all those things sorted out and then you’re off and running. WHAT IF... Clara talks about setting parameters and building a fitness for a good start.
Clare talked about ‘start’ like Sam (in day 4) did with their hill-peak-rolling analogies. You climb it (like a roller coaster) does or in Clara’s case, push a rock up a hill. Sometimes it looks like setting the parameters and rules for a project and other times writing a proposal. By doing that part, you have ‘started’ or rather ‘finished.’ Then afterwards, it's downhill from there- in a state of flow, the release of exhaustion. I would if we could still find a ‘start’ that’s easier to reach? I’d love to have the benefits of euphoria first...or however you describe flow...before that hard climb. What would happen if we were to reverse it? What if we could say that in order to ‘start’, one would need to flow...first. That in order to get up that hill (representing start), we need to initiate flow. For Clare, flow was all about meditation, a state of extreme focus, being loss in the process. What if one was to do things that felt like meditation, where one could get into that state. Different people have various meditative processes - some do yoga, others do breath meditation. (You could possibly make a case that riding roller coasters puts you in a meditative state.) During our chat, Clare mentioned she liked to run. Would that be one thing to help you get you to a point of flow? My favorite author, at the moment, is Haruki Murakami. He’s written over 21 books and in 2015 was added to Time Magazine’s list of most influential figures. He runs 10K and participates in triathlons at 72 years old. Is that how he gets into a state of flow...how he “climbs”….to ‘start’? What do you think? What is your definition of flow? Of ‘start’? What’s symbolic as the climb for you and what would make it easier? ---------- Check out her pieces on Instagram or on her website. My favorite piece is called Longing Forward, 2020, oil on canvas, 65cm x 54cm. What are yours?
What was going on in 1946? Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France and the first United Nations meeting was held. The British Housing Act also passed providing subsidies for over 800,000 local authority houses and a similar wave for housing construction swept the US and Canada that year as a part of the war effort. How society translates words can make one quite curious. So it seems worth it to take a deep dive into this word, especially since it’s the beginning of a new year. I spoke with Sam Callahan, New York Comedy TV writer, this time about the word “start”. Have a look at our conversation that leads us through an artistic path of processes, images of triangles and ongoing talk of roller coasters. See if you can spot how we could, perhaps, get through the challenge of the “start”. Sam has hair like my aunt - a fluff of unruly blond waves. In our writing co-working group she usually gathers it up in a single puff on top. Before our 45 min-write to 15 min-break routine goes underway, all 14 of us take turns explaining what we plan to work on for that session. Usually it's a revision of a play here, edit a novel there but Sam says she’s rescripting a comedy piece for a TV pilot. During what should have been 45 min of work, Sam and I bombarded the chat box with "oh-my-gods" and "I can't believe you are from the Bay Area toos" and the curious, "how did you become a TV writer?" We've stayed in touch since last year and today I call her on Zoom to talk about Tarot cards and online dictionaries before diving into the interview. How did we get from there to nerding out on infinity notebooks and multi-planners? I finally flip to a new page in my book to take some notes for our interview. “Sam, when you see the word, start, what does it look like?” "Hummm... " She blows out smoke while she takes a cigarette break on the porch. "...commerce..." "...begin..." “...crossing edges...” One of her cats floats across her screen. "What do you mean by that?" "Its a term my life coach uses. It’s like when you come up to an edge, you’re at a precipice or something. In a big way, I’m about to email my boss asking him if I can be on set….ok? It’s a new thing...a scary thing...I’m putting myself out there, out of the gate. So once I send the email, I then, ‘cross the edge.’ “...it’s like a triangle...” She must she my brows knitted and explains more. The imagery in my head is a triangle. So whatever the action is, that’s the triangle...and the edge crossing it, that’s the scary bit. You approach the edge, then it’s all downhill. “So if it’s a triangle, which edge are you crossing?” “The top. The peak….you’re like falling over the peak. Her voice heightens, “Like in a roller coaster. You go up and up and up and up….then you go….wooooooooooooo...scholk!” I’m trying not to laugh but I love that she is reliving the feeling of falling from that peak. Her sound effects are complete with the roller coaster braking sound, “scholk”, at the end to let out passengers. “Do you like roller coasters Sam?” "In actuality, I do actually really like roller coasters...I really like roller coasters." “What was your first-est ... best-est roller coaster ride....like the thing?” I'm looking at my notes, did I really say...first-est and best-est? Oh god. “My first one was Medusa, the highest, at Six Flags New Jersey but the best one was the Batman and the Superman. The Superman one you get strapped in standing up and they turn you over on your belly...there's nothing underneath you...it's like you're flying” (before you start the ride). I’m thinking Sam likes to scare herself...or fly, or both. “The best experience one though, was when I was at a cheer competition and California Adventure opened the park after hours for all the cheerleaders so there was a lot of...peer pressure." She pauses. She said there was one ride that starts on the ground, count-down and goes from 0-60 mph in like a millisecond. I don't remember the name but it was "the" ride. It shot you into nowhere..." She laughs and adds, "...but left your stomach behind." “The entire time I was in line, I was like “no no nope, I’m not gonna do this, absolutely not. What am I doing. Why am I in line?" “Wait...but why?” I was curious why she was still in line. Sam comes back into the house and scoops up her black cat.  “Because it’s terrifying...terrifying. I get so scared. But I like it. And then I get on it and have so much fun. And I get in line again and I think, ‘nope, nope, nope.’ And go through the same thing again.” I look up, reflecting on my upcoming creative projects. I wonder if I could use a sort of adrenaline shot like that to help myself up that ridge of the “start.” I suspect I could take on challenges that actually create that rush...I guess...for the possibility of achieving a goal... She continues in a stop start motion, almost like the ride she’s describing. “If I can-I always try to get into the front row-cause there’s something amazing-cause it’s that crossing edge feeling-except thrilling-feeling." Now slower she inclines back on her couch, “Sooo you’ve got the fear...and then you are coming up to the edge... Ee-rr-ee--rr--ee--rr”...like literally (climbing) up to the literal edge (like the coaster on the hill)-and then as you start to tip over, cause the rest of the car’s going in-there’s a second...you hang there before it falls. Her voice trails off. There's only the sound of me scribbling in my notebook left. I look back up and she jets, “...And you don’t usually feel it as much when you’re in the back. When you’re in the front, you’re dangling over and you can see the slope...of the tracks going down....and you’re like...oh my god...ohmygodohmygod-ahhhhhhhhhhhh…. She plays back the sound of the drop. "...And that feeling - that’s my favorite part ever.” I wonder if I could use a sort of adrenaline rush like that to help myself up that ridge of the “start.” In the beginning of our call, Sam related the word “start” to "an edge”. When we got to the image of "a triangle" she made it seem like the work came in climbing to the top of that triangle ...that process of getting so close to that edge. Then we just simply "drop over and the rest is easy". I am constantly amazed how these examinations always start with the same question, then take us in different directions. Now I'm curious. I make a big asterisk and note to brainstorm challenges or ways to get that roller coaster adeline rush that could perhaps get me up to that ‘edge’. Why not take it as a literal prescription for achieving goals? Maybe watch these roller coaster videos for an adrenaline rush every morning...or do a version of the ice bucket challenge! I'm sure Richard Branson or Elon musk must do something like a plane dive as their "climb" to the edge. But I must say, it's my goal for you, the reader, to make your own conclusions during this series, to see about how this simple examination could inspire you and your creative business. Here were other interesting things I got out of my conversation with Sam about my own process of goal setting. Start means getting to the edge: the tippi-est tip of that triangle example she used. Then the rest is easy. They say, the more you stick your feet in, the more that cold water becomes temperate, the more tempered becomes warm. The first time I read the beginnings of my memoir out loud in front of others, for example, I felt there was like an iron printing press in my chest working overtime. I was panicked! I'm hoping it will get easier. Someone advised me once to set a rule of 5. Repeat the smallest, most minute part of a task from your project five times - to not worry about the result of actual project. I set a small challenge of reading aloud five paragraphs, five different times in my writing group. I’m on the second time. I even panicked more than the first! I’m waiting for the third time next week. I can’t wait until it gets easier. I close my eyes and….start just by finding the part I want to read on my document. Then repeat. Maybe I'll try getting to the edge with Facebook too. Posting on social media isn’t easy right? It’s like putting yourself out there. Maybe I can take the most minute part of that task and do it 5 times like with my reading. Maybe that means I take (or edit) one image each day for 5 days and save it in a folder for future business banners. That's it. Maybe I revise one part of my profile everyday for 5 days. I am just sticking my feet in, feeling the temperature, climbing to the edge. One day when I feel up to posting just one image, It’ll be ready. Then I'll repeat it for five days. If five is too much, I'll try 3! The more small challenges I do, the more I know I will meet my 2021 goals. Write now I’m doing a "wake up everyday at 5am, 6 days a week" challenge. Sigh….2 days done, 4 to go. I also created a crazy 21 day blog challenge! I’ve never written so many posts in a week before! What small challenges or measured changes in your everyday routine is on your list to achieve this year? *start (v.): https://www.etymonline.com/word/start By the way, you know Google of course has everything, even a video of the Incredicoaster from California Adventurer Theme Park Sam talks about. I found a point of view shot from the front row!
Click here to see. Talk about an adrenaline rush for the morning! Nineteen sec in, at the depart, I’m excited. At minute 1:50 I’m yelling in my apartment at 8am, reliving the ‘ohmygodohmygod-ahhhhhhhhhhhh’ moment from Sam’s story. What a way to go from zero.... to ‘start'? You can connect with Sam and hear more stories on twitter, on her Patreon page or on a TV set in New York.
Everyone has their own interpretation of the word “start” and I can’t wait to see how designers and artists, from San Francisco to Paris, examine it.
To recap, my first interview was with Paula Pfotenhauer, designer and patternmaker out of Oakland, CA. Her examination of the word came out artist-fully abstract, yet it surprisingly helped me make concrete changes to my daily routine and have an understanding of “the how” of getting my writing done. Who knew that interpretation would have had those kinds of results? What's around the next corner? Today I have the opportunity to have a dialogue with online retailer turned digital marketer, Miracle Wanzo of Vallejo, CA. I wanted to interview her because when we met back in 2002, she was juggling family, retailing and also in the midst of making lingerie for her site Hip Undies. She gave such valuable insight about her process then, I was curious about how she might be able to help us “see”. As I reflect on my interviews so far, I notice one person manipulates scraps of fabric into a product, the other uses bits of code to development a product. One uses charted analysis to attract customers; the other, drapes jacquard jersey. Each has their own way of converting a customer. With over 25 years of experience, Miracle shares openly. After her lingerie e-store was firmly established, Miracle started producing her own pieces for the store. Dealing with sizing issues and fabric frustrations, she decided to solely focus on how to best market the store and convert shoppers. “Miracle, you’ve dabbled in apparel manufacturing, been featured on podcasts about creating fashion brands, presented as a panelist talking about smart traffic and spotlighted on the blog, My Wife Quit Her Job, explaining how people can run profitable facebook ads to sell physical products online. What should we say your title is?” “Yeah, that’s true. I do a lot of things.” I hear the clicking of the keys on her keyword. It’s 11pm in California. “I’m actually a product developer.” Interesting choice of two words forming her specialty. I met Miracle after I returned to the Bay Area, in 2003, from teaching in France. I didn’t have a clear direction of what I wanted to do. I only knew I wanted to create products and develop them in a way they would make me money. I admitted that to a friend and she suggested I speak to her. “What does the word 'start' mean to you as a product developer?” Miracle gives me three words,“to-take-action." Starting (an apparel line) now is different than when we took that ‘how to make a handbag’ class (after you returned from France). It used to mean making patterns and going to market*. The focus was all about finding sewing contractors and connecting with factories. The barriers to entry were a lot lower. Now, suppliers are easier to find.” I know she could go on forever. She used to write for Fashion Business Incubator. “Yep, (starting) is different these days with the onset of digital patternmaking and even more so with cut and sew sublimation. You’ll be 80% ready (to produce your own collection) with just a couple of modifications of your patterns.” I enjoy talking 'shop' with Miracle. What she means is that after you figure out your design and the print you might want to create, garment panels are cut and printed before they are sewn together. "There were a lot of other steps to this process in the past. You’d have to find a wide format printer and a rolling heat press among other things, even before elements of the garment were put together. Now you just have to choose the right company and you will be production ready in no time. The minimums are lower and (that makes everyone happy).” Miracle was getting down to the nitty gritty of fashion. I almost forget to stay on topic. I come back around to one of the three words she used above to describe 'start.' “Tell me more about that word “action.” “ummmm…” She has a soft voice, her umms and ohhhh are sing-songy and she fits a lot into a sentence so I have to listen carefully. “...executive. “Sorry...what was that...executive?” “...taking stuff from your head to reality." “If you are starting with a product, or at least have a general idea of it, then you take the idea (from your head) to a supplier - try sourcing it directly from them. If it's aesthetically close to yours, you can ask quick questions about it's production time, pricing, etc. Then you use those details to complete or make the final touches to your own design.” I see what Miracle is talking about. She suggests that you could stumble into a profitable design without the problems of well...designing. Take the pricing of the fabric and production costs they have already packaged for someone else and back into the margins or a starting point to negotiate landing cost with another factory, for example. This is very interesting and reminds me I'm talking to a product developer. It’s interesting how our path of analyzing the word start turned into ‘action’, then ‘executive’, and into creating profitable designs. Miracle fills me in on some recent work with designers she’s been doing through her agency called Discover Marketing. “It’s hard to market for them when they are caught up in their brand vision.” “Most designers concentrate on their fashion brand - it's personal - it’s about their voice - their concept. That’s fine but they forget that brands are driven by the market. We need to talk about methodology, I don't care what the product is.” I write in my notes, “brand vision vs fashion brand." “Miracle, if you could market brands or create products for designers, which one would you do?” “Oh that’s a good question. If the brand needs a lot of help with marketing, yes, I might. If I don’t need to fiddle with (the product) a lot...if it's a fun project...cool product...no drama...no egos….their good at their craft….” She trails off into her ideal client and I hear more keystrokes, like that was her finishing thought. I can’t wait to dive in deeper with her and continue our chat. This is part one of my conversation. She’ll talk more about Instashop Vs Amazon Vs Your own e-Shop in our second interview later in the series. *Going to Market: seasonal industry trade shows and meetings bringing retailers customers and designers, buyers.
Before we start the 21 day blog series examining this word called "start" and how it may apply to our design and creative businesses, I wanted to share an experience I had with a mentee recently. We started our conversation with "what's my first step in creating my collection." We wrapped ourselves in product questions like where she should look for fabric, how the margins should be factored in to the final price, what questions she should ask the first time meeting a new pattern maker and more. Something had been tugging at me during our chat and finally towards the end of our session, I asked her if she was interested in being the head of her own company. I think I may have stunned her a bit. Silence I waited, curious about the answer. She stammered a bit and let out, "well, i guess..." I probably should have given her my little workbook to work out answers of key questions, before we started our session but often we start...not knowing where to start. Below I offer you eight key questions to consider before you start diving into the "how" and "what" of your idea. And of course if you'd like some further explanation about each of them, do me a favor and click here to request the small workbook I put together to help you through the thinking behind these questions. I also offer alternatives avenues to head toward, based on your answers. It takes the form of sort of a roadmap of reflection. I often hear consultants tell designers one or two of these at various seminars but I put together a full list based on my own experience. They are pretty important and top among the list of "most know things to reflect on" before you start any creative business, especially a design business. Questions to ask yourself, as an independent designer, before you start:
Paula Pfotenhauer is owner of Jeja Design Studios in Oakland, California. She's spend a large part of her 30 years of design and patternmaking experience overseas in quality control and sourcing and comes from a line of artists. Paula is the perfect person to begin our How to See series. It's 10:23pm and the phone's on its fifth ring, I think I might need to call back.
What will Paula say when I ask her to do a deep dive on the simple word, "start"? She knows how creative and...unusual I can be so maybe she won't look at me sideways and just plunge in with me. "Hi! It's been a while Paula!" We do the hows the family and covid and business and lockdown and go down the path of french nostalgia and design and writing and I tell her I need her designer brain. Paula knows the industry in and out - working in Asia, understanding how factories work, patternmaking for designers helping them create their collection, producing her own line, painting, drawing and making pieces from recycled materials, always practicing zero waste. When I explain the concept of the 21 day blog series on "how to see" the word "start", paper shifts into the phone. I imagine she's looking up somewhere to a corner of her studio, in reflection. Maybe she's sitting on the stool in her studio, right in the middle of two sewing workstations and a huge 5ft cutting table. She's one of my mentors, I've been there more times I can count. What does the word “start” mean to you? “Pulling…” “Pushing…” “...it’s that type of effect that gets you to make a decision. If it feels like a pulling...(like you are being drawn to start), you are lucky. If it's a pushing effect, it's drive. She explains, you are driven to be successful, (maybe) to prove someone wrong. You are successful but not joyfully.” "Hummm, it's like you just have to do it. (Doing ‘it’) takes focus, it’s pure action...without thinking of anything else. It’s a thoughtless thing.” I begin thinking of thoughtless things - yoga, meditation, making something. I wonder if she meant that one must be so focused you don't think of anything else. She continued, “you have to suspend everything else. There is a shift that occurs when you step into it.” "What else does it mean to you?" I pressed on. “Finishing something…” “Giving up a freedom…” Is that why some people don’t 'start' - because it’s like they are giving up a freedom? I wondered to myself. “A battle with authority”, she jets out, startling me. Thank goodness she can’t see my mouth gaped open, astonished at such an unusual response. "What do you mean?" Dad said, “we rebel against our own inward (or internal) authority...that the only real authority is the one that resides within us. Everything else is a choice.” Can you tell me what else the word authority means to you? Obey...oppression...indentured...slave...obligation...something “over me”...authority...Dad taught me to question authority. "Questioning authority?" I asked. She sighed a reflective tone, "like, who is your authority?” “Who do you listen to?” I was so curious this came up, I responded in turn with the question, “umm, how do you find out who that is...or what that is?” “Well...how do you?” I’m done...now it’s your turn (to answer), she handed over. Giving it a good “humph” with a lot of air, my eyes roll up the ceiling, then over to my ficus looking for the answer, a little frustrated now that I'm in the cat birds seat. Pensively, “I think... authority is someone you admire. Someone who can tell you what to do and who you don’t get mad at. It’s who you give power over you... in certain ways.” I reflected more, “I admire certain jazz composers in their complex layering of sounds. Let’s see...I like authors like (Haruki) Murakami. I guess that’s why I aim to get up at 5am- because he said so! I mean it’s not like he called me up and told me if I want to get this book finished, to do it. But I saw a clip with him explaining his own process of writing: awake at 4am, write for 5-6 hours listening to jazz, run a 10k, eat, read, repeat. Something about him explaining his routine resonated with me but I gotta tell you it wasn’t the 4am bit nor the 10k! It’s not like other artists haven’t given “how to be a productive artist” advice like that. Youtube shows tons of people ready to tell you how to write better or be more productive, but you have to “see” the vision they are offering. I “see” Murakami’s. He shows me a way I can create in the quiet of the night at 5am. I see how he plays within and around the boundaries of rules and freedom, in how he communicates. His writing takes place in very real settings, in present time, with very real problems characters experience. Then he weaves in mystical ways of sharing advice or philosophy, not shoving down the reader’s throat. I see his vision for the reader, his creativity displayed. He’s accessible, trustworthy. So yes, I guess I gave him authority over me. After I hung up, I thought more about what Paula mentioned about freedom and authority. I never thought that if I had rules, I could have freedom...and if I had rules, I could “create.” I always wanted the time, space and money to express as I wished. While I was in design school, I couldn’t wait to graduate and “start!” Now, I fully appreciate those moments - creating in a protected, secure environment without time deadlines nor monetary goals. As I look back, I see why some designers design a collection but choose to “never start” manufacturing. Perhaps for some, it’s good enough just to create and don’t have other expectations from the career of fashion. Maybe they take a job doing something else after. They want to simply, realize themselves, see their work manifest from a vision to reality and that is enough. Take Two and Call Me in the Morning: 10 Quotes for Creatives by Symptom to End the Year 2020 Healthy12/22/2020  2020 has been the kind of year that you will tuck inside a box in the side corner of an attic, on top of your most coveted (or eroded) journal, that's locked with a combination you either can or will never remember. Regardless of how you felt about it, the year has cause serious inconveniences in every aspect of our lives. As I reflected on the year, feelings of being an imposter seeped through where I didn't know I stuffed it...anxiety lingered and I needed a quick meditation session (and Calavados) to help me realize the real truth. Since I can't be there with you today to help with either one of those solutions, I put together a list of inspiration I hope will help. Here are 10 quotes, by symptom of what you might be going through, to end the year on a healthy and buoyant note. Let me know which one you gravitate toward the most. Enjoy and Happy New Year. 1. Imposter Syndrome: "Think of the most attractive person you know, even that person at some point, as had raging diarrhea." -Pop Sugar 2. Anxiety from Changing Jobs: "Sometimes it's not what you know, but what you feel that takes over. And that’s ok." -Donny 3. Stress finding Another Job: "Take on a 30 day challenge until you find your perfect job." (not a quote, just the best advice from a friend) 4. Loneliness: "Be the thunder….lightn' then the thunder." (be the spark in someone else's life) - Imagine Dragons 5. Stuck: You can't create originality, it's something that happens to you.- Tyese Cooper  6. Fear of the Blank Canvas:
"Maybe art tools should have expiration dates on them." -Tyese Cooper 7. Perfectionism: "To live is to be willing to die over and over again."-Pema Chodron 8. Solo Syndrome where you feel have the do everything yourself: "A hug to yourself is a drug."-Unknown 9. Doubt Over Covid Vaccine: "Artists are people who have learned to live with doubt and do the work anyway." - Julia Cameron 10. Worried Getting To Close at a Dinner Party: "Garlic, like perfume, must be used with discretion, and on the proper occasions." -Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings  Since my parents' 49th wedding anniversary is today I wanted to surprise them something amazing...something fun….something that would really knock their socks off...or at least shoes. Well, because of covid restrictions in France (uh hummm... cough) procrastination, I didn’t have very much time to put the “it” together...and mail it... and arrive, well... today. I thought about a personalized card but La Poste usually takes 10 days to arrive. I would have asked a friend to pop one in the mail from San Francisco but I felt guilty to have made no effort at all. You know, I had a vision of something really special as a personalized surprise. I envisioned some sort of nouveau telegram service and searched apps like Taskrabbit and Yelp but nothing stuck. Then I remembered that @tenhundred, this artist I follow on YouTube, provides personalized illustrations, in his style. He uses lots of vibrant colors, features couples in weird animal disguises and fantastical made-up characters from the social media world. Could I imagine my parents as weirdo cartoon characters on an e-card? Considering my parents are the ever so slightly conservative golfing buppies in their 78th and 88th year, I gave it a big “naaaaaaa I don't think so". Buuuuut it did give me inspiration to look for other unique artists on Fiverr to create a personalized message for their special day. Looking at some of the talent on this site, makes you blow your mind! There are ultra realistic portrait artists, rapper/singer-songwriters and yes, psychic readers. Since its a general freelance site where you can contract for any service you want, there are also SEO magic makers, marketers and people who can create you an app to automatically send out birthday cards to your family so you don’t have the same uh um (cough) procrastination issue I had.
In the end, I sided in mom’s favor - singing a message with a slant to spirituality. I even dreamed of singing the ghost written song to them myself! Then I remembered I didnt inherit *any* vocal ability. I found the perfect gospel singer and I simply messaged him a few keywords and phrase: “met on a blind date”, “49th anniversary” and “opposites attract." Three days later, @talk2francis emailed beautiful lyrics and sang them in a piano gospel arrangement. If you are curious how it turned out, click here. How could I not create a cheesy slideshow to accompany the song? What a surprise it was to my parents! Since then, I've used the site 3 more times for other gifts - all of the creators received 5 stars from me...and a tip. It's a misconception that Fiverr is simply a pay-for-service site. Think of it more as a site where you "design your own experience". If you give the creator a vision, you are the one designing the experience for your user (person receiving the gift or using the resulting product), not the one you are hiring. You turn the verb of "hiring" into "receiving". You are the one who gets the pleasure of for example, what the character would say; the feeling of receiving the pop up page; the enjoyment of singing that special song; the ad for the discount. By designing the project, instead of listing "to dos", you enter the first step of envisioning the result as a user/receiver. You give them pieces of inspiration, emotional keywords, film, audio, anything to help convey what you want, the user/receiver, to experience...and you in turn, to experience as the designer. You potentially receive something such more than what you are actually contracting for - an experience. If you tried a google search or even looked for facebook friend recommendations, you would contract a service. Though it’s not a replacement for the “who do you know that does...” contacts of your networking groups, you experience creativity in a totally different way. You are the one involved in the designing of your idea and you decide to experience the process of its creation. So go ahead and be creative! Be ridiculously creative. Here's an idea: reach in your dream bag and pull out two random ideas to see how your Fiverr creator will take on the creative challenge. Let's say your project is to create a tech pack for a factory or potential partner. Sure you need the basics like jean measurements, kind of stitching, etc but give the creator room to create and give them a vision so they don't only complete a typical online template. Automation? 3-D rotation? Then choose your creator accordingly. Maybe you find yourself hiring an engineer instead of a fashionista or a photoshop expert. If you think your project is not a creative one, think about it again.
In another life I would definitely have tried being an ice skater like @jeremicesk8er. At this point in my life however, I don’t wanna spend $50k in schooling and 10K hours of practice to try and ice dance to a song advertising my services. Why not create something unique and fresh like that for an Instagram post. Maybe a quote or a discussion question could work to engage people and who knows? You might go viral. Let sites like Fiverr be your excuse to “go there”.
Here are some usage tips for you:
What do you have on your to-do list? Design a 3-D image, a croque for a collection or a logo? Create a gift for a friend? Perhaps invent a project that would not only help you get work done faster, more engagement on social media but also give you an unusual experience. I don’t know about you, but I have a lot more imagining to do! PS Fiverr did not sponsor this post.  I was following up with a student after the Design an Idea class. She said she wanted to be a designer. My eyes big and bright, "Super, design is a great profession." She continued explaining that she enjoyed making things with her hands. I just need to figure out the money part." My mouth formed into a sideways heart. If you don't know how that looks, try it right now...it's pretty much like mouth yoga forming into quite an inquisitive look. "Are you thinking you might want a business or to make money? I think I threw her for a real loop by the look she gave back in return. A passion to make things with your hands means you like making things with your hands. There is often an assumption, but there is no correlation between you making things and you making that into a business. If you'd like to make money by selling your products, that means you take money for them. It doesn't make you are an entrepreneur. Reflect on the definition of the term and your own intention or vision for your life.
Do you like to design or are you a designer? These reflections led me to write this list of the most unfair...but realistic understandings of our profession and the creative industry. It's where we make assumptions and correlations where there are none. Often time we think 8000 steps before we actually arrive. Acknowledging where we are at, during this moment, is important to understand where you might want to be later.
Did I ever tell you that over the years I changed from the promise of a pharmacy career to a designer in sustainable fashion? I guess it's not that big of a deal these days since a lot of people make drastic career changes. But it was how I made that decision that left me feeling like a shakened coin in a jar-disoriented in a see-through container, I couldn't easily get out of. I would definitely have changed how I made my abrupt decision.
After school I couldn't go into a bowling alley without assessing their cash intake as I asked for rental shoes. I calculated the overhead as you ordered a Coke on a date. I pondered margins on a Starbucks mug waiting for a client. When you are enveloped in this bubble of thinking, that everything is a business, you form calculated strategies around...life. It’s a horrible and yet very effective way to be birthed into the real world. Business school changed how I think to how I approach life situations like case studies. If this is naturally how you think, good. This could how you should determine a major. To exercise my creativity, one time, I took on more people issues for a work project. The formula I envisioned was: people + connections = creativity. Somehow this made sense to me but the "how to solve a management crisis", turned into "how to lessen the financial impact during the management crisis." No matter what avenue I explored during my business career, it all came down to dollars and sense. They say you can think out of the box to form solutions but you don't have the same mindset as if I majored in something else. I worked for Fortune 500 companies and internet startups for 10 years. I wanted a change, to be more...me. I do want to say that business is not a bad thing...money is not a bad thing. It sometimes leads to political catastrophe and big business bribery but also bitcoins' success with teen entrepreneurs, fair trade not aid associations and mom and pop successes. When you study something for 4-6 years, you adopt a frame of mind that is just not easy to change. Perhaps when choosing a major, look to match your mindset and how you think best, instead of the actual subject matter. Yes, science is different than design in a lot of ways but technical design and engineering are not. When you plunge into a major you should dive more into...yourself. That's how certain anthropology majors can easily get into certain fields of advertising for example. It's the way you think that will help steer your career in various directions throughout your life, no matter how many times you change. Let's take design thinking which could have been an alternative major for me - business with dashes of creativity built in. It's a creative process looking at user issues redefining problems, resulting in qualitative or financially viable next steps. I sort of do that now with (fashion) design and the classes I teach. I creatively redefine problems resulting in clear, structured next steps for you guys. This is a mindset, first and foremost around creativity and the artistic process. Design school helped cognify that but I probably wouldn't have been able to do it without the business background.  It's funny what you remember years back. Remember that "faux" date with that B school dude years back? I wore a burgundy flannel top, grey t-shirt underneath, levis and brown brogues and my hair half up and half down on the “date” with the B school dude. I couldn't even tell you what I wore at graduation.
That probably should have been a clue. I should have been looking forward to the next step in my life called the real world. Happy You and Happy Sunday, Tyese To be continued. The Elusive Ingredient: The Lost Goal So I finally created a due date for the first draft of my book: May 1st 2021. How did I almost forget I had that as a goal? Last week I was making a list of my 6 month objectives and what I needed to do to accomplish them by May. I went through the list and I was like, ok….create new classes check, revise website check, write more consistent blog posts check. But there is something else...something about writing..what is that again? Write ..write….oh! Of course! Write the BOOK!
It's cold and it's confinement here in Paris. About an hour earlier the sun was blasting through my 3rd floor flat and I bathed in a summertime memory in Brittany on the terrace. Instead of the people bundled high in their belongings they were in decorated in bouquets and market vegetables and ready to be festive. Sigh. Yep, and just like that, the clouds shewed away my remaining glow. I looked through the wrought iron balcony gated swirls. The pigeons didn't even stick around, the last two cracking on a walnut casing at the Primer downstairs. It's back as I would have imagined, a November fall day to be while stuck indoors. Honestly I shouldn't say it like that. Even before confinement I worked from home. Just at the moment you actually do want to go to the 14th arrondissement, you can't. And most of the time, I never have a yearning to take a voyage to the 14th, 47 min by metro...so very far away from me.  I will say that my tribes have been helping to keep me sane. These are small groups of people who support me and what I do. Well, if you ask them that, they may not understand it in the same way. They are the people in my world or who I choose to be in my world, who have similar goals and objectives as me; same energy level or positivity; and who are great at giving me honest and authentic feedback. I love them. Some I know really well like for 5 years and others I see randomly online every couple of months and none of them are family. As I work on my business, I find I'm not alone and it's easy to be "not-perfect" with them. Phew! Being honest and vulnerability is work but with them, I'm in a safe space. So who's in these groups and how did I find them? The deal is that everything is free, organized and perfectly random.
I belong to a creative expat group on facebook and I organized a quick co-working session yesterday. Who knew the two people that actually showed up were going to be the partners I needed this week, giving me great feedback!? It was a little website critique and a lot of listening to blog ideas. And I, in turn, was able to give them feedback as well. The learning? Everything happens for a reason and sharing and giving is goooood.
There are tons of events online to connect with people these days but I find I am still quite a solo person and I like working alone, one on one or in very small groups. In case the choices above are not available to you, check out these ideas DIY and quite formal: Random Virtual Happy Hours: DIY it with a group of very random people in your life and invite them to a Google hangout, Jitsi or Facebook video chat. It doesn't have to be formal with a zoom account either. These are people you met one time and always said, sure one day we'll do something....but never did. Don't worry, they will be mostly strangers. Perhaps you will make it a theme under creativity or travel lovers. See what happens! Focusmate is an online accountability session with an actual person over video for 50 min. Of course you pay for this so try apps to help with your productivity like Social Pomodoro. Work for short 25 min sessions with no distractions thanks so some handy tech. I will try Cave Day just to have something different to do today for an hour. Though its paid, sometimes they sponsor these free sessions called: Get Sh*t Done in The Cave: Deep Work Remote Session. They talk about “flow,” the science of productivity, and all of the distractions that get in the way. They do a deep work sprint, where they claim you "get more done in 20 minutes than you have in most entire mornings." I'll let you know how it goes. If there are DIY methods you've learned and would like to share, let us know!
So since I begin most of my streams of consciousness with the magical word, "SO...," I will this week as well.
So...last week I wrote a huge post on my 5 tips to get myself out of the infamous "Loop of Confusion." I wanted to do an audio version of that blog post, mostly out of convenience for you guys. If anyone is like me these days, we try to multitask while doing other things and it's easy to just click on an audio button and let the computer talk to you. Instead of listening to the news first thing in the morning, I look for something to listen to while I get my burpees on, do the dishes, put a load of laundry in and edit my to do list for the day. If the youtube suggested music doesn't get me, I opt for an audio version of...something easy, positive on my psyche, just not to attack my brain first thing. Last Wednesday, I finished the written blog post and thought hautly, "how multi-media of me" to put an audio version link as an option for people to click on as well. I discovered my mac had a built-in memo recording feature and, I thought, well that's easy. Of course 5 practice recordings each of a 20 min written script later, I thought, well that WASN'T EASY. I clicked to finally edit and found you could only edit the start and end point of the recording. Here is where the Homer Simpson meme " Oof!" would come in. Now what? Well, I'm a flexible being...I'll just go to Quicktime Player! You can't stop me! (uh hum..let's just say that app was also just painfully too basic and needed another option to edit. Freeze frame. Now you do realize that as I was creating my business plan...I mean my masterplan, that I wrote down that I thought it would be "way cool" as my 'valley-girl' side would say, to do a podcast. I just thought it would be fun to try a "quick and easy" way to get out my thoughts without having to get dressed, put on makeup, get the 3 point lighting on point to create a youtube video to post, etc. I -thought -it -would -hap-pen- in the....fuuuuuture (in my staccato Ali Wong voice) . Ok...so this next part is the "I can't believe it" part of the story, stream of conscious. So... I'll give you the same option I always give to my boyfriend: you can to skip to the end of my obvious monologue for the message of this long story. Feel free. The future is well, always now, right? What they say is, don't stifle the flow. When you have flow, just go with it and be open. What's the big deal Tyese...I mean it's just editing your voice so find an app to do it. 1 more hour later... Yeah well...it's not just editing, but that A. to spend so much time on this -NOW...TODAY, was not the original plan! B. editing? I didn't realize my semi-perfectionist self would step in C. I would say that Anchor.fm "tricked me" into it but that's dumb to say. They are good at what they do...offering to record my voice for free, add free music...license free and as me clicking on the last step, them, agreeing to upload the cover art for me. And of course I was obliged to then....create the actually cover art....and a NAME for the podcast. What audacity! ...And to make me do it in one seating. I had other things to do... like watch you tube videos to help me procrastinate my day further and chips to eat while pondering the rest of my day. But no...because instead, this simple free program was easily taking me through the process even when I wasn't ...ready. Are we ever? Anchorfm.com had probably the most fluid approach to the typical "I'll wait until next time" procrastinating creative lol. I definitely recommend it seeing how in less than 45 min it was all done up. Most of that time was me trying to edit what I was saying and deleting weird clips and starting over. Now comes the tough part...the follow up ones. Next tuned. The one blog a week plus a podcast challenge is in effect!
Instead make a list of stuff you love to do (guilty pleasures not that you need to do), takes literally 5 min and that’s not online. Then tape the list on a wall by the coffee or the fridge or bathroom and each time you are there, just “take 5” on one of the things on your list to get yourself out of the loop….of confusion. [Insert evil laugh] Examples:
It doesn’t matter if you are ‘ready’ for a break or not. We need to clear our head and get a new perspective about an underlying issue you (I mean me) are evidently having and just not doing anything about.
People don’t know how to react to anything these days. They mostly do/react how society tells them. A friend experiences a death in the family so you say “I'm sorry.” Why? If you’ve been in that situation, the last thing you need to hear is another “I'm sorry.” So, say specifically what you want them to say or how to react. “How’s the audience effect, sound quality, color tone, shape, etc of this piece?" If not, they may fall into the loop of the general, “yeah, it looks good.” We aren’t 15 years old any more and don’t need someone to blow smoke up our A**….well, anymore. We need the a real opinion. Don’t be sad if someone doesn’t ‘understand’ your work uh hum…cough...mom. "Wait, who said that?” It’s just that we leave the question too…vague. Either they will like it or not. Either A don’t ask them or B, stop telling everyone you are creating this and that. It’s like secretly we are asking for validation. And when we don’t get it, we feel like we haven’t accomplished what we wanted or we second guess our talent. [And...enter loop of confusion stage right] 3. You’re cheating on your BF …with Google You know you are in the loop of confusion when we look up stuff on google when we already know the answer…or at least most of it? We spend hours and hours on google hoping it gives us ideas for what we want to figure out. Hours of productive time and then we get frustrated or down a rabbit hole in the "Loop." Why not just ask ourselves a super specific question about what we really want to know BEFORE we click on google to give us an answer? It's more direct, takes less time and we spend more time with a `BF than hours of what we call “research” online. I got news for you, it's not research…it's a time suck. “Okay, Google” (or Siri)…”What is the best website tool for bloggers?” I really just looked this one up and it was the most timely-ness time-suck ever. I could have just thought about it for a sec, brainstormed what I really wanted to know and then asked, “Which blog sites offer features to make online classes?” I spent like 2 or 3 hours searching for just that right answer. I literally could have found a jackfruit in a field somewhere hot, made a vegan burger from it and ate it by the time I found the answer I really was searching for. With google, do you see, we use it-not for research but for brainstorming. This is very very bad for creative thinkers. We put in keywords hoping to “get close.” Let's campaign to use our brains a little more before we do that actual search. #gobrain!
Let's off the white picket fence and give ourselves a real definition of what “perfection” actually means. Perhaps it’s a checklist of criteria of what the perfect project entails: does it have at least three colors in it; does it communicate three aspects of my mission; does it have 300 resolution, etc. Perhaps you can assign it a percentage of what you mean by perfected. "If it's x% perfectly completed, that will be good enough to `pause’ and stop." It will most likely never be “perfect”. Pausing between version 1 and 2 and 3 could be 1 day, 1 week or 1 month, but sometimes we need to get paid and better yet, move on with life to get out of the "loop." A brilliant author told me just yesterday that she is working on her 3rd draft. She said that once it’s 85% ‘good enough’, she’ll submit it. "If the book is any good, the publisher will ask for another edition later or have an editor finish the process." What a good outlook? Take a deep breath guys….because if we don’t let “it” go (let the baby go and do its thing), you’ll stay on that white picket fence and not go anywhere else fun. '5. Worried about the “H” word
If you use the "H" word to frequently, you can get stuck in the loop of confusion! Its the word, "how." In the English language, it’s like the 5 Ws (who/what/when/why/where that start a question) are in a cult always hanging out and the “H” (How) is always the loner. We use the 5Ws for everything light and fun and interesting. Where is the party? When do I get paid? What's the book about? Maybe it’s because asking “How” is so……well, horrible! It’s heavy, big, complicated and generally asking it has a very uncertain answer. It's like my mom asking but “how” are you gonna do fittings in Paris when there's Covid? Am I talking about my personal life too much? Anyway creatives, why do we need to use it at all? Asking “how” can stifle our creative process. How do we make the money? How to transfer my passion to selling my work? How to find an apartment in Paris? This question should be replaced by three simple words, “`in-what-way.” There…now, doesn’t that feel better? The pressure just lifted, temperature on your forehead dropped and now you can simply list the countless fun ways to find that apartment, unique ways to locate an audience, create classes, etc. Listing things is easier than trying to solve complex solutions to problems made bigger by our big ‘ol monster creative imagination. We have enough stress and worries in the world right? I moved to France 3 years ago to help other Americans find sustainable clothing brands when travelling to Paris. As a personal stylist, how can I feel guilty about finding people clothes to wear? It’s my job and it makes people happy. But having an ethos of zero waste makes things complicated. This is my Jerry Maguire quandary. Sometimes I want to stand up and just scream "stop buying more stuff!" But I silence myself and dive deep back into the romanticism of shopping in Paris boutiques. It’s one of the reasons I decided to do this job. It’s one reason why my christmas season in the past had been so , well, merry. You’d think that shopping for products that were actually good for the environment was the solution. But is it? I guess it depends on what you assumed was the problem. That there were products not good for the environment...ok, and is that it? Is there another presumption? I always presumed that there were good and bad things for the environment and for the most part, our society as well. That’s why you have brands like Method cleaning products, Typology cosmetics and H&M Conscious Collection. I never thought “shopping for ‘good’ products” was an oxymoronic phrase until now. A red light buzzes slowly flashes on and off on the word ‘shopping’ like a misread credit card. After a couple years living in Paris, my thoughts have changed...a lot.  Shopping is very much an action verb, generally implying to buy something. As an image consultant, I talk to people about their insecurities around their height, their beauty marks they don't want seen, not feeling ready to be visible, others wanting to be more visible. There is always something to buy, even fabric to recreate items they have in their wardrobe already or tailor items that compliment their body better. It’s harder than you think though. It’s always the little stuff that gets in the way…like ethos. Here is where it gets sticky as I polish off a pistachio macaron. It’s the eventual buying of products that mostly one doesn’t need- that is the problem. And as the French Minister of Ecology, recently said, the problem leads to “overconsumption.” I’ve heard that activist statement from a political before. It seems as though when I moved here from San Francisco, I had all that I needed: a job as a personal stylist, a project with the government of France to expand my vision globally, of sustainable fashion. I was excited to bring Americans here to learn all they could and buy all they could of ‘good fashion’ in Paris. Who wouldn’t like to do that? To shop for people, just sustainable products? I can show you how to put together an outfit in 2 min, create your next interview look in 5min and buy a whole new wardrobe for you in under 3.5 hours. I am one of the best, most efficient shoppers you’ll ever meet. There is this huge problem. What are we to do with our extra income, our extra time and our alternative therapy sessions? And what are retailers and designers (to which I was one) to do with their our designs, creativity, and ...extra inventory? It makes me feel in a very precarious position. I started putting disclaimers on my marketing materials about me recommending products to clients. "Buy at your own risk of over populating the planet with more clothing." `or... "Hire me only if you need me." I felt like patagonia instead of saying “don’t buy this jacket,” say “don’t engage me as a stylist and personal shopper” ...if you don’t really need me. Of course of their campaign sales increased for that 2013 Black Friday sale but I digress. Maybe we should just ditch the whole thing and focus on what’s most important in life, like family and love and laughter and deepening of our own soul. Until then, I have to get ready for my next client and meet them in the Marais. Why Paris? (The Interview 11/9/19) What made you decide to help young designers in this consultancy? I've made so many mistakes from design school to fair trade design to sales and marketing and I refuse to have others make the same costly errors. I didn't have a mentor starting my business nor for school. It's totally necessary but we think we can figure it all out ourselves. Yes, you can, 5 years later and 50K in debt maybe. Which consulting do you like best? For a client's better wardrobe or for a designer's better fashion business? I can't really choose - they are so different and both so neccessary. Sustainability can mean so many things to different people. And there's lots of words to describe it. There's eco, eco-friendly, eco-chic, environmentally friendly, sustainable, fair trade, handmade, locally made, slow fashion, upcyled garments [where you use the existing resources that you have to create something new], vintage, recycled/second hand garments and more. The French are famous for these things and creates a feeling here, that is quite special. What makes Paris different for eco fashion? There are many young designers who are committed to the environment and changing the way people think about clothing as well. They are the ones who are using organic materials, vegan leather and deadstock [which means recycled materials from huge fashion houses], give a new face to the word eco-chic. Because these designers come from France who's design and fashion heritage is so rich and deeply ingrained, designers are creating garments that are chic, forward-thinking and original. There is no "patchwork craziness" here - there are interesting and of great quality!
We discard clothing like trash, have an unawareness of who is making the items we wear, and the materials used that we put closest to our bodies. Sustainability is everything France represents as a culture: small, handcrafted, local, lean, natural. Working exclusively with small designers and independent studios in France, my mission is to give my clients an exclusive, inside look at the creative process and inspiration behind clothing. My hope is to give people another way to think about clothing, in an inspirational environment. It wasn't too long ago that people associated Sustainable or "Eco" fashion with patchwork "hippie" looks. By showing you the makings of a lean wardrobe and the "haute" side of Eco, I'll give you another way to think about clothing, in an inspirational environment.
This is an interview transcript when I did a workshop about goal setting earlier this year.
What makes these 5 ways to manifest your 2020 goals so...unexpected? Sometimes we think obtaining goals is such a hard thing to accomplish. At least for me, at one point in the not too distant past, I considered it a big project! I had to make time for it, maybe do a workshop or get a life coach to help. The task seemed so large, I didn't even want to tackle it. So....I didn't. These 5 ways are easy to do ...take like 5 min out of our day and are creative...an unexpected way to get what we want. What are your 5 unexpected ways and why do you think they are a part of sustainability? I thought sustainability had to do with saving our planet. It's true, sustainability can mean so many things to different people. And there's lots of words to describe it. There's eco, eco-friendly, eco-chic, environmentally friendly, sustainable, fair trade, handmade, locally made, slow fashion, upcycled garments [where you use the existing resources that you have to create something new], vintage, recycled/second hand garments and more. Usually these terms effect the OUTSIDE things like landfill or less waste on our streets. But it means also that we are careful to put things on our bodies and inside our bodies things that matter. Sometimes these "things" are thoughts and energy and positivity instead of objects. Let's think of it as perfectly sustainable things that last like images. So then what are your 5 things? The 5 unexpectedly ways to manifest your goals are things like vision boarding for life changes, mood boards as a career guide, closet clean-outs for clearer thinking, anti-plastic diet for more conscious living and new cleansing habits for a more zen and thoughtful attitude around your goals. This is super interesting Tyese. There is a lot to unpack here. Where should we start? Each month we will dive deeper into each of these items on my blog, You Tube and of course my instagram page. First, we will talk about creative vision boards for the goals you want. My clients and I mostly talk about fashion style goals, business goals but their everyday habits in life directly effect those goals. We will dive deep into why it effects you and what to do to advance your goals. |
