“Friday’s a free day.” ― Neil Gaiman, American Gods
It’s Friday, ducklings, of the TGI variety. It’s been an up and down sort of week, but mostly ending on an up. I got some supremely nice emails after my post about self care as a freelancer, which was lovely, and have carved out some time for friends and museums this weekend. Like tea, both are tonic to the soul. Now if my Kindle and laptop could both stop acting as electronics possessed, all would be right with the world. Here are your links, share anything worth knowing in the comments, and tell me what you’re getting up to this weekend. As a gentle reminder to stateside minions, it’s Mother’s Day this Sunday – ring your mums!
If the internet has taught us nothing, it’s that cats are a balm. Here’s the Spitalfields City Farm feline resident to do pre-weekend duty.
Friend and fellow Shakespeare-course-taught-by-a-man-actually-named-William-Shakespeare veteran Amanda gets a h/t for this share. Number 8 gets an enthusiastic clap from me.
I leave this vital matter in your hands: which of these Victorian words and phrases will we reintroduce first? Cast your votes, minions, this is incredibly important.
My friend Katarina currently works for Colonial Williamsburg while I volunteer at the Franklin House, and a number of 18th century American History themed emails/texts pass between us. Most recently she sent me this magnificent thing which I’ll just leave right here.
I like the Wall Street Journal’s regular piece Work Wear, detailing what different offices’ work styles are. This week features NPR and it’s a bit odd to put fashion styles to people I mostly know through faceless voices.
Interesting tool! Both Katie and Adam, and Chris and Nikki (couple friends of ours) are moving to San Francisco, one of The Girls just moved to New York City, I moved to London…we’re a mobile bunch these days. But how do cities compare for COLA?
“I was a little excited but mostly blorft. “Blorft” is an adjective I just made up that means ‘Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.’ I have been blorft every day for the past seven years.” ― Tina Fey, Bossypants
The last few months have been one of the happiest and most positively productive periods of my life, but it’s also been one of the most stressful. A move to another continent, even one that you’re excited for, is not easy to organize or manage. Setting up a household in a new country is expensive. Pursuing your life’s ambition is incredible, but it can also be exhausting. And finances? Well, those are tightly managed. Times are tough out there for writers and anyone who says differently is lying.
Lately I’ve been so driven to follow as many opportunities as possible that I’ve felt unable to say “no,” even to things that perhaps I should have. Not just because of a genuine enthusiasm for new opps, but occasionally because of a genuine (and somewhat well founded) fear that if I do, an opportunity won’t come around again. But in spite of the triumphs, of which I’m lucky to have found so many, I’m starting to feel a bit depleted and stress is taking a very real toll on my health. Even if it’s for a job or in a field you love, doing work without pay is grueling, on the soul as well as the body. And spending time working on those projects has the very real potential to impact my freelancing work negatively – no one’s at the top of their game when chronically sleep deprived.
But on top of all this, I have a confession: I can be bad, as in really terrible, at self care in times of stress. The first thing to go are exercise and a balanced diet, followed quickly by wise time management and regular sleep. Add to that a shot of self-medicating with too much sugar and a chaser of self-flagellation when I feel even the merest whisper of overwhelm. Freelancers should know better than anyone than busyness in no way correlates to success, and yet I fear I’ve fallen into that trap a bit.
It’s not just unhealthy, it’s the textbook definition of unsustainable. So I’m putting out the call for help. I need some advice for self care best practices as I fight to “make it,” as the kids say in the Big City. What negative effects do stress have on you, and what are some of the best ways you’ve found to keep yourself healthy when you’ve stretched yourself?
“I like the spirit of this great London which I feel around me. Who but a coward would pass his whole life in hamlets; and for ever abandon his faculties to the eating rust of obscurity?” -Charlotte Brontë
Alas, my (truly excellent) work experience ends today, but it’s been an incredible run. I’ve been very lucky in that it’s been a hectic week and the writers and editors I worked with gave me a lot of assignments and opportunities to help out. I’ve written lots of different kinds of copy and interviewed some really interesting people on some equally interesting pieces. Plus I asked the editor about pitching pieces for her in the future and she told me to go right ahead and stay in regular contact. I’ve been on a high all week.
Now, how can I turn this into a regular job somewhere? Any British weekly publications (which are fun to work on in a completely different way than monthlies, and I’ve found it slightly addictive) need a plucky junior features writer?
While I scheme along those lines, here’s an extra long list of links for you to enjoy this weekend. As always, minions are encouraged to weigh in in the comments and link to other worthy of notice and note. Have a good weekend, and let me know what you’re getting up to!
I unabashedly adored the Little House books as a child, but yikes! I’ve known for years that they walk the blurred, heavily edited line of fiction and nonfiction, but some pretty serious stuff was ruthlessly cut by Wilder’s daughter, who was the driving force in getting the stories written. I confess, I’d love to read the unedited manuscripts and get another POV of pioneer and prairie life.
Answering the age old question, or at least the one much of the Western press has been asking since Prince George was taken on his first tour and his baby cheeks became a meme.
I’ve worked on a crowd funding campaign for a freelance client that was a really great and interesting project with a lot of future work planned, but it’s opened my eyes a lot to what that sort of funding can do. This fashion line, for instance, is making some waves and I think it might be an interesting way to open it and other traditionally closed and hard to break into industries in new ways.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that I know a lot of amazingly talented writers. I first met Ellie when our plays were being produced by Theatre Virginia as teenagers, she now works for Marvel comics and just released her second novel via ebook. Go check it out!
Leila, yet another awesome writer friend (of the sci-fi/fantasy variety) posted this useful guide the vernacularly fraught world of “yeah” and associates.
3D printing is a mesmerizing, weird, cool, intimidating (hi, guy who printed a gun), and totally innovative technology, but I think this 3D printing pen might be the most interesting design tool I’ve seen all month.
I’ve decided that being like Baroness Trumpington in my old age would be a worthy goal. I also want to read her new memoir.
I found this art project interesting (and the link the rest of the artist’s work is well worth following).
Though I thought the now-famed Atlantic Piece, The Confidence Gap addressed some good points, I think this response, filled with suggestions, is pretty much spot on.
Emma Stone is my girlcrush of the week for this performance alone. (Confession, she is frequently my girlcrush for lots of reasons, not the least of which because she seems down right hilarious.)
Oh, Idaho. Having lived nearby I can totally see this happening.
Speaking of crushes, I’m personally and politically loving this initiative and PSA against sexual assault. Victim blaming, check. Speaking up when you see something wrong, check. Consent, check.
“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” ― Louis L’Amour
I just realized the other day that I was coming up on the first anniversary of going into full time freelance work and so I thought we needed to mark the occasion. One year ago today was my last working full time at the police department. I have no idea where the time has gone, it’s been such an intense year and a half of change that the months have flown by. Time for some recap and reflection!
In January of 2013, an offer of virtual assisting work (combined with training and invaluable mentoring) with friend and Friend of the Blog, Caitlin Kelly was my first chance at freelance work – look out for a couple of hopefully upcoming pieces about this on other sites! This led to other VA work, which led to content production work, which is (slowly but surely) leading to pitch work. Currently I’m working with authors, two entrepreneurial start-ups, and am subcontracted through other freelancers with multiple businesses. My writing is starting to appear on some external sites as well as I’ve learned how to pitch publications and organizations better.
I love freelance work, I love writing, and there are times I have to pinch myself to be convinced that it all isn’t a dream, joke, or prank. It’s been an uphill battle at times, but looking back, I’m really proud of where I’ve been able to get in 15 months.
I admit, sometimes there are days when I still manage to feel totally bogged down or even despondent. Student loans are still a worry, we have to budget things tightly, and there have been plenty of late nights where I’ve tried to put in as much work as possible in order to make ends meet. As I type this I’m nursing a semi-sore throat from one too many past-midnight work sessions since one of my major clients was on vacation last week and had turned over the majority of her content commitments to me to manage, in conjunction with the design team. An exciting (though thankfully temporary) jump in responsibilities that gave me a lot of good experience, but it certainly upped some of my stress levels.
And yet, in spite of financial or other worries, when I emerge from my work fog or To Do lists and look up, I’m unbelievably grateful – and totally overwhelmed by how much change a year and half has brought. I got what so many people needed: an opportunity to try and learn and attempt the kind of work I wanted. A foot in the door. And it has made all the difference. A year ago, I never would have guessed I’d be working, however temporarily, in a major magazine office today.
I was talking to an old schoolmate the other day. Back in middle school we both toted notebooks around (a la Harriet the Spy) which we filled and replaced regularly with day-to-day observations, ideas, whole short stories and – very bad – poetry. We read and critiqued one others work, encouraged each other, and both dreamed of the day when we would make our living by our pens.
Fifteen years later, we’re doing it. She works for a major cultural heritage institution drafting all kinds of content, from letters to grant proposals…and is querying her first novel. I write website copy, social media campaigns, research summations…and my articles, both personal and professional, are being seriously considered and published. It’s not at all what we thought our lives would look like at 13 years old. I think it’s better.
Today’s notebook, the inheritor of teenage ambition. A bit battered, but still stuffed full of ideas and goals – though sans bad poetry.
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” ― Stephen King
As you might have read or heard , I’m doing another magazine work experience this week. I scribble this to you, well beloved minions, from the offices of LOOK magazine (nestled in between Women and Home, and InStyle). I’m conducting an interview for a potential feature later today and have the the Shard for a view directly to my left.
By damn kittens, there are days I feel like I’m going to make it.
(Followed, inevitably by a long dark night of the soul and a crushing fear of failure, but golly the highs make it all worth it!)
“Friendship,” said Christopher Robin, “is a very comforting thing to have.” ― A.A. Milne
In a typical work environment you’re thrown in together and meeting new people all the time. You’re making friends (or not making friends, as it happens) with all sorts, tackling projects, exchanging information and swapping ideas. When you work from home, that rapport simply doesn’t work the same way and if that sort of connection is important to you, it’s largely up to you to find ways of creating it.
Solitude, by Frederick Leighton. circa 1890
Freelancing for me, based on the nature of the majority of the sort of tasks I do, is largely a one-person show. I don’t mind this exactly, I’m a nice mix of introvert and extrovert who is perfectly capable of amusing and entertaining herself, or going out and enjoying the crowds. But I’ve found that long term, the solitary nature of my work affects me in interesting ways that I have to be proactive about noticing and correcting.
One of the reasons I decided to seek some volunteer work, apart from experience in a field I love and hope to support in some capacity in one way or another for the rest of my life, was that I was realized I was becoming emotionally and verbally out of touch. Six months into living in London, I was working from home six days a week and doing the bulk of my communicating via email. 99% of my conversations were happening with my husband – who is a great person to talk to, I stress lest you think otherwise – and I was noticing that in a very real way, I was losing the skill of being able to meet and connect with new people. In short I was becoming awkward. Not awkward in they shy and retiring way, awkward in, “Oh hi, so nice to meet you, let’s be friends immediately!” hyper way that instantly throws many off. With some people, such enthusiasm can be cute. I am not one of them…
Luckily, working at the museum is staggeringly fun. Not only am I feeling re-socialized, I’ve also been introduced to a number of publications I’m considering pitching. Most importantly, I’ve made some lovely new friends (like Georgina – another up and coming novelist and all around whip smart girl who I genuinely adore. We bonded over classics and Roman history, which is always a stable foundation for buddy-hood). Having friends, whom I not married to an interact with in places other than my flat, has been tremendously important in keeping my life happy and balanced.
Speaking of, another thing that’s been interesting to recognize is how much inspiration comes from other people. “Duh, C., you idiot,” I hear you say. But I’m not just talking about big ideas and big inspiration, I’m talking about the often small things that jumpstart you and keep you motivated as a person.
I met Alanna at a networking event a couple of months ago and I instantly thought she was one of the neatest people I’ve come across in a long time. She runs a consulting service that specifically works with social innovation, women’s development, and international development. We’ve started co-working together about once a month, and I always look forward to it because it’s easily one of my most productive days in that week. Just being around another person engaged in solid, innovative work is inspiring in and of itself and having another person in the room helps keep me accountable and not goofing off. Not only that, we’re able to swap ideas. Last time we worked together I helped her develop possible pitches to different publications about one of her upcoming projects and she introduced me to a number of sites and online tools that have made her life as a freelancer easier and more productive. Oh, and that swanky new blog logo I’m enjoying? She whipped that up in five minutes just for fun, without my even asking, just because she said she needed something creative to do as a break!
Simply being around people who succeed at freelancing, entrepreneurship, writing, blogging, design work, or just learning new skills personally gives me a tremendous boost of confidence. Seeing others succeed encourages me to think that I can too, in a way that I don’t always feel slumped over my desk grudgingly at one in the morning.
Another example. The other week Andrea and I finally got the chance to meet up (she’s been in Morocco, I’ve been in Paris – I know, our lives are such a trial, right?) for a long overdue hangout. We took in a free photographer’s gallery and then spent a couple of hours sipping tea and swapping stories and our experiences with freelancing and expat life. It’s amazingly relieving to hear that, even though your work might be solitary, your personal problems definitely aren’t unique! Not only that, about every ten minutes one of us said to the other, “That’s a really interesting story, you should pitch that.” Just by chatting and enjoying one others company we were coming up with really great ideas left and right, I came home and scribbled down half a dozen. I can’t wait to go on another girl date with her, not just because she is everything hilarious, delightful and interesting, but seeing her work ethic really gave a boost to my own.
I always believed that people are important to me, personally and professionally. I just never realized how much until this first year of freelancing.
Sharing time! Who are your people, and how do they inspire you? Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Have you had to get proactive to change unforeseen emotional adjustments due to self-employment? I’m nosy and want to know!
“Freelancing…is an on-spec life and it is full of what can only be described as insane serendipity (or serendipitous insanity).” ― Richard Morgan
This week I put to bed phase one of a major freelance project, a separate project has seen some setbacks due to travel and family concerns (theirs, not mine) but still progress, and life at the museum has gotten crazy as the Easter holiday descends and tourist season begins in earnest. I’m still recovering from my hedonistic lost weekend with Caitlin, but I also got to have a gorgeous tea with a longtime online friend who happened to be in London, meet up with Andrea from This New View to talk freelance writing, and had another spectacularly productive coworking day with Alanna.
I don’t think I’ve ever been this consistently scheduled in my life as I’ve been since the start of 2014. Sure I’ve had busy work, and stressful periods at my old office, but there is a massive difference between being busy and getting things done, I’ve discovered. And in spite of occasional sleep deprivation, or periods of crunch time, I don’t think I’ve every been this professionally content either. Life is simply very good.
Also, you may have noticed, there’s been a few changes in the Small Dog vicinity. Once again, I’ve learned new skills and am practicing away (heck, I’m even learning about branded images up in here, thanks to Alanna!). Let me know what you think and please do give me your feedback.
Here are your links, tell me what you’re up to this weekend, ducklings.
5 a day? Ha! Up your expectations and health plans accordingly.
Excellent! I am 100% done about people complaining about leggings (also known as the most comfy things ever invented that you will pull from my cold, dead hands, society). Oh! That would make an excellent Incendiary post! Quick minions, to the comments, and let’s have a vigorous debate on the merits of alternative types of leg wear!
I once was able to hear YA author Shannon Hale speak about rejection, she brought a scroll of every single one of her rejection letters, laminated together in a way that stretched across a conference room. Perspective.
You wanted to read an article about the art and history of tapestries, especially as relates to media culture, right? I knew it!
Henry VIII was a complete jerk, this is historically well established. His marital troubles reshaped Europe, led to the Civil War, heightened religious mania and persecution and resulted in an astonishing amount of historical fiction on the subject – some good, some bad. But how long was he actually married to each of the women in his life? Twitter to the rescue!
We’ve been trying to sort out what makes human beings substantially different from other animal species for centuries now, but one of the most interesting theories (debunked, by the way) was that it was primarily based on our capacity for language. Not only has that been disproved but some research is suggesting that not only do many animal species communicate, they do so with self-awareness. Some even seem to have names and the ability to identify and talk about themselves!
“If you need help bark like a dog.” “That’s stupid. If I need help I’ll shout help.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings
Friends, readers, country-minions, lend me your thoughts!
One of my big goals this year is to upgrade this blog into a site. A simple one perhaps, but a site nonetheless. It’s served me well for nigh on seven years now (clutches self a bit to realize that) and it’s overdue some maintenance and love. I’ve been studying up on this for months now, probably closer to a year, but I still feel out of my depth and recently I realized that I’ve neglected a potentially killer source of expertise on this: you guys!
So tell me, have you made the leap from a .wordpress or .blogspot to a full on .com domain or known someone who has? How did you make decisions about hosting and other concerns? Was design an issue for you, and if so how did you solve them? Did you hire a brilliant friend or professional to help you transition or did you do it yourself? Any good founts of knowledge I should know about?
“There aren’t enough days in the weekend.”
~Rod Schmidt
Another big week. I’m working with a new client on a social entrepreneurial campaign which I’m finding fascinating and quite rewarding (as well as great fun), work at the Benjamin House goes swimmingly, and I had a couple of meetups with some fabulous women. Sleep deprivation continues as per usual, but so does contentment. I’m still trying to work out a better and more successful schedule, but I think that (like most things) I’m simply just going to have to knuckle down and accept that free time is a myth. At least until May.
Which is actually not that far off, come to think of it. The first quarter of this year flew by alarmingly fast.
Anyway, we’ve mustered a nice little roundup for you this week, the best and weirdest of the internet as always. Got anything that needs to be brought to the coterie’s attention? Self promotion encouraged, by the way, don’t forget to add your favorite blog posts for the minions to peruse. Share in the comments and have a great weekend!
I’ve fallen prey to the selfie-shock phenomenon since I’ve discovered Instagram. My family are not huge picture takers, but Jeff and I have made a serious effort to document our live abroad. Which means instead of the mirror reflection, which I’m used to, photos of me tend to look like an entirely different person in my mind! Anyone else experienced this or do I just have a massively lobsided face, apparently?
Speaking of, here’s a great short piece on how 21st century technology has rewired our brains. At technology changes how we interact and use resource as a species, but now (ironically) we have the technology to track what technology does to us. Meta!
Map distortion is a funny thing that interests me greatly. Remember that scene in the film version of The King and I when the royal children can’t accept that Siam is such a small country? The same sorts of things happen today, and maps are one of the reasons. It’s extraordinarily difficult to transpose at 3D world onto a 2D piece of paper to start, but other issues like bias and imperialism play a distinct role. The best example is cartographic portrayals of Africa.
So…this kid. I’m incredibly impressed. (And committing to learning more about design form and function this year.)
I found this post from UK writing and publishing blog Novelicious to be excellent advice for any and all who wish to do any kind of writing professionally. The first person who should take your aspirations, plans, and work seriously is yourself – think and act accordingly.
And that leads quite nicely into this. I’m Cecil Warburton. Also, can we take a moment to appreciate the proscribed format here and the well of futility and annoyance it drills into the dark depths of my novelist aspirational soul? Three steps. First name, last name, write your novel – I WISH.
And here’s another site for you, this one belonging to the lead costumer on Game of Thrones Season 3. Her work, heavily featuring stunning embroidery, is really incredible, and she’s also been a part of other major film and television works so check her galleries. Also, can we tell I’m outrageous excited for the series to be back on?!
Speaking of news on the writing front, let me humble brag shamelessly that a piece I wrote for Levo League was also picked up and shared by Business Insider this week. And I’ve been contacted about it being shared elsewhere. I’m beyond pleased that my work is starting to get out there – here’s planning on more to come!
Finally, at a loss for words? Vintage Robin is here to help you find that perfect exclamation with all of his own memorable ones compiled for your benefit.
“There is but one Paris and however hard living may be here, and if it became worse and harder even—the French air clears up the brain and does good—a world of good.”
― Vincent van Gogh
Have I really been back from my fly-by-night vacation for a week? Time flies, kittens.
This week, while I’ve been regaling you with tales and photos from Paris, I’ve had a bit of a stressful schedule. I’m still finding the balance for my new temporary work reality (particularly in terms of late nights and lack of adequate sleep) but I think I’m figuring things out. I also welcomed a new freelancing client from a recommendation (huzzah!), submitted some pieces to the editor of a site I’m wild to write for, and spent yesterday coworking with the whipsmart and borderline intimidatingly savvy Alanna.
You may remember I met Alanna at the Levo League event from a couple of weeks ago. She’s a freelancer and social entrepreneurial consultant who has worked on some incredible campaigns, just chatting and hanging out with her was inspiring. It was probably the most focused and productive 6 straight hours of freelance work I’ve put in all week. Editors, entrepreneurs, and socially conscious citizens, take note of this woman.
It’s amazing the influence other people have on you when you work for yourself…I sense a blog post in the near future.
In any event, stay tuned for more tales from Paris this weekend, but in the meantime here are your links. Do add anything worthy of the minion coterie’s time and attention, plus tell me what you’re up to this Friday, in the comments!
I’ve only mentioned Paris about a gazillion times, haven’t I? I would say I’d shut up about it, but that would be a lie.
An important, interesting question that’s not often considered: what makes something ugly? Form? Function? Intent? Exposure of inner bias? Bad taste? It’s actually a pretty complex process to declare something grotesque.
Speaking of perspective! Families posing with literally everything they own. As an accidental minimalist myself, this isn’t just fascinating, it’s also eye opening. How much junk and clutter and stuff do you think the average American family has?
My love for pineapples is well documented, so it should be no surprise that I’m flirting outrageously with the idea of adding this charmer to my desk.
Friend and friend of the blog Caitlin Kelly is back from her work with WaterAid in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the West. Her post on some of her reflections is well worth a read.
Gloria Steinem turned 80 this week. I love her sum up from this piece in the New York Times: “When asked whether she has any regrets, Steinem says: ‘Well, actually it’s not so much what I would have done differently. It’s that I would have done it much faster.’”
Words can’t express how much I want to see this (by the way, the This American Life live show from last year, which was wonderful and everyone should watch, is a great place to start learning about this enigmatic woman. It’s how I first heard about her).
Small Dog Syndrome 